15 DMCs on show
The multi-city roadshow conducted by the Akquasun Group turns out to be a huge success.
Akquasun’s recently-concluded multi-city roadshow titled ‘Akquasun Global B2B Roadshow 2015’ that touched six cities—New Delhi, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru—received an overwhelming response from the travel trade.
According to BA Rahim, Group Director and CEO, Akquasun Group, this year’s B2B roadshow was even bigger with agents showing immense interest in knowing all Akquasun’s DMCs, online system and new additions to the group such as Philippines and South America.
He says, “We thank everyone for their support and contribution for the splendid response and success of the event. Year 2015-16 will also record an increase in overall contribution to the business from the respective markets. The response from all the six cities was more than we expected. We added some new agents in our portfolio from northern India. Apart from Akquasun’s 15 DMCs we had 38 participants including global sales offices in India from Starwood, Shangri La and Marriott Hotels.”
He added that 2015 had been a great year for Akquasun with business increase of 30 per cent and they are expecting to double business volumes in 2016 with the new online system in place. The online system, along with the introduction of Akquasun Global B2B MICE and its new DMCs in Philippines and South America were the main focus areas of this roadshow. “Every city received good footfall. It was almost 50 per cent more than what we expected. In Mumbai we estimated 250 and we welcomed almost 400-plus agents who came to meet all our DMCs and our participating partners,” adds Rahim.
Sujit Nair, Founder and Group MD, Akquasun Group, says, “The show was well attended and all the participants were very satisfied with the response. We believe the footfall was excellent in Ahmedabad and Delhi specially. Also all major travel agents attended the show in Chandigarh.”
The show saw almost 53 participants this year, compared to 27 last year and was attended by a record number of agents. “We had 250 agents in Delhi, 150 in Chandigarh, 220 in Ahmedabad and 400 agents in Mumbai. The focus was more on the DMCs we own and operate across the globe and introducing Philippines and South America this year. We also had major brands like Starwood, Marriott, One & Only, Banyan Tree, Chimelong, Regal Group of hotels, IHG, Beachcomber Group, Villa Hotels and tourism bodies like Macau and Seychelles,” Nair adds.