Leading Corporate Travel and MICE Management Companies

2019 / Vol. 9 / Issue-10

Leading Corporate TRAVEL & MICE MANAGEMENT Companies

Trishal Rao CEO

SKIL CORPORATE TRAVEL

RESPLENDENT HOSPITALITY SOLUTIONS

Shylender Jindal Founder

Editor-in-Chief Pooja M. Bansal Managing Editor Sneha Sinha Contributing Writer Rahul Niraj Art & Design Head Amol Kamble Associate Designer Poonam Mahajan Art & Picture Editor Priyanka Rajage Co-designer Deepanjali Jena Business Development Manager Megha Mishra Business Development Leader Ashwini Pahurkar Business Development Executive Sonica Sonawane Technical Head Pratiksha Patil Technical Specialist Amar Sawant Digital Marketing Manager Prashant Chevale SME-SMO Executives Uma, Ketki Circulation Manager Tanaji sales@insightssuccess.com

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Editor

From the

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et’s meet! This might seem like a very short phrase, but if you look at it, a meeting involves a lot more than two or more people deciding to sit down and discuss. While an informal meeting requires people, a place and a real intent to catch up and discuss things, a formal or corporate meeting is all that and more. Meetings, brainstorming sessions, gathering, conference, summit, call it what you like, but the underlying fact is the purpose for which they need to come together.

Reimagining the Way We Connect!

The impact of these high-tea sessions can be gauged by the fact that meetings have given rise to an entire industry known as the Meeting Incentives Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) Industry. The beginning of MICE can be traced back to 19th century Europe and North America. It started with the University gatherings to share academic developments and soon spread its wings to other domains. In 1896, for the first time in Detroit, Michigan and the world, a group of businessmen decided to employ a salesman to invite meetings to be held in their town. This led to the establishment of first convention bureau and the industry officially came into being. Moving forward many associations came up which ensure that the industry remains organized and follows and maintains the standards.

In India, the industry has seen tremendous growth in the last few years fueled by the faith of the Corporate Sector and the efforts to deliver better by the industry experts. As per the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) rankings, India holds the 24th position in the world and 5th in the Asia Pacific region. The IPCB (India Promotion Convention Bureau), with support from Government and the participating members, have been involved in heavy developmental and promotional activities to promote India as a MICE-destination.

The industry itself is in a growth model. New developments and concepts supported by technology are raising the bar with every new implementation. Personalized events, mobile apps for event management, virtual events, use of robots and more have put the industry onto the cusp of a revolution. The congregation of private and public players, the Government and the associations can raise India’s ranking and glory even further.

Sneha Sinha

Cover Story

08 SKIL

CORPORATE TRAVEL Resplendent Hospitality Solutions

ARTICLE

CXO

24 Trend Alert!

MICE trends that will dominate year 2019

18 Meet & Greet Virtual Events: Attend an Event You Like, Without the Travel Fuss!

CONTENTS INTERVIEW WITH INSIGHTS SUCCESS

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Indiattitude Adding Value, Exceeding Expectations

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Quality Travel World Explore the World Without Compromises

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TravelClinic

Transforming Travel industry with its Aspirations

Guideline Travels Nothing but the Best

LEADING CORPORATE

TRAVEL AND MICE MANAGEMENT COMPANIES

Simplifying Corporate Travel

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his world is a beautiful place, and to not explore it would be injustice. From wanderers to settlers, human beings have come a long way, but the basic instinct to go out and explore has remained intact through ages. The way we travel has changed with time and also technology has given rise to a complete industry that facilitates these travels.

Branching out of hospitality industry, the Meeting Incentives Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) Industry or simply the ‘meetings industry’ has its special focus on group and corporate travels. The industry is closely associated with the corporate world to facilitate the various trips with either professional or recreational motive.

This edition of Insights Success, brings to you the Leading Corporate Travel and MICE Management Companies. These companies excel at making each travel a well- chalked out event incorporating every element, ranging from comfort to meeting the client expectation.

