1 ISSUE 10 / Volume XI / August 2020
ISSUE 10 / Volume XI / August 2020
Longing to travel again? Have the experts assist you in getting the first phase of your post-Covid travel out of the way. Read our article with information straight from VFS Global to have all your visa queries answered and to be assured of a safe and convenient visa application process.
Rs.50 / Pages 64
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EDITOR’S NOTE
Travel - Treading A New Path. During the past few months we witnessed the COVID-19 virus spread around the world, both swiftly and aggressively, and without going anywhere our perspectives and values changed more than ever before. India implemented one of the strictest measures in the world to contain the virus and our team was not only cut off from travel, we could barely leave the confines of our homes. Even though these measures meant our entire business model was impaired, we quickly realized we were amongst the more fortunate in our population. Millions in our country had to cope with starvation, being displaced from their homes, loss of health and even loss of loved ones. In spite of all this, the life-changing power of travel stayed with us and if anything, we have only appreciated travel more. Why? Because, we realize that without a globally connected and travelling society there would be reduced economic progress, little awareness of other cultures, little respect for other traditions, and much less intercultural exchange and hence knowledge and understanding. As this issue goes to print, coronavirus cases and deaths are still growing rapidly in our country. Economic recovery and support for the travel industry is yet to gain long-overdue traction and it still feels like we are very much in the eye of the storm. However, we decided from the get-go that this issue would abstain from focusing on the tragedies and losses this year has brought and instead, look into the future and explore how we can move forward from here. We asked enterprising business owners & professionals to advise us on how to restart work and searched for ways to travel more thoughtfully and responsibly moving forward. Where we go from here can be better than where we came from. It simply depends on how we adapt and respond. Let’s take this time to reinvent ourselves and address the social, environmental, and economic issues that arise from tourism and come back stronger and better than ever before.
Publisher & Editor Srishti Rai Director Bharat S. Rai Creative Head Shulabh Gupta Managing Editor Prem Kumar GM - Marketing Prem Sagar premsagar@tnhindia.com (M) +91 99106 81111 Art Director Sunny Singh Correspondent (Kolkata) Swaati Chaudhury Accounts Chander Shakher Balodi Administration Executive Sarwat Jahan For any query : info@tnhindia.com
Publisher & Editor Srishti Rai
www.tnhglobal.com Printed, published and owned by Srishti Rai. Printed at Naveen Printers, F-11 B, Okhla Industrial Area, Ph-1, New Delhi-110020, Published at C-4, 2nd Floor, Community Center, Safdarjung Development Area, Opp Main IIT Gate, New Delhi-110016;
@tnhmagazine
CONTENTS
21 25
07
Thoughts on Leading Through a Crisis
13
Getting ready to travel again? Have all your visa related questions answered straight from the experts.
Where Do Hotels Go From Here? Unravelling Maldives One Picture at a Time
37 41 45
Imagining Indian Tourism’s recovery with InterGlobe Technology Quotient’s Sandeep Dwivedi
VFS Global launches COVID-19 PCR and Antibody testing service in the UAE
How two founders with a combined net worth of no more than 20 lakhs built a company with a user base of over 170 million travellers: An Interview With Aloke Bajpai, Co-founder & CEO, Ixigo.
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How are Travel Agencies dealing with Covid-19?
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Seven Self Care Habits to Work Into Your Routine
07 Leadership Strategy
Thoughts on Leading Through a Crisis Running a business is difficult even under normal circumstances and the ability to balance growth and stability is often difficult for the best of leaders. From supervising people to attracting and retaining customers and of course managing cash flows, there are always a number of challenges facing businesses. Of course, these are far from normal circumstances. As Marriot’s CEO Arne Sorenson points out, the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic is far greater than that of 9/11 and the 2009 financial crisis. In the following article, that was first published on Linked In’s website, Sorenson gives us a master class on leadership and crisis management.
Arne M. Sorenson is President and Chief Executive Officer of Marriott International, Inc. In his role, Mr. Sorenson presides over one of the world’s largest hospitality companies and some of the most iconic brands in travel.
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When I took over as CEO of Marriott International eight years ago, the company had already weathered the 2008 economic downturn and watched the twin towers and a neighboring Marriott hotel come down on September 11th. Having helped to navigate those crises as part of Bill Marriott’s team, I thought that business would never be that bad again. But look at us now. Today’s global health and economic crisis is truly unprecedented, worse than anything most companies have ever faced. As a leader, I knew back in January when we saw the first impact of COVID-19 on our hotels in China that extraordinary times were ahead. We would have to be nimble – responding with speed and boldness to tackle the vast array of new challenges brought on by the crisis. Through it all, I knew also that we had to remain true to our core values which include putting people first and acting with integrity. Over the last six months, we’ve closed hundreds of hotels, furloughed thousands of employees and developed entirely new cleaning and food and beverage protocols for more than 7,400 hotels globally. We’ve dealt with immediate concerns: supporting our associates; gathering appropriate cleaning supplies for our hotels; closing our corporate headquarters. But as this crisis has continued, I’ve tried to take the longer view – anticipating what’s next: tomorrow, next quarter and next year. My guideposts have been three simple tenets of leadership: listen, empower, communicate.
