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up in Gujarat; but it was a great success and a bridge for merchants and industrialists to travel internationally.” In 1990, Rane applied for GSA representation of Northwest Airlines for Western India. During the presentation in Tokyo, the Northwest management was so impressed with his achievements with British Airways that they offered him the opportunity to represent the entire country. Northwest Airlines was then ranked second in the world, with its head office at Minneapolis, USA. Rane managed the operation as managing director with 11 branches and a staff of 250 people. During this tenure, he had the privilege of visiting most countries in the world. Master of his own fate “Lack of finance was the only hurdle that stopped me from starting my own venture earlier. As I am a first generation entrepreneur, and grew up in a license regulated era, entrepreneurship was not as fashionable as it is today. In 1988, I started Airsonic Travels, a travel agency which has slowly grown as one of India’s leading IATA Travel agents, specializing in leisure and MICE business. Airsonic has expanded its presence in all major cities in India, becoming the most reliable brand in the corporate world. “We were one of the first
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La Cabana Beach and Spa is a popular beach wedding destination venue favoured by international groups as well as Indians
companies to focus on MICE tourism and successfully carried several groups to Goa, Europe and other parts of the world. We were pioneers in starting ‘Holy Land’ group tours to Israel from Goa and successfully carried more than 2000 passengers to Israel in a short span of time,” says Rane. Over the past two decades, Airsonic Travels’ main focus has been to design inspirational travel experiences for customers, moving beyond the ordinary to seek new areas, avenues, ideas, and life-changing customized journeys. Today, Airsonic is a brand name synonymous with the travel and tourism industry. Airsonic guarantees customers specialized and innovative holiday solutions. Under the leadership of its founder, the company has established itself as a provider of superior quality tailormade offerings, satisfying customers across the country and overseas. Making an impact in Australia His first international stint came in 1996 when the Australian Deputy Prime Minister visited Mumbai. The island nation was keen to issue business visas to Indians to develop trade and commercial links between
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the two countries. Rane was presented with the opportunity to establish an office in Australia. In 1997, Rane opened his office in Sydney. In 1999, Airsonic Australia (Sydney) bagged the ‘Best Corporate Travel Agency of Australia’ Award. Rane inked agreements with the Government of India to jointly market various states like Goa, Kerala, Rajasthan, and Gujarat to promote travel for Australians in India. “We opened up various exotic locales like Goa, Kerala, the golden triangle, to Australians who had never heard about these destinations,” says Rane. Working closely with the Australia India Chamber of Commerce, of which he was an executive committee member for over eight years, Rane played a pivotal role in promoting a business relationship between Australia and India. He was instrumental in inviting a Goa Tourism delegation to Australia in 1999 to work closely with Australia in tourism and other areas. In fact, such was Rane’s influence in the travel business that he was a state invitee from Australia for the ‘Vibrant Gujarat 2006’ conclave that was organized by then chief minister of the state, Narendra Modi! Rane also facilitated
various trade, industry and state delegations to Australia and other parts of the world. He was awarded the prestigious National Platinum Tourism Award by Tony Abbott, then prime minister of Australia, on August 19, 2004 at a ceremony attended by industry leaders, Members of Parliament and ministers. Rane has also been named ‘INDUSTRY LEGEND’ by the Australian Tourism Awards, and been awarded the coveted Gold Medal by the All India Achievers organization. Hospitality beckons The eventual goal for most high performers in the travel and tourism space is to own their own hotel. Rane harboured similar ambitions, but could not give wings to them due to paucity of funds to create a hospitality venture like the one he had imagined. But astute in his investments, he had purchased a lovely beach side property at Ashvem, Morjim way back in 1985. “I fell in love with this lovely beach-facing piece of land. And even though I had no funds and the property had no approach road then, something made me buy it. It took me a very long time to put my ambition to action, but I am happy that I did it,” reflects Rane with great satisfaction. Rane’s desire to start