The Cover Story of this issue features SKIL Corporate Travel, a complete hospitality solutions provider, offering preferred options for all domestic and global requirements for accommodation, MICE and ground transportation.

Also featuring in this issue are Guideline Travels LLP, who have been turning vacations into truly enchanting experiences that offer a lifetime worth of memories; and Quality Travel World Pvt. Ltd., which was established with a vision to provide the Indian traveller with superior quality package tour facilities.

Other significant Companies among the list are Anjali Travel & Tours, Blue Moon Travels Pvt. Ltd, Corporate Events (I) Pvt. Ltd, MICE & More Services LLP, The Fuller Life, and White Massif.

The issue also highlights the viewpoints of Prasad Pallival, Managing Director, Quality Travel World Pvt. Ltd., who shares his insight about MICE trends that will dominate year 2019. The insightful interview of Amit Saroj, CEO, Indiattitude and Rohit Khanna, CEO, TravelClinic, tells us how the respective companies are changing the industry. See technology take the front-seat in our in-house article Virtual Events: Attend an Event You Like, Without the Travel Fuss! from Meet & Greet.

We hope you enjoy reading this issue as much as we did while creating it!

Trishal Rao CEO

Shylender Jindal Founder

CORPORATE TRAVEL Resplendent Hospitality Solutions

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Corporate companies have large events, huge budgets, more services required and higher stakes.

he Tourism Industry in India has developed by leaps and bounds with everyone from the Government to the Private players pitching in and playing their part. But the industry itself is a huge one with several sub-industry categories like medical tourism, ecotourism, MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions), rural tourism etc. Of these, the MICE market has been receiving special attention courtesy amongst the growing corporate culture in India. MICE refers to a specialized niche of group tourism that involves planning, booking, and facilitating conferences, seminars, and other events for corporates. This sub-set has now evolved as a big moneymaker in the travel industry.

Recognizing the opportunity that lay in this ďŹ eld early-on, Shylender Jindal Founded SKIL Corporate Travel in the year 2002 with an idea of organising the corporate travel space. Now serving as MD of the company, Shylender, after completing his MBA from New York, saw how India was expanding and a lot of new companies and opportunities were being created. He had the strength, patience, passion, and zeal for making a dierence in the hospitality sector. A vivid traveller himself, he started as a one-man army by selling hotel rooms to corporates, and now has a team close to 150 employees. The ďŹ rst 2 years were the most crucial as

We have tied up with a few international tech providers which enable us to provide unique technological ideas and experiences to the clients. he faced a lot of challenges with the corporate travel world being very new and unexplored and a lot of international companies entering India. Shylender inspires his staff with not only words but with action and believes that ‘with hard work and determination anyone can achieve their goals’.

After developing domestic accommodation, he then moved on to creating an organised system for Transportation in 2005. His passion for this industry and sector led him to develop international accommodation business in 2006 and the MICE business in 2008.

A CEO that Spells Positive Change Joining forces with Shylender is Trishal Rao, the CEO who brings almost 15 years of expertise in the hospitality industry. He started his career with the Taj group in 2000 and was the Director of Sales and Marketing at the Hyatt and Oakwood. A very passionate human, he always has the desire to learn more with each assignment.

Under Trishal’s guidance, the last 1 year has seen a drastic

change, with a focus on Process, People and Technology.

This has resulted in digitalization and up-gradation of systems, bringing in new blood as well as focus on technology with internal and external stakeholders, creating operational excellence and consistency in service delivery.

He has re-formed the entire internal hierarchy system and introduced new initiatives for incentives, appraisals, R&Rs and introduced systemic KRAs. He is very focused on hiring the right people for the right job along with developing the current employees. Technology is a boon in this industry, and he intends to introduce new technology to help the employees perform better and reduce human error.

