TAAI 2004: Opportunities Unlimited Management, Strategy, Marketing...

The 53rd annual TAAI convention this year proved one point for sure - while it was one big party, it also a whole lot of serious business as well. That the agent fraternity evinced a strong desire to make best use of the business sessions was evident from the packed conference hall - even the morning sessions had people standing along the wall, notwithstanding the late night revelries. The reason may be attributed to the highly focused, interestingly interactive sessions with some exceptional speakers throwing up views that provided enough food for thought. What was impressive was that the total focus of the convention was helping members chart a course into the future, while eliminating hurdles foreseen and minimising the effect of disastrous unforeseeable circumstances. Sessions such as, Opportunities Unlimited, Global Tourism - Trends and Opportunities and a session on management by guru Shiv Khera helped agents learn how to shape up to fit into the groove of the new business model. The Civil Aviation Workshop brought to fore ground many realities such as the distinct importance of having a strong national carrier and developing India into a business hub are essential to increase inbound tourist figures.

Citing Opportunities Unlimited

The first session of the convention, Opportunities Unlimited, started off with a crisp audio-visual presentation based on the research included in Navigator 2005 - The India Tourism Strategist, brought out by Express Travel & Tourism. The editor, Sheldon Santwan, highlighted the trends and strategies that the industry could build on to counter the issues pressurising the industry. Subsequently, moderator Ashok Fenn, CEO, Interglobe, accentuated the obvious question 'whether the industry, which survived a tumultuous fifty years, will continue this way?'

There were no two opinions about the fact that the agents' survival was at stake with low cost airlines setting a new paradigm and traditional airlines changing business rules. The slew of opinions raised a few pertinent questions, which need to be examined:

• Are Indian travel agents unsure of the value they bring to the customers?
• Are they providing the right kind of value addition?
• Have they failed to create benchmarks?
• Are they well equipped to stand the onset of technology and deregulation?

Industry Opinion

C V Prasad, MD, TravelExpress stated the obvious: "We have no benchmarks for productivity. We are people-driven, not process-driven. The smaller agents cannot make this transition unless there is a renaissance on a macro level."

Tej Sahni, MD, Vista Travels pointed out that the real malaise is owner-managers who do not reinvest in business and manpower. "We are losing skilled staff to call centres that are investing more in employee benefits and training. We have a situation wherein many family driven agencies merely survive and are content with what they make instead of updating technology and investing in staff training to enhance the value of service they provide." According to Deep Kalra, CEO, makemytrip.com, the growth is there due to the inherent strength of the market, but ironically "Although India is on the global forefront of technology, the indigenous travel trade is not applying to set benchmarks for productivity."

The general consensus was that travel agents needed to reinvent and evolve to survive. The world-class role the industry should set for itself? One of the models, opined Kalra, that can work is investing back into manpower and technology. Ranjit Malkani, chairman and CEO (Indian Subcontinent and Middle East), Kuoni Travel Group, opined "Product knowledge is the crux of the matter because our service is knowledge based and the customer should come and buy our knowledge. So, 5 per cent of CTC should be for training." Brian Barrow from IATA brought in the global perspective and averred, "In the last 10 years, numbers of travel agents halved in USA from 50,000 to 24,000. But those survived are doing far better. The future for agents is standing on their own feet and charge for services offered. Here in India, in order to have business revolution we have to have technology revolution."

With business rules and the business turf changing, the agents, no doubt, will have to find the niche because those offering niche customisation are at an advantage. But at the end of the day, an attitudinal change is essential. And who else can best bring about that change, but the motivational guru Shiv Khera? The man was present to shaken up the delegates and inspire them "to think right, feel right, say the right thing, do the right thing and save yourself the trouble of regret later."

The Aviation Workshop which followed pulled together a high powered panel featuring the likes of V Thulasidas, Anil Goyal, B K Ong, Werner Heesen, Peter Luethi and Amitabh Kant while Yogesh Chandra chaired the session. The workshop dwelled on state of the civil aviation industry with the lack of air seat capacity and hubs being developed outside India was the other talking point at the convention

The session contained a lot of energy and interesting statements, particularly regarding a potential Air-India-Indian Airlines merger which Thulasidas himself said he openly hoped for while to the incessant questioning about ever-pending aircraft acquisition plans, Thulasidas retorted rather candidly that the two national carriers should be merged to form a strong airline and A-I is leasing aircraft because that is "best option I have." He argued that the government should strengthen the national carriers, create India as a hub and not just concentrate on opening the skies to foreign airlines.

