The way travel agents do business will change
India outbound’s trajectory in months to come as the world reels under the aftermath of a devastating virus.
According to
Regional Group COO, South Asia, Middle East & North Africa, Americas, VFS Global, the Indian market is well poised to touch the 50 million mark in the number of outbound tourists from India in the next decade. Speaking at TravTalk’s second Digital Conclave on April 21, he added, “VFS Global processed over 32 million visas in 2019. Out of this data, India contributes
Vinay Malhotra,
Vinay Malhotra
Operating Officer, InterGlobe Technology Quotient, who said, “In today's new normal of social distancing, people using
‘Namaste’ to greet is the first signal that that India itself is becoming a global market from a cultural point of view. That is the first fundamental aspect. The COVID-19 crisis is different from all the crisis we have faced in the past. Insights and different economic models predict how the situation will
“The way travel agents do business in the industry will change once the COVID-19 pandemic is over. Year 2020 is a halt, not a stop. No country can survive without tourism. How travel agents do business will definitely change. So, I would urge all travel agents to understand how the digital world works. Customers will have access to the digital world. So, if you have not equipped yourself with digital technologies to distribute and make your work happen, I am afraid that we will all be left behind.” continue to pose a risk to the tourism and aviation industry. If I try to bifurcate the future, it’ll consist of the short term, the - Vinay Malhotra
medium term and finally, the long term. If I investigate the medium- and long-term future, they look secure due to the resilient nature of tourism. That said, I would like to add that one must be cautious still of the optimism we are building.”
To this, President & Founder, TravelBullz, added, “I am sure it is going to be mutual learning. We will have to break down recovery into three segments: The first is to survive, then we get into recovery mode and resurgence is most likely to happen sometime
next year.”
KD Singh,
He explained that if one were to look at the last five-year numbers, especially for travel to short-haul destinations, this is one
– KD Singh
“We have been talking about ancillary sales for a very long time now and going forward, there will be more focus on ancillary sales. They are going to increase day by day and travel agents have to start educating themselves on this. As far as airlines are concerned, they want to commission all kinds of activities; it is not their normal course of business. Airlines would like to compensate a travel agent for any activity that is an extra revenue generator for them.”
– Sandeep Dwivedi
segment that is most likely to bounce back after domestic tourism in India. “Travel to shorthaul destinations outside India, like Dubai, Thailand, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia, etc., has almost doubled between 2015 and 2019. Countries like the Maldives have seen 100 per cent growth in the number of travellers from India in the last few years. Bali has also seen tremendous growth from India and Dubai is a shining example of how short-haul destinations are popular with Indians.”
What makes India lucrative?
India has everything required of a growing market. Malhotra says, “India has all kinds of travellers. We have all the ingredients in place, and I do feel that the stage is set and we are ready to catapult to an even better growth in the time to come. The ‘30 million outbound tourists’ mark could possibly grow up to 50 million, which is what most experts and research say for the next decade.” uncertainty around the duration of the recovery phase, predicting how long it will take for the situation to normalise economically will be tough. Of the parameters that will come into play, one would be social burden and the other, a financial burden. In earlier crisis, there was supply, but demand was a challenge. Right now, both demand and supply are choked, with total suspension of travel. Demand is suppressed due to dislocations and we are going to see slow or negative GDP growth. I believe the broken supply chain will develop low consumer confidence, and nobody knows when the situation will improve. It is very difficult to predict when the industry is going to bounce back.
The restrictions will not be lifted overnight; travel will start again in a staggered manner,” he says.
Dwivedi adds that when we speak of international travel, recovery will be very gradual. “That said, when we look at it from India’s perspective, though CAPA has talked about recovery