Listen Empower
Communicate
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Listen My boss, Bill Marriott, taught me the power of listening decades ago. I was 34 years old, a partner in a Washington, D.C. law firm brought in to deal with Marriott’s decision to split the company into Marriott International and Host Marriott and the litigation that followed. Bill would call me regularly and ask “What happened today? What’s going on tomorrow?” He did this with people across the company. Even though he had a general counsel and CFO on top of the deal, he wanted to sound me out too, both to make sure he knew what was going on and to inspire and motivate me because my opinion mattered. I’ve tried to replicate that approach, especially during a time when we’re all working remotely. I start my calls with questions: “What are you working on?” “What do you think?” “How are you doing?” The depth of this crisis is so great that we must get the input we need to understand the crisis and our options for dealing with it. Empower This isn’t a time to be a micromanager. In a crisis, leaders have to empower their teams and trust them to get it right. Prior to COVID-19, I used to host monthly, all-day staff meetings with the senior leadership team. Data and analysis were presented, and we would thoughtfully dissect ideas. “Tell me exactly what you’re going to do. How will we get there?” That worked then. It does not work today. Instead, knowing that we needed to move quickly and with much less data to support the decisions that needed to be made, we shifted to a weekly, two-hour meeting schedule. It’s very efficient. When you’re confronting a global crisis like this one, you’ve got to move fast. While we might
identify every major decision that needed to be made in those meetings, the decisions themselves often could not wait until we were back together again. That means the team needed to be empowered. Let them make decisions. And stand by them. The results have been fast and bold, just as we needed. Communicate Finally, this crisis has been an important reminder of the critical role of communication. I’ve always been a big communicator – with our associates, our owners and our guests. But during this crisis, I thought it imperative to be even more visible, especially with the most difficult aspects of our challenges. The more difficult the decision, the greater the need to explain how the decision was made, the factors that went into it and why. Not everyone will agree with our decisions, for sure. But they will at least understand them. Even in the midst of this incredible challenge, our communications also must chart a direction for the future and a sense of hope. That’s translated into creating more longer-form emails and videos for associates than usual. One video ran for 11 minutes. It was long, but I can’t think of a more important time to share where we are going. This global crisis is far from over. But still, I remain optimistic about the future. With the help of leaders – in government, in business and in the non-profit space – around the world, we’ll get through this – by listening, empowering others and communicating our plans. Stay safe and be well.
13 Featured Interview
Getting ready to travel again? Have all your visa related questions answered straight from the experts.
Featured Interview
Despite being one of the industries hardest hit by COVID-19, the travel and tourism industry is ready to bounce back. Global lockdowns are easing and people are rearing to resume travel for business, study and tourism. But for most of us, before we can even think of hopping onto a flight aborad we need to get our visas in place. To help us, Vinay Malhotra, Regional Group Chief Operating Officer (for South Asia, Middle East & North Africa, and Americas), VFS Global (the world’s largest visa outsourcing and technology service specialist for governments and diplomatic missions) addresses some common questions on the mind of most travel planners.
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The below following FAQs are as of 28 July 2020 – rules, regulations and policies relating to the travel sector are changing often, hence please check official travel advisories of the country you are travelling to and respective airline booking portals or contact your trusted travel agent for the most updated information. Also, VFS Global has set up a dedicated webpage for COVID-19 customer advisories (www.vfsglobal.com/covid-19), that is updated daily and covers visa application processes for the 64 governments we serve worldwide, including all operations in India. To aid customer queries and concerns, an FAQ page here also has a wide variety of questions that customers would like answered.
Will Visa Application Centres open for appointments once lockdowns lift? VFS Global does not decide about the re-opening of a Visa Application Centre on its own and operates strictly in accordance with the directives of the central and local government authorities and the diplomatic mission of the country (i.e. Embassy/ Consulate) for which a visa is being applied. We strongly recommend that you check the regulations by not only the host government, but also that of the destination country you plan to visit. You may visit www.vfsglobal.com or contact your travel agent for details. In India, as of 28 July 2020, the following Visa Application Centres have re-opened (all openings are subject to local lockdown regulations in the respective cities)* –
*As this list gets updated regularly, please visit the country-specific website on www. vfsglobal.com for the most current information.
When services resume, can one avoid visiting a Visa Application Centre as a physical distancing precaution? Once services resume, customers who wish to avoid visiting public places can also use our optional services, such as the highly popular Visa At Your Doorstep service for application submission. With this service, trained VFS Global staff will visit the customer’s location of choice (home, office, etc.) to complete the visa application submission process and/or biometric enrolment if needed, while maintaining necessary health precautions. In India, this service is available for 17 destination countries, and will resume after lockdown subject to approvals from the concerned embassy/consulate. Countries for which Visa At Your Doorstep service is available: Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Portugal, Slovakia, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. For details, check www.vfsglobal.com or reach out to your trusted travel agent. Special incentives are available for travel partners using the Visa At Your Doorstep service. For details, contact your local VFS Global representative. Regular service customers can also opt for the courier service to get their passports back, for visa services that have re-opened.
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What happens to my passport that I submitted before services were suspended? The passport return process is already underway for some countries, based on approvals received from the concerned Embassy/Consulate. Generally, when the Visa Application Centres re-open, VFS Global will evaluate at which stage of assessment each application is (i.e. whether it is still being assessed at the Embassy/Consulate or has been returned to the VFS Global) and initiate the passport return process. We would like to assure our customers that passports that were returned to us from the Embassy/Consulate prior to the lockdown are in safe custody. Will I be required to submit medical history for visa applications? VFS Global does not seek a medical report for customers visiting our Centres, though medical reports may be a part of the required documentation for some visa applications (these may or may not be related to COVID-19). Governments may introduce health screening measures or Covid-19 PCR tests going forward, so make sure you’ve carefully been through the updated document checklist for the country you’re visiting, in case any medical and vaccination histories are required as part of your visa application. Pls visit the country-specific website on www.vfsglobal.com or contact your trusted travel agent for this information . Can I travel if I have a work or residency permit? This depends entirely on the country you are travelling to. Several countries have put in place border control measures, temporarily disallowing certain non-essential travellers from submitting visa
applications or entering the country even if you hold a valid visa. Make sure you’re checking regulations of not only your government, but also that of the country you plan to visit. What happens to a valid visa if the country in question has restricted/banned travel? Those whose existing visas have expired, or are expiring soon, can re-apply for a fresh visa when visa operations resume. Do I get a refund if my visa was already issued but I could not travel? In general, if a visa has already been issued, the fees cannot be refunded since the entire application process has already been completed. However, some governments may have specific policies on extension of expired visas, and this varies from country to country. Visas are also sometimes valid for several months and can be used for travel at a later stage. What are health and safety precautions implemented at the centres? As part of physical distancing precautions, customers must have a prior appointment (that can be booked online) to visit the Centre. As per guidelines prescribed by the World Health Organization, as well as local authorities across India, customers and employees at Visa Application Centres may be subject to body temperature checks and must wear facemasks for their own protection and that of others. Other preventive measures are also being maintained at VFS Global Visa Application Centres across India such as disinfecting high-contact surfaces, use of hand sanitizers, and social distancing practices.