Customized Solutions The company currently offers the following 3 services: Accommodation: It assists corporates with Domestic and International Accommodation bookings. SKIL’s experienced counsellors assist in offering flexible payment options and credit facilities at an optimised cost. It also

provides MIS alerts on a timely basis to give a track record of the bookings.

Transportation: With more than 8,000 transactions per month, Shri Krishna Tourism (A division of SKIL Corporate Travel) provides transport assistance in 80+ cities in India and 10+ countries. The team is available 24/7 to ensure all audit checks and SLA’s are maintained with an emphasis on security, safety and ease of operations. It also assists in long term rentals, premium cars, and luxury coaches.

Events: From coming up with out-of-the-box ideas, venue sourcing, negotiations, menu consultation, event flow suggestions, event production and planning, SKIL’s dedicated team of professionals deliver fully customised and cost-effective solutions to its clients. It also specialises in team building activities, offsite, product launches, dealer meets, event management and transportation solutions that can be availed through one point of contact for booking, coordination and billing.

With its new event management and social media marketing division starting, it is looking to offer more services in the domain.

Event Checklist Organising an event isn’t a one-day activity. It takes a lot of meticulous planning to turn an event into a mega event.

Shylender points out that when planning any event, the most important thing to be considered is the event’s purpose. Deciding the key objective in the initial planning stage help focus the strategy around these. He adds, “Each corporate has an agenda on why they are doing the event, it could be for team building or an incentive trip or event dealers meet. If you do not meet the objective of the event, the client will not be happy with the result.” The next important activity is creating an event brief. It is a thorough overview of the event being organised and is detailed so that anyone involved can read and refer to it at any given time.

An event brief also helps track the event’s progress and its components are: Timings – Before finalizing a date it’s crucial to research whether any other events are taking place around the time the client has in mind. It’s also advised to take note of key national dates. Additionally, it is also important to decide what should be an appropriate time for the event to take place.

LEADING CORPORATE

TRAVEL AND MICE MANAGEMENT COMPANIES

Attendance – The corporates want all their employees to attend the event and have a good time. It is important that communication is sent out well in advance for everyone to plan accordingly. It is also important to understand and estimate the number of people that will be attending the event.

Venue and Entertainment – Deciding on the perfect venue takes time and depends on the nature/industry of the event.

Organising catering/entertainment for the event needs workable logistics and making sure there is space. It’s always a good idea to invite the client to come along to get a second opinion before finalizing the venue. Likewise,

Advantage SKIL One Stop Shop for all corporate hospitality requirements, from car rentals to accommodation to event management, offering the best service at the most competitive pricing.

With its PAN India and global presence, corporates prefer working with SKIL over other companies.

Collaboration with many planners and partners helps SKIL offer innovative and diverse ideas and plans.

SKIL’s hard work hard has helped it maintain strong relationships with its clients for business continuity.

gives the client multiple options making the market more competitive in regard to pricing.

Customers are now more demanding and expect better experiences from products and services.

Increased Government Regulation – Something not in the industry’s hands, which is at the mercy of governmental regulations that can either hinder or help the efficiency behind putting on a great event or effect other offerings.

Over commitment-Under delivery – Due to competition, many companies tend to over commit and under-deliver expectations that result in the corporate losing faith not only with the company but also that particular service/product.

Optimizing with Technology

while booking entertainment (for example, a singer or DJ) it is always advised to check with the client and seek approval.

Budget – Finance is a hugely important factor to consider.

The brief should include a calculation of the likely expenditure. The venue, equipment, catering, promotional activity and entertainment (to name a few) all incur costs.

And it is also advised to include a contingency cost for any unexpected costs that may arise.

Evaluation – On the day of the event itself it’s crucial to prepare a thorough running order in addition to the event brief. This is a list of the activities taking place before, during and after the event and must be communicated to the team beforehand. It’s important to be aware that, in any event, things can rapidly change. It’s therefore vital to be able to respond effectively and logically should anything go wrong.