Anil Goyal, managing director of Alliance Air and commercial director of Indian Airlines, supported his views reiterating that a large number of points of call given to foreign carriers is bound to hamper India's prospect to grow as a hub. However, Amitabh Kant, joint secretary, ministry of tourism, in his signature hard-hitting, matter-of-fact way countered all arguments against opening the sky, saying, "Create capacity first, open the sky, tourists will follow. Take my word for that. This year till September, foreign tourist arrival has seen 26 per cent growth."

Giving the international perspective, Werner Heesen, said alliances were essential in today's world because "no airline can cover the world, but airline systems can do it by connecting regions as well as hubs." Ankur Bhatia, MD Amadeus, on the other hand, offered the reality check on how technology has changed the scenario: "The traditional distribution models in India are bound to change with the advent of low cost carriers and online booking fast catching up. Soon, there will be a cost for transferring the content on to the desktop," he said.

Day Two - Expert Take

The second day of the house full convention saw Ranjit Malkani take to the dais as moderator with Global Tourism - Trends & Opportunities which focussed on recognising the needs of the market and understanding and anticipating consumer behaviour. Ranjit Malkani set in the tone when he said, "right focus and knowledge about the product you are intending to sale is very important for the success of any venture - be it tourism or anything else. The focus should be carefully defined and the priorities have to be set accordingly." Sanjay Narula, MD, Apex Travel and Tours, who attended the session was fairly impressed and commented, "Malkani showed us how he had put the efforts in the right direction and today why SOTC is the leader in selling tourist destinations to the Indian outbound. Switzerland and Austria could not have asked for a better Brand Ambassador who not only projects and promotes the image of these countries but sends them tourists by the droves."

The foreign tourism boards used the session more as a platform for product presentation rather than giving insights into trends and opportunities. Singapore Tourism Board only highlighted the importance of developing unique products to attract tourists like the way they promoted Wild Wild Wet, Escape Theme Park, Sentosa, Underwater World, Jurong Bird Park, Night Safari and The Singapore Zoo, to successfully capture the India market.

Rise Of The Tiger

Kant's point on increasing capacity was vindicated by Ashwini Kakkar, CEO, Thomas Cook who raised some valid points during the session titled, 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'. "Rs 10,000 crore is being taken out of the country due to lack of seat capacity. The prices of tickets soared to Rs 20,000 to 25,000 due to seat shortage. We are eight hours away from the West and eight hours away from the East and yet we have reduced ourselves to a spoke," his concerns rang loud and clear. However, the much-hyped great debate turned out to be a damp squib as everyone somehow missed the point - the potential of India - that had to be discussed. As Narula rightly said, "The potential of India and how to take tourism ahead remained hidden. On this occasion, the panelists and unfortunately the moderator too ended up bashing Indian politics and the government for its apathy towards tourism. Suhel Seth could have been nicer and said positive things to encourage those who are making a sincere effort in doing things right. The only exception was former minister Rajeev Pratap Rudy who not only put government bashing to rest with his lucid explanation and he deserves to be appreciated for what he did during his tenure."

Though the convention has rightly earned several superlatives, excelling in various aspects compared to previous TAAI conventions, still it left one yearning for more. Some sessions tapered off the enthusiasm of the participants, failing to live up to the expectations that the innaugaral and the first session created.

No wonder, many members were looking for more meaningful insights to manage business and these views were brought up at the Open Forum. Narula, who is a TAAI office bearer himself, gave vent to his concerns without mincing words: "One point that I would like to make is restate the wake up call which we as agents have missed and not heard well enough. The arrival of new age airlines today are making it uncompetitive for the travel agents to service the consumers as they themselves are offering a bait to the consumer to bypass the agent. And we as agents knowingly are falling for their bait and are giving our valuable database and consumers to them on a platter for little, or let's say, no remuneration. The launch of e-ticketing on the Internet model for the consumer by Indian Airlines and Jet Airways is a strong signal of the way things are going to happen in future. All travel agents need to adapt fast and quick so that they do not simply give away their labour to the airlines for free. Sadly, with our principles bringing in technology and business models which exclude us, the consequence will witness the demise of the traditional ticketing retail office of many and we here stand to lose unless something is done right and quick." One only hopes that TAAI torch bearers have made note of all that.