21 Opinion
Where Do Hotels Go From Here? In the new normal, hotel infrastructure redesign and modern technology to provide safe and contactless experiences is going to dictate the future of the hospitality landscape. Significant changes may be seen in every aspect of the guest journey. Hotels and restaurant entrances may be sensor enabled to avoid contact. Also, check-in and check-out kiosks and keyless entry to rooms, may be the new norm.
By Vineet Verma
Vineet Verma has more than three decades of rich experience in the hospitality and retail sectors. He is the CEO & Executive Director of Brigade Hospitality Services Limited.
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More automation in rooms and public areas is likely to gain prominence. Furthermore, future hotel rooms will likely allow guests to manage the lighting and temperature settings from their own mobile device and guests can expect to find appropriate signboards within the premises to aid social distancing. Advanced solutions for thermal screening will come to use and hotels will be looking at retrofitting luggage scanners with UV lights for disinfecting luggage. Automated solutions for Hygiene, sanitizing, and disinfecting will become common practice as they guarantee efficiency in safety protocols. With regards to Food and Beverage outlets, live counters will dominate future dining spaces, as show kitchens will help build guest confidence relating to safety and hygiene standards. Guests may look forward to a micro-social dining environment instead of community seating considering the social distancing factor. Even furniture design will get a makeover; individual couch seating will be a preferred option over large sofas. Restaurants with cabanas would be able to capitalize their cabanas as they convey a sense of safety to the patrons. Moving forward, design will be simple, straight line and minimalistic. Having an alfresco area as part of an indoor venue will turn out to be an ideal setting as open space will become a sought-after option over an enclosed one, in cities that offer pleasant weather. Hoteliers will implement enhanced communications within the room, underlining the significance of hygiene and sanitation practices to reassure guests of safety. New hotels will look at using low or no contact features in lighting, plumbing as well as consider a sensor-enabled mechanism for frequently contacted surfaces in the guestroom like switch panels, flush plates and other bathroom fittings. Mini Bars in rooms can be sensor-enabled wherein when an item is withdrawn from the bar
it gets billed to your folio resulting in minimal associate entry to guest rooms, which will also result in, cutting down revenue loss. The reality is that, no one knows the future of hospitality just yet. The answers coming from the industry’s stakeholders, myself included, are still mostly speculation. Human beings are social creatures and we look forward to a cure and a vaccine being found at the earliest for COVID19. We can only hope that we can get back to meeting people and enjoying their company at hotels or otherwise, without being concerned much about social distancing. About the Author Vineet Verma has more than three decades of rich experience in the hospitality and retail sectors. He is the CEO & Executive Director of Brigade Hospitality Services Limited. His group’s hotel ventures include the Sheraton Grand, Bangalore; Four Points by Sheraton, Kochi Infopark; Grand Mercure, Bangalore; Grand Mercure, Mysuru; Holiday Inn – Chennai and Holiday Inn Express & Suites, Bengaluru. Brigade Hospitality also run lifestyle membership clubs such as Signature Club Resort, The Woodrose, Augusta, Galaxy and Regent Club and convention centres like the MLR Convention Centre in JP Nagar and MLR Convention Centre in Whitefield. Furthermore, the company is also involved in institutional catering, outdoor catering and independent senior living services under its sub brand “Celebrations LLP”.
Aerial View, Soneva Jani
25 Photo Essay
Unravelling Maldives One Picture at a Time That the Covid-19 pandemic shall soon be behind us is a forgone conclusion. And when that joyous day dawns upon us all, travel we shall. In the interim, however, pictures will have to suffice and since a picture paints a thousand words, seekers of all things sunny and blue can loose themselves in drool worthy imagery of two sumptuous Maldivian Resorts - Soneva Jani and St Regis Vommuli Resort. Bon voyage!
Words by Mandira Rai
Dinner at the Over Water Observatory, Soneva Jani
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Water Villa with Slide, Soneva Jani
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Ariel View, St Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort
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Jungle Cinema by Night, St Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort
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Overwater Villa with Pool, St Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort
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37 Technology
Imagining Indian Tourism’s recovery with InterGlobe Technology Quotient’s - Sandeep Dwivedi InterGlobe Technology Quotient’s Chief Operating Officer, Sandeep Dwivedi, feels that India’s tourism sector will regain its 2019 level by 2022. According to Dwivedi, employing enhanced safety mechanisms, rebuilding comfortable travel experiences and offering more options to travellers can revive confidence in travel and start its recovery. Here, Dwivedi shares his thoughts about the future of travel and tells us about Travelport’s latest innovations.