Client Industry – While planning an event, the industry that the client belongs to, is crucial because they have set expectations and have done many events in the past. It also helps in understanding the interest of people who will be attending the event.

Views on Challenges: Reduced Budgets – Budget cuts are the biggest challenge making people opt for more web meeting over the traditional meetings.

Technology—While technology eases operations, it also

Shylender is of the view that technology can help business owners leverage limited capital in smarter, more effective ways. SKIL’s focus for 2019 – 20 has been in upgrading / launching new tech solutions for its internal and external stakeholders.

Internal CRM Tool – Sales – Operations – Finance and HR – Marketing SKIL has recently introduced a new internal CRM that helps facilitate and record all operations and also creating an analytical back end record and report that can help it strategically make decisions CBT – Corporate booking tool – Transportation By using Corporate Self Booking Tool it can offer its corporate customers an optimized and straight forward travel management process, as everything happens automatically – from searching to the final reservation.

Users can plan, book, and purchase travel services within their company’s policies. This process is currently being used by us in the transportation division and soon we will be introducing this in the accommodation services in 2019.

In the event front, it uses software like Trello, a project management software, which helps it to exactly know the flow and status of the events. And prepares them for a prompt response. It also uses technologies like holographs and 3D mapping in its events to make the event experience more intriguing and engaging.

Here’s Shylender’s Advice for the Young Entrepreneurs: “It is not an easy journey, there are more downs than ups in

the initial years. You require a lot of patience and constant hard work for returns. As we in the service industry, relationship management plays a critical role in building business and taking it to the next level. It is people that make the real difference and are the key assets to be taken care of. If you are passionate and have a long term plan, look at an investor to back you up as this industry works on relations and the ROI will be reflective in time.”

Expanding Horizons SKIL is currently looking at expanding in cities like Chennai Hyderabad and Gujarat. Realising that it is important to make the company face paced with innovative ways to cater to the market, the team is focusing on digitalization and technology. Diversifying with its offerings is the next step. It is also looking at becoming a B2B provider by providing its services to other small travel and event companies to grow its reach and cater to international companies that need help with arrangements in India. SKIL is also looking at launching its own internal Digital Marketing agency catering to various corporates PAN India.

Hotspots – Popular MICE Destinations Goa – good connectivity from all cities. Cheap liquor and multiple hotel options Jaipur – good connectivity, experiential offerings.

South East Asian countries like Thailand and Singapore are very popular among incentive trips.

TravelClinic Transforming Travel industry with its Aspirations

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he Indian Travel Industry is having a great time with India as an amazing tourist destination and Indians taking time out to travel around the globe.

The following Interview with Mr Rohit Khanna, CEO, showcases how TravelClinic, architect of inimitable travel experiences, is making a difference in this industry.

Kindly brief us about the company and its initial journey.

TravelClinic is an ISO Certified Company which is writing its own story of passion and ever-growing aspirations. The company, which started as a team of 5 people in 2003, boasts of an impressive clientele and is represented by a team of 100 dynamic professionals who have over 300 years of collective experience in the travel industry.

Owing to the success and hard work since its inception, TravelClinic has become the fastest-growing MICE Company and is an honorable member of renowned tourism associations such as IATA, PATA and IATO. We have been working with Fortune 500 companies. It is just the beginning of an exciting journey wherein the company professionals are gearing up for opportunities that put them in the league of the industry giants.

Brief us about the CEO/Founder of the company and the motivation behind choosing this industry?

HeavenAhead is a brainchild of Mr.Naveen Chauhan, Co-Founder, Orchid Group and I was greatly impressed with his vision for the company. I came on board in 2012 as the company CEO & Co-founder of the brand, “TravelClinic” and had a clear objective of bringing in professional excellence. For me, the company aspirations have to be in synchronization with the client expectations.

As a result, TravelClinic has been able to mold its services according to the client expectations to offer just the traveling experience they are looking for.

