Adapt to survive... and thrive
Speaking to , Surpal Singh, Director, Maxxfun Holidays, talked about their organisation, future plans for their company and also got answers to issues faced by tour operators in the trade today.
Telling us about the future plans for the company, Singh said, “Maxxfun Holidays is a receptive tour operator which has been providing a wide range of services in Indian Tourism industry for more than a decade. The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India recognises Maxxfun Holidays as Inbound Tour operator. We are the proud recipients of the National Tourism Award for Best Inbound Tour Operator for 20102011, and also members of all leading travel and tourism trade bodies such IATO, PATA etc.”
“Our future plan is to move into niche tourism, as the more mature travelling public is increasingly seeking experiences which satisfy a whole spectrum of interests. Cultural and nature-based experiences are statistically tourism’s two greatest ‘ special interest’ strengths - involving substantial visitor volumes and fre- quent travelling, high-spending customers. It also pays to understand that the most impactful and value-added way of engaging with nature and culture is through forms of ‘experiential tourism’ - discovering it all in far more personal, rewarding and imaginative he added.
ways”,
Singh said, “It is quite interesting to know that despite a huge expansion in the travel industry - fuelled by opportunities created by the internet and emerging markets - consistent profitability for many travelrelated firms remains elusive. Given this state of flux, where are future profits to come from? More specifically, what are the travel trends that will secure consistent revenue streams? Catering to travellers from emerging markets - particularly Brazil, India, Russia and China - will be a huge revenue stream. The travel industry particularly will have to be more attuned to their needs. India’s growing middle class is travelling to more distant destina- tions. However, as of now, there is less desire for the 'adventure travel' experiences as currently favoured by Westerners. The travel industry will change radically over the next decade. It seems that only those executives who can think out-of-thebox will profit from it.”
“We attribute our success to two factors,” he says, “Firstly; we are dedicated to servicing only the fields in which we are experts in - tourism.”
Then, he goes on to say, “Secondly, individual areas of expertise of each of our partners combine to create a company greater than the sum of its parts. Our new plans to develop more options in the field of special interest tours, 4x4 self drive tours, motor homes expeditions, international leadership seminars, boutique hotels and air charter services have helped us increase our global brand positioning.”