1. According to you, which segment of the tourism industry has been hit hardest due to the pandemic? A difficult question indeed as every segment seems to be direly hit. Airlines have been deeply impacted. We have airlines filing for bankruptcy, including Virgin Atlantic which has filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection in the US and LATAM for Chapter 11. We also have airlines like Flybe ceasing operations altogether. In June 2020, IATA projected a collective annual loss of US$84 billion for airlines - almost thrice the amount of loss faced during 2008-09 financial crisis and an additional US$15 billion of loss is projected through 2021, which is going to adversely affect the overall business cycle of the industry. Certainly, the hospitality sector is even more adversely hit. While confidence is slowly building up in travel via airplanes, there is still a huge hesitance when it comes to dining out. Further, it is start-ups and small enterprises in our industry that are massively hit since a lot of them were still in the formative years of growth before taking the pandemic blow.
Sandeep Dwivedi COO, InterGlobe Technology Quotient
2. Looking at the current situation, when do you expect a tangible recovery in the tourism sector? It is hard to say when the sector will recover considering frequent shifts in market sentiment. But the Indian tourism industry, as many reports seem to claim, is expected to reach close to its 2019 level by 2022. Much still remains to be seen, given the unpredictable and unstable consequences of this pandemic, as spouts of cases emerge soon after slight hope of recovery surfaces. Yet to put it concisely, rise in the tourism sector’s recovery is directly proportional to confidence in safety of travel and decline in the number of impacted people. So, as the medical industry endeavours to develop a vaccine for this virus, the tourism industry will continue to innovate means for safer, contactless travel during the pandemic, which will ultimately accelerate recovery.
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39 3. In your opinion, what should be the strategy of the Government and the industry to revive tourism in the country? Government of India certainly appears to be taking necessary actions for national safety, however, some major support, including but not limited to economic packages for ailing airlines, shall prove a welcome aid. With regards to the tourism revival strategy, our industry has been mindful of the market shifts and sentiments, taking note of enhanced safety requirements insisted or signaled upon by travellers. What we see can revive and instigate recovery is reinstating confidence in travel by employing enhanced safety mechanisms; rebuilding comfortable and enhanced travel experience amid and beyond the pandemic; bringing more options and alternatives for travel to the travellers; and opening channels for two-way and more thoughtful communication; among other things.
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4.How is ITQ navigating through these challenging times? With mindfulness and innovation is how we have been treading through these challenging times. ITQ has been persistent in picking the smallest needs of our travel agent community and building up our services and products to offer a smooth travel booking and management experience. From consistent revival and development trainings with agents to linear entry for processing refunds; 24X7 support to joint webinars with airlines; a COVID-19 airline policy tracker to an airline health and safety tracker; we have ensured our community of travel agents receive a seamless stream of services and aids for smooth business operations irrespective of the times. 5. Are you planning to launch any new product to assist travel agents in the COVID-19 world? The quest towards a better and enhanced platform is eternal at ITQ and Travelport, irrespective of the times. Naturally, this pandemic has forced us to put enhanced emphasis on safety and that is where we have been working hard to innovate. Recently, our technology partner has launched a COVID-19 Smartpoint Plugin, which gives travel agencies the latest information on government restrictions, lockdowns and safety measures across the globe, all within the agent workflow. They have also
launched an Airline Health and Safety Tracker, which highlights the safety measures being undertaken by more than 80 of the world’s largest airlines. ITQ too has been innovating; we are using chatbot technology among others to bring an enhanced travel booking and management experience for our customers. 6. How are you guiding and helping your trade partners so that they can survive through these difficult times? As a strong neural system for the travel agent community, ITQ has been a relentless harbinger of hope and data, be it in the form of detailed documents, including tutorials and insights; or leadership and technical trainings, including exclusive webinars; or innovative tools including policy plugin and tracker. We have stood strong in support of our travel partners, day and night, and are relentlessly innovating to bring enhanced capabilities in addition to our inimitable technology. 7. How do you see the role of technology in mitigating the impact of the current crisis? Contactless has been the new normal ever since the world was hit by this pandemic. To normalize contactless, and reinstate comfort and confidence in travel, technology seems imperative. Many innovations have already made, like mass fever screening and biometric-based self-boarding for travellers’ safety and comfort. There are still many in the pipeline building on the science of robotics and artificial intelligence, including a few which seemed rather futuristic before the pandemic but now are due to make their way much sooner than anticipated.
41 News
VFS Global launches COVID-19 PCR and Antibody testing service in the UAE • Seamless and convenient process from appointment booking to delivery of the result • Service offered in partnership with the UAE Ministry of Health approved and certified testing laboratories • ‘At Your Doorstep’ testing service option available for enhanced convenience and safety
“We believe a convenient and reliable pre-departure COVID-19 testing solution can become a catalyst in the recovery process of international travel by providing an assurance to destination countries, airlines and travellers and by becoming a major riskmitigator. Countries might even consider making this mandatory for all incoming travellers to ease the pressure of testing upon arrival.� Vinay Malhotra, Regional Group COO – South Asia, Middle East & North Africa, Americas
43 As borders reopen and travel restrictions ease gradually, a convenient and reliable pre-departure COVID-19 testing solution may become a catalyst in the recovery process of international travel by providing an assurance to destination countries, airlines and travellers and by becoming a major risk-mitigator. Some countries have already made this a mandatory requirement, while many others are seriously considering implementing the same for all incoming travellers to ease the pressure of on-arrival testing. To meet the rising demand, VFS Global, the world’s largest visa outsourcing and technology services specialist for governments and diplomatic missions worldwide, has announced the launch of a COVID-19 Diagnostic PCR and Antibody testing service starting from 03 August 2020 in the UAE. The service is offered in partnership with UAE Ministry of Health approved and certified testing laboratories.
exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms such as dry cough, difficulty in breathing, and high fever, or by even those who do not have any symptom but would like to get themselves tested.
While VFS Global provides a seamless online appointment booking system, tests are conducted by trained medical professionals from approved and certified testing laboratories. The test reports are directly sent by the partnered laboratory to the registered email address of the individual within 24 hours, ensuring confidentiality.