Our prime objective is to ensure that the people who travel with us are well taken care of. TravelClinic was introduced to cater to the precise expectations of the consumers. We wanted to fix the existing loopholes of the travel industry, which generally center on creating business rather than curating experiences.

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What are the main goals of your company? What kinds of services/solutions/products are offered by TravelClinic at par with the current industry standards?

TravelClinic goes beyond the traditional concept of tour operators. We have 2 prominent verticals namely MICE and Leisure – Both in International & Domestic, which are further bifurcated to cater to the precise client expectations.

We curate in-house travel experience by adopting a holistic approach to take care of the minute details. From production, creative, merchandising, entertainment to celebrity management, the company does it all in-house to weave a perfect travel story.

TravelClinic came into existence with a single objective that is, “…to offer a personalized travel experience…” which to this day remains the motto of the company. We pride ourselves as a travel companion who is always there for our clients at every step of the journey.

How did you cope up with the biggest challenges of the tourism industry? How did you strike a balance in the journey?

As I said before, we have our own in-house teams of travel experts who take care of the minute aspects of planning and strategizing. There will always be challenges in one form or another and the tourism industry is full of them. We ensure that we include the clients in strategizing, to offer a personalized experience that is in synchronization with their expectations, and many a time beyond their expectations.

The balance between industry standards and consumer expectations comes from a rather simple objective. More than creating a business or being a part of the fierce competition that exists in the travel industry, we want to curate a memorable experience for our clients. TravelClinic boasts of a 95% customer retention rate, which is a testimony of the company beliefs and ideology.

How does TravelClinic remain in synchronization with the changing time, concerning tech integration?

We have incorporated technology such as RFID and executed live screening of events for an exciting experience. To prevent information loss and to be accessible September 2019|

Interview with Insights Success

Mr. Rohit Khanna CEO & Co-Founder September 2019|

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to our clients throughout planning and execution, we even launched a sophisticated smartphone application for all to avail any necessary information on the go.

TravelClinic adopts a robust strategy and ideology which is flexible enough to align its functioning according to the changing consumer behavior and patterns. It is the result of our flexible approach to incorporate technology in its functioning that the company in over a decade has experienced an increased turnover from 50 Million to 1.5 Billion.

Technology has already proved to be the game-changer. The travel industry, like others, is buzzing with exciting innovations that will bring the consumers in direct contact of the company. We would like to go on with the same enthusiasm to transform the travel services and integrate technology for enhanced consumer experience.

Do you have any credentials, awards or important licenses? Please describe.

Recently, TravelClinic bagged a Silver Award for 16 01

“Best MICE Tour Operator – 2019” at MICE Affairs Conference & Expo Awards 2019.

In the year 2016, TravelClinic bagged MEHK Award (Meetings & Exhibitions Hong Kong), a division of Hong Kong Tourism Board, as the Top Agent Award.

In 2015, TravelClinic was honored by XIAMEN Tourism for its dedicated services towards the Travel industry.

What is your success mantra?

Our Success mantra is to gauge our clients to deliver much beyond their expectations. It’s a reverse chain reaction which starts from the end result i.e. a seamless execution.

For that, our teams of expert professionals’ day in and day out weave travel stories to ensure that our clients get to experience a trip of their lifetime. TravelClinic is committed to offering a memorable travel experience and I can certainly say to the consumers that don’t settle for average rather expect more, which ultimately will increase the operating standards of the travel industry.

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Virtual Events

Attend an Event You Like, Without the Travel Fuss!

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Meet & Greet

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hose who understand marketing, know that events are a great way to connect businesses with prospective clients, customers and competitors. Those who do not understand marketing, even they know that events are a great way to know about new products and businesses. The fact that the events industry, which was standing at Rs 5,631 crore in 2016-17, has been growing at a 16% CAGR, and is expected to cross the 10,000 crore mark by 2020-21 speaks volumes about the potential.

