‘Indians love experiential travel’

From an intern tour guide to setting own operations in strategic countries, Kulwant Singh, Managing Director, Lama Tours, is an ideal case study for young tour operators. Lama Tours is looking at servicing over 1,75,000 Indian guests from India in 2012 an

VIVEK SETHI The

journey of Lama Group started in late nineties when Kulwant Singh completed his schooling and volunteered to intern in a travel company for 2-3 months as a tour guide. Driven by the passion of travel, he laid the foundation of his company in 1997 and gradually built the Lama Group.

“The idea to start the state- of-the-art destination management company was conceptualised in my mind when I started as an intern in a tour company after completing my schooling. I started the Lama Group in 1997. In the first phase of our operations till 2000, we served the local trade partners in tour operations. In 2000, we started focussing on the GCC markets. Post the tragic incident of 9/11, we then set our eyes on the Indian market and started our Indian operations,” said Singh.

“We started our sales and marketing office in India. Mumbai, Jaipur and Chennai. In fact, now we intend to open three new offices in Chandigarh, Ahmedabad and Pune in 2013,” he added.

The Lama Group launched the innovative marketing concept of the first ‘Lama flight to Dubai’ because the founder of the Lama Group had endeavoured to build the group on a strong foundation of modern management principles. In his said pursuit, he earned his Bachelors Degree in Business Administration through a distance learning mode in 1999. He continued his pursuit and completed his Masters in Business Administration post marriage from a renowned London based university in 2005. that include Lama Tours, Lama Holidays, Lama DubaiFloating Restaurant, Lama Tours and Cruises India, Seven Sands Hotel Apartment, Salaam Namaste Indian Restaurant, and Lama Kiosks. The group has set up its own operations in Russia, China and Abu Dhabi among many other strategic destinations. Our recent unique fam trip for North India agents to Dubai from August 11-13, 2012, in collaboration with our strategic partners like IndiGo and Hyatt Hotels, also marked our fifteenth anniversary,” said Singh.

“Today, the Indian market has an appetite for experiential tourism. It also has a great regard for value-formoney options. Hence, we thought to encourage our trade partners for attracting Indian tourists to travel to Dubai during this period to witness first-hand experience into the cultural aspects. Also, our trade partners will appreciate that the holy month of Ramadan is a month of festivities and best time to showcase Dubai as a year-round destination to Indian tourists backed by massive incentives on accommodation, air fares and shopping to name a few. Building on, we will conduct six such flights for our B2B partners in 2012, who can make use of these remunerative options to woo Indian travellers by offering value for money through competitive air fares, world-class hotel accommodation and professional ground services. Gradually, there will be 15 such flights in the next year,” Singh added.

The Lama Group is also keen to further invest in its Indian subsidiary that made a lot of news for starting niche dune bashing itineraries. As part of its ongoing efforts to bring tourists into India and also serve the domestic segment in India, the Lama Group is keen to build luxury tented accommodation.

“Our investments into the Indian market reflect our commitment. Based on the success our Indian subsidiary had managed, we are looking at the possibility of developing luxury tented accommodation in India for our guests. It will enhance our guests’ satisfaction levels and give a new edge to the desert experience with our Lama Group,” said Singh.