VFS Global is also working on offering a convenient, reliable, and secure COVID-19 testing service globally in partnership with reputed medical service providers authorised to carry out tests. Following the launch in UAE, we are now focusing on rollingout the service in China, Egypt, India and Saudi Arabia in a phased manner. A negative COVID-19 test result does not guarantee a positive visa decision. Visa decision-making remains the exclusive prerogative of the concerned government and VFS Global plays no role in the decision-making process. Customers are advised to check for latest travel advisories from local and intended destination’s healthcare authority regarding any international travel. The partnered testing laboratories accept appointments from Sunday to Thursday between 0900hrs – 1800 hrs.
Customers can have their test sample collected either at the partnered certified laboratory in Ajman, Dubai, or Sharjah, or at a location of choice within the UAE using the ‘At Your Doorstep’ service. An exclusive fast track service and a dedicated help desk is provided for VFS Global customers to reduce the waiting time. Speaking on the launch of the service, Vinay Malhotra, Regional Group COO – South Asia, Middle East & North Africa, Americas, said, “We believe a convenient and reliable pre-departure COVID-19 testing solution can become a catalyst in the recovery process of international travel by providing an assurance to destination countries, airlines and travellers and by becoming a major risk-mitigator. Countries might even consider making this mandatory for all incoming travellers to ease the pressure of testing upon arrival.” The COVID-19 Diagnostic PCR and Antibody testing service is open for all and is not limited to travellers. The service can be availed by anyone
Steps to apply for the COVID-19 Diagnostic PCR and/or Antibody testing service: 1. Schedule an appointment online or by speaking to a call centre agent at +971 42055906 2. Provide Emirates ID and personal information before making payment using Debit or Credit card 3. Proceed to take the test as per the appointment date, time, and location 4. Receive the test result within 24 hours on the registered email address
For appointment booking & general information, visit www.vfsglobal.com/uaecovidtest/. For any queries customer can send an email at covidtest@vfsglobal.com or call the helpline at +971 42055906.
45 Entrepreneurship
How two founders with a combined net worth of no more than 20 lakhs built a company with a user base of over 170 million travellers: An Interview With Aloke Bajpai, Co-founder & CEO, Ixigo. Words by Prem Kumar
Aloke Bajpai launced Ixigo back in 2007. Today the intelligent, AIbased travel app, has a user base of over 170 million travellers and uses Artificial Intelligence for everthing from deal discovery, personalized recommendations, airfare predictions, train delay information, PNR confirmation predictions to providing fully-automated customer service over chat and voice. Their innovation in the travel booking space have attracted investors like Sequoia Capital India, Fosun RZ Capital, SAIF Partners, MakeMyTrip & Micromax. TnH caught up with him to learn about his journey.
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1. Tell us a little bit about your early career. What drove you to become an entrepreneur and venture into the travel sector? I was working for a travel technology company in France, called Amadeus. I started my career with them. That is where I met Rajnish (Cofounder) as well. Post that I went to NCAD for my business school. At business school, I tried to get into consulting but got rejected by the big four, dejected actually, and thought of returning to India and doing something of my own. So I came back here, didn’t have any money, and at the time was working for a company which was into travel technology ERP. In 2006, one fine day, I sent in my resignation and decided it was time to take the plunge into entrepreneurship. It looked like an exciting time to start something in the travel space in India, but we still had not figured out what. Rajnish was also excited about moving back to India and starting something of his own. When you work in the south of France, you need a lot of motivation to quit your job and move back to India, but we collectively made that hard choice and there was no looking back. We started working on the idea of ixigo in late 2006. It’s been 13 years now, since Rajnish and I started ixigo and it’s been an exciting journey. 2. When and how did you come up with the idea of ixigo? The idea of ixigo was born from our own pain areas as travellers, during our prior stint with Amadeus in Europe (a leading travel technology company powering major global airlines). We felt that though there were plenty of travel sellers online in the form of online travel agents or the airline/hotel/agent websites, but there were not enough websites or apps who were solving for the real problems travellers faced, helping them plan their trips with better information, letting them compare and book the best travel deals from across all these sellers, and helping them manage their trips with them in control. We launched ixigo in Gurgaon in June 2007 running on a 512 Kb DSL connection from our apartment. We remember being overwhelmed by traffic within the first few hours. We knew we were onto
something, and over the next year we bootstrapped and grew to hundreds of thousands of unique users every month finding the best flight deals within seconds. 3. How much money did you start with? How did you fund your subsequent growth? When Rajnish and I started ixigo with other cofounders, we did not even have INR 20 Lakhs of savings between us. We both had liabilities and responsibilities to take care of, so we also worked on freelance projects for others just to keep things going.We managed to raise a small seed round from a Singapore based fund in early 2008 and the Global financial crisis happened just while we were in the midst of our Series A process, leaving us with just a few months of runway in September 2008. We were lucky to have a small but very talented and supportive team right and they stood by us in difficult times offering to work even at steep pay cuts. We not just managed to survive those 3 tough years, but also came out with close to a million monthly users on the other side, and a healthy growth in revenue despite the heavily funded OTAs spending millions of dollars every month on massmarket campaigns. Those first 5 bootstrapping years taught us a lot – we grew our startup to 1 million monthly users with less than 1 million dollars of capital and we did it the hard and old-fashioned way - relying on word of mouth (because our marketing budget was zero) and sheer product innovation. They helped instill frugality, perseverance and a growth hacking mindset in our culture. We struggled initially to raise money but eventually managed to partner with some of the best investor names in India. 4. What was the hardest part in the early stage of the company’s growth? What has been the biggest challenge you faced until you established your business firmly? During our journey, we learned that the biggest make or break for startups is not funding, not revenue, not market size, not timing, not even scale, but people. If you have the right people, you will figure out a way around all your problems, find what to build to grow faster, and do whatever is needed to survive in any situation. Building a hard-
working, committed and passionate team, setting very high standards of customer excellence and product quality, and reacting fast to changes in the market allows startups to build resilience and strive for excellence. Even in extremely competitive markets, if you know your customers better than the incumbents, have a leaner and better team and culture, and if you can innovate on product and growth, you will end up creating a product or service users will love to tell others about, and you will keep growing faster than competition who would be throwing money and people at their problems. So, treat your team as you would treat your family, and keep a very low tolerance for bullshit. Also – if someone tells you that you can’t do something, work twice as hard the next day and prove them wrong.
bartered with TV channels to promote our brand on television and we have done distribution deals with Flipkart.
5. What were your marketing strategies to grow your business? What are the most effective customer acquisition strategies an online business should rely on?
Travel and hospitality was one of the hardest hit sectors due to the pandemic. With everything on a standstill, the industry has suffered a lot during the 2 month lockdown. However as India unlocks, we are amazed with the response we have seen in travel bookings post flights and trains resuming operations. A recent travel sentiment survey done by us shows that 68% Indians are willing to travel amidst the pandemic. Recent trends show that the fear and apprehension have slowly dissipated as travellers have learnt to live with the virus. Our booking data shows there is a rise in travel from non-metros to metros week on week and bookings across key routes in June have increased by 45-50% as compared to May last week when domestic flights had just reopened. This has given us hope that travel bookings will bounce back to pre-COVID levels sooner than expected.
We believe in Zero dollar marketing. For us, leveraging the power of content, videos and social media has been one of the most effective tools to drive more app adoption and brand awareness. Videos, social media, moment marketing and tweet jacking have the potential of reaching millions of people together, which is not possible with TV channels. ixigo, today is the most used travel app in the country. Last year, we did more app downloads than all the other travel apps combined and we did it by spending less than 1 percent of their combined budget. Some of the learnings for us were that you are able to build the product that builds an organic pull. Organic downloads is the most critical starting point. Building a great customer experience is one of our growth hacks. At ixigo, we all are responsible for the customer’s satisfaction. I think more than the product, it’s the customer experience that matters the most. We have also explored strategic barter deals that have allowed us to accelerate organic growth without burning a hole in our pocket. We have
7. What advice would you give to those who have just started their companies? Dream big and have faith in yourself. Don’t give up on your dream because of present constraints but take the plunge regardless. Finding the right co-founder is also the key when it comes to the first step and building a team that believes in your dream and vision just as much as you. 8. The COVID has changed everything for the travel industry. How are you coping with the crisis? What is your revival plan?
The health and security of our customers is always our top priority and we have rolled out a slew of initiatives to help them fly more confidently given the current situation. As travel demand recovers, we want our users to feel confident and safe and give them a flexible, stress-free booking experience. We recently launched a special flight fare feature- ixigo assured- which guarantees a full refund upto Rs.5000 on any domestic flight booking cancellation. We conceived, partnered, developed and launched this product within a record span of 3 weeks, as soon as it became evident that travellers would increasingly face a dilemma while booking
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their next trip as soon as flights resume. We are raising awareness on the importance of maintaining hygiene while travelling and some common coronavirus myths and facts on our website , apps & social media platforms. We are also updating our users on the latest airline and state travel policies through our COVID-19 info page to help them plan their trips better.
51 Trade Talks
How are Travel Agencies dealing with Covid-19? Travel agencies are facing a huge stress test and immediate disruption to business as entire populations are encouraged or even forced not to travel. In an effort to understand how travel agency businesses are coping with the COVID-19 crisis, we asked three hard-working travel agency owners how they are keeping the lights on when nearly all travel has been cancelled or postponed. Â
Business
were stopped. The fear psychosis took over and everybody decided to stay put. I believe fear has two meanings. Firstly, forget everything and run followed by face everything and rise. Unfortunately not many took the second option. 4. The travel agency business is tough at the best of times. What are some of the ways you protect yourself financially?
Sanjay Datta, Airborne Travels 1. Please briefly tell us about your company, your product, services, clients and size. Airborne is a diverse company with four verticals, corporate travel, leisure travel (holidays), corporate events and lastly wedding and social events. Our client base is predominantly corporate and their confidence in us has always been our strength. Our corporate events are also based on the same strength. The weddings and social events division had been doing well the last few years before the pandemic hit. 2. How much work do you have lined up for the rest of 2020? A few bookings are in the pipeline but everything is on standby as most clients are either awaiting a cure or a vaccination for covid-19. Only a few domestic bookings have begun but as of now it is only a trickle. 3. What happened to your business when the covid-19 crisis hit? The crisis has been global and business has been hit 100%. Some effect was seen in january/february itself but cancellations really started coming in end february onwards. From march travel came to a complete standstill and international flights
The only way you can protect yourself financially is to be on top of your business. Relationships still matter, delays are there but in the case of corporates the money usually comes sooner or later. 5. Travel has been at a complete standstill until now. What have you done or introduced since lockdown? We have been trying to be proactive and looking at different avenues for inflow of funds . We are exploring Cargo, Wellness and road travel as alternative revenue streams. Another avenue is packages within India. 6. How have you been approaching your finances in the past few months? Cash is king, and I believe we must conserve it during these uncertain times. However, retaining the same is an issue, as we need to look after our staff that has been with us for an average of 1820 years. Cash reserves have been depleting and unfortunately there has been no support from the Government what so ever. 7. What’s your approach to the next few months? I plan to think positive, look after my health and be calm. Although the tunnel seems long, there will be light at the end of the tunnel no doubt. 8. Do you have any advice for other business owners? Business owners should use this time to rethink business strategies and reinvent their businesses. My advice would be not to put all your eggs in one basket and diversify if possible. We are all out of our comfort zone right now and we need to face this situation head-on albeit with caution.