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An event is often defined as designing or developing a theme-based activity, occasion, or exhibit to promote a product, cause, or organization. This includes sporting events, music festival, fairs, concerts and more. The Event Management industry is taking huge strides and is currently being buoyed up by technology in an amazingly new fashion. If you are a part of any social media network, you must have found yourself invited to a Virtual Event. For those who love to connect but hate to commute or for those who love to connect with people all around the globe without actually travelling, Virtual Events are the answer.

Understanding Virtual events A virtual event, as the name denotes, lets people interact while sharing a common virtual environment on the web, rather than meeting in a physical location. Virtual events are highly interactive and often look and feel very close to physical interactions. It also includes aspects of an event that are brought to users through an online experience like live-streaming.

Virtual events gained popularity in the late 2000s and were mainly focused on reducing the cost incurred due to travels. It offered an economically viable solution at lesser cost and wider reach. However, the initial events were very crude, to say the least with less interactivity and more like video-conference feel. But with developing technology and changes, the virtual events are now attracting more audience than ever. Virtual events are a great way to raise the brand or company’s online visibility. A well-delivered event raises the bar set by a company in delivering quality service.

Look out for these AR and VR – Artificial and Virtual reality is set to make these virtual events even more engrossing and immersive.

They are set to make the experiences even more realistic.

Chatbots – Chatbots will facilitate the interactions. Virtual events will be more two-way than one-way communication, courtesy the chatbots.

Mobile Apps – Push notifications, tickets, attendance can all be managed through mobile apps designed and developed especially for the Virtual events.

Gamification – Turn your virtual events into a healthy competition among the participants using gamification. Who doesn’t love gaming? And adding it to the virtual event will up its marketing strategy and reach.

Telepresence Robot – If you still feel like you need to attend an event by going at the location and still don’t want to move, look forward to telepresence robots. These robots let you interact in real-time with the attendees in an event.

You can talk, meet and greet the people without actually being there.

Virtual Events being cost-effective and providing wider reach are here to stay and grow their presence. The fact that you need no dress code to attend an event and can join in anytime, attracts an audience from even far-off corners of the world. There may be distractions like background noise, or intermittent internet shortcomings or even the chance of low turnout. But the industry is overall in a positive mode and is looking forward to a great year ahead. Technology and collective human efforts are sure to turn the negatives into positives.

- Sneha Sinha 20

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Guideline Travels Nothing but the Best

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or twenty years, Guideline Travels LLP has been turning vacations into truly enchanting experiences that offer a lifetime worth of memories. The following excerpt showcases how they make it happen.

Kindly brief us about the company and its initial journey.

It has been humble beginnings for us at Guideline Travels. Our journey started on a personal computer at home in 1996 and then we gradually moved into a small 80 square feet space we called office in 1997.

Having taken the first baby steps, our journey progressed as we then applied for the IATA membership and subsequently also were appointed as the Preferred Selling Agents for Star Cruises in India in 2001. However the real impetus came in when we were instrumental in making travel arrangements for a lot of clients including some big corporate houses to the Cricket World Cup of 2003 in South Africa.

Our company has been doing small and big MICE movements for the last 17 years or so. We have successfully handled corporate groups and destination weddings ranging from 200 – 1200 and more guests onboard cruise ships and across various countries around the world.

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Brief us about the Founder/CEO and his/her motivation behind choosing this industry?

Mr. Pradeep Saboo, is the entrepreneurial brain behind the success of Guideline Travels. The hunger to travel himself on one side and see happy satisfied faces on the other side induced him to make this humble beginning. With passing times, his motto of innovating with time and evolved with changing needs and at the same time become a trend setter in what he does has made us the brand we are today.

What are the key points that you consider while organising any event?

The key is to first understand the client requirements, the budgets and then to recommend a destination which would not only fit in the requirements but also be alluring and exciting enough for the guests who would eventually travel.

We always try to offer new and innovative ideas to our valued clients so as to make the entire travel experience for the group more immersing and filled with a lot