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53 pilgrimage tourism, which we actually never ventured into earlier. Attending these webinars has been a great source of knowledge for us. 4. Have you looked into government assistance? When I heard the Honorable Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s curt reply ‘theek hai’ to a question related to the plight of tourism during a press conference, I knew that no relief would be offered which is actually a shame. We wanted our government to at least hold our hand during this difficult period by instructing IATA and all airlines to refund our dues. This could have helped small and medium-sized agents to have liquid funds to survive in these tough and challenging times. 5. Do you have any words of advice for other small businesses?
Neeraj Malhotra, Ganpati Travels 1. Tell us a bit about your business. After working for various companies for almost 12 years, My wife and I formed Ganpati Travels in the Year 1996. Our agency caters to large and mediumsized corporates. We offer services such as flight bookings, hotel reservations and visa assistance. We also provide travel, conference and wedding packages. 2. How have you and your business coped with the ban on travel? We all know that this pandemic has hit our industry really hard. The entire travel, tourism and hospitality industry is facing the same storm but to make the most of the lockdown my team and I attended various webinars to reeducate ourselves and learn new techniques and tools for when business reopens. Presently we all are working from home. 3. What have you found particularly helpful during this period? As mentioned, our entire team was engaged in attending different webinars related to travel and tourism and finding new and different avenues of business beyond ticketing and visa assistance. We are gradually pursuing adventure, sports and
Apart from running my business, I have an additional responsibility of representing TAAI as its Chairman in the Northern Region. Many of our members call on me to seek my advice to survive in these troubled times. What I have been telling our members is: i. Cut down your expenses to the minimum. ii. Two companies can join together to share certain expenses. They can do this by sharing office space, electricity and other utility payments, select staff and many other such expenses, which I think is the need of the hour. iii. Always save for a rainy day.
Business
has resulted in dramatic disruptions leading to new paradigms.Moving forward, quick decisions will ensure sustainability even though the business faces unpredictable demand, slipping revenues, and fixed overhead costs. In all of this to me a sense of satisfaction prevails to have facilitated many stranded travelers to and from various destinations during this upheaval. I feel humbled and grateful to have contributed even though these have been nonrevenue services. 3. What are some business decisions you made from the get-go protect to your business once the lockdown was announced
Ranjit Vig, Caair Travels 1. Tell us a bit about your business. I have been a part of the industry for over three and a half decades. In the initial years of my career I served as the head of international operations for a few large conglomerates. In this job I lived out of a suitcase in markets spanning 3 continents, until the travel bug got the better of me and I decided to become an entrepreneur and founded CAAIR TRAVELS in 1985. CAAIR has been a corporate centric agency servicing the travel related needs for large multinational and national business organizations by offering an array of travel related solutions. In the year 1993 American Express came forward to invite us to join them in a strategic alliance as the appointed representative of their Global Partner Network in India. Over time with the changes in industry and in line with the growing needs of our customers, we diversified our portfolio into Leisure and M.I.C.E. Today we are a TMC that also does Destination and Event Management activities. 2. How has the lockdown impacted you. Like the rest of our peers, we are at standstill with uncertainty and lack of clarity over when, where, and how travel will come to normalcy. The outbreak
We judiciously curtailed non-essential costs, assessed the current P&L and are trying to maintain the cash flows. Some part of the team has been adjusted on an amicable understanding with an open offer to rejoin as and when the situation improves. We have also formulated a win-win proposal for the key team. They are working on a revenue sharing basis and we are supporting them with infrastructure and technology to create a more viable work from home arrangement. Strategic thinking, housekeeping of data, financial analysis and future planning are some of the key involvements during this time which are often overlooked. We will need all hands on deck to move the ship in the direction that we need to weather this storm. 4. How did you pivot/adapt to sustain yourself through these Unprecedented times ? To be honest, yes it has been extremely stressful period however such situations pave the way to reflect on your surroundings, which may have been previously ignored. After damage control and cost mitigation, we are reviewing market opportunities that could be tweaked to increase relevance in these circumstances. In many ways this has been an opportunity to engage in several unfulfilled desires too, both personal or professional. 5. What are your expectations from the industry moving forward? Do you have a business continuity plan? No doubt it is going to be an uphill task, but given the nature of our industry, travel will rebound sooner than later. But, financial recovery of capital-
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55 Travel and Tourism community has a unique perspective with many “boots on the ground”, we deal with varied situations that drive us to find solutions for our customers in the gravest of moments. intensive airlines and hotels will take much longer. Travel companies must immediately resize and re-engineer their organization for a new normal. They need to meet the urgency of today and the demands of tomorrow. Application of new technologies to facilitate immediate responses, improve overall resilience and competitiveness, and reinvent the operational and administrative processes with remote workforce is important. Yes we do have a business continuity plan; we intend to remain lean and engage in collaborations with industry peers. This will bring an opportunity to work cohesively while remaining focused on our own core competency. Also, like I mentioned our existing core team is being offered a chance for greater participation. They will be able to take larger responsibility in the future and we will be able to maintain continuity with tenured customers. 6. What’s been the silver lining in all this? The pandemic has produced an abundance of “silver lining” experiences that have lifted spirits, improved productivity and forged relationships that will linger long after the corona virus leaves, thus all is not lost. Although this has been a forced time off with a lot of uncertainties, it has allowed many to pause and reflect back on several matters. Allowing us to go back to the drawing board to rewrite the path of business in the future. Of course, attending ignored personal matters is also a good off shoot to this. The climate of crisis is a great way to stress test your resilience and to prepare contingency plans. Further, if you have the right attitude, it is a great time to discover new opportunities too. As no crisis lasts forever companies that are nimble enough will weather the storm and thrive in the aftermath. Another silver lining is, we are seeing a spirit of camaraderie and unity in the industry and it gives me confidence that we will come out of this stronger than before. The ongoing crisis has taught us to cherish the people in our lives, and I think that also translates to the way we treat each other at work, especially as we try to make the best of a bad situation. 7. Do you have any words of advice for other travel businesses? The Travel and Tourism community has a unique perspective. With many “boots on the ground”, we deal with varied situations that drive us to find solutions for our customers in the gravest of moments. This makes it easier for us to deal with such adversity.In this time my advice to other travel business owners is to discuss collaborative partnerships, opportunities and ideas with fellow travel industry entrepreneurs. Also, look for bright spots in the tourism market like travel demand from areas not affected by travel restrictions and flight bans and target short-haul and drive markets. Remain transparent and honest about the true impact on your business so as to clear expectations. Furthermore, to renew customer confidence it is imperative to provide customers with a positive experience by being flexible, empathetic and understanding. So, be lenient in cancellations and help customers make the best of this challenging situation.
57 Lifestyle
Seven Self Care Habits to Work Into Your Routine What a time to be alive! We’re all living through a pandemic, in some degree of a “lock-down” in the comforts of our own home, with food on our tables, and the Internet allowing us to stay in touch with the ones we love.
Words by Anishka Bagla
Anishka was raised in India and she imbibed the philosophies of yoga and meditation from a very young age. In 2013 she did her first teacher training in Yoga and has now completed 500H in Hatha, vinyasa, Ayu-yoga, Yin, and Kids yoga (Lil Yogi Bears).
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Social distancing is an economic luxury. Reading this is a luxury. Read that again. We have so much to be grateful for. Everyday may not meet our expectations, but there is something good in every day. Let’s take a moment to shift our mindset from “I’m stuck at home” to “this is a great time to slow down”, or “my life is on hold” to “I can enjoy things in different ways”. We have one life, so let’s make each day count with a happy mind space. I acknowledge the contrast where it exists, and we are all affected in stressful times differently. For some of us the challenge is sickness, financial, or loneliness. The best we can do is act with compassion. This month has got me thinking on how to change my relationship with life, and respond to uncomfortable moments with kindness, understanding and care. We can’t have healthy relationships with others and ourselves if we operate from a place of depletion. Hence we must nourish ourselves and feel mentally, emotionally and physically fit to enjoy life to its fullest. This shouldn’t just apply during these #Covid-19 times. Here are some ideas to start making YOURSELF a priority: Put on a Face mask Don’t forget to leave your home without one, but don’t forget to remove this one before you leave! I love making my own masks from things in my kitchen. It’s easy, chemical free, cheap, and fun!
My favourite one is mix some yoghurt, olive oil, and fresh aloe vera gel. Try it and enjoy your skin feeling soft, nourished and happy. Pro tip: always test a new ingredient on the back of your hands before applying to your face. Move Lets face it, we complicate our lives. We want to be part of what’s trending and that puts a lot of stress on us. To stay fit and healthy, all we need to do it move in some form. Walk, dance, run, jump around or workout. I love to do yoga. It tones my entire body, increases my stamina, I sweat; yet I get off the mat feeling rejuvenated and calm. Yoga gave me tools to break away counter productive habits while cultivating new positive ones. My mind becomes flexible, as I am able to stretch my body and soul to unleash its optimum potential. Learn new things for fun Do things that bring you joy. I love learning new crafty things. I’ve recently started knitting. Yes, you may call me a grandma, but it helps to prepare for my future! Research shows that engaging in new activities activates brain cells. Can I get more wovol, please? Other options to stay young: Start painting, writing, cooking, a new sport, gratitude journal. One random act of kindness a day Hold the door open for someone, buy a coffee for the person behind you in line, pick up the litter on the street, text somebody something nice. Literally anything that can bring a smile to someone’s face. You might be the reason somebody’s day went better. Research shows an act of kindness boosts the wellbeing of the giver and the receiver! Double win.
61 Pranayama and meditation
Author Bio
You must see this everywhere by now. I cannot emphasize how much this helps. Even if its only for 5 minutes a day. Our overthinking, over anxious, over-everything minds needs a break. (Go on YouTube, put on my video, and simply follow.)
Anishka was raised in India and she imbibed the philosophies of yoga and meditation from a very young age. In 2013 she did her first teacher training in Yoga and has now completed 500H in Hatha, vinyasa, Ayu-yoga, Yin, and Kids yoga (Lil Yogi Bears). She believes that constant learning leads to growth. Recently she started Soul Side Wellness, a platform to spread the magic of yogic teachings to everyone.
In our over stimulated world, we tend to gobble up sensory experiences, making our attention always drawn outwards. Mediation allows us to leave the world alone, and connect with our self. Our inner world is just as vast and expansive as our outer world. Does it not seem enticing then to to experience the brilliance of the inner world too then? Life has a quiet magic we can access anytime! 3 a day I love making long to do lists. Yet they are always unachievable and I feel demotivated by the end of the day. So now I keep it simple and write down the top 3 most important and significant tasks of the day. This prevents me from feeling overwhelmed by the activities I need to finish and also helps me overcome procrastination as the finish line is always in sight. Plant a seed Plants can purify the air; add beauty and a lot of life to your place. Research has shown that plants actually boost your mood, reduce blood pressure, and calm your nervous system. If you’re just starting out with plants, try a succulent. They are easy to take care of. More philosophically in life, our choices plant the seeds of our future experiences. Lets plant seeds of growth, and water it with hard work, and the willingness to face our fears. Let go of attachment to comfort and stagnation. Fall in love with the process of becoming your highest self on a daily basis. I wish you lots of luck on your journey to loving yourself!
Anishka aspires to inspire, elevate and educate people to live life to their maximum potential
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RNI NO: DELENG/2010/33723 | DATE OF PUBLISHING: 4th OF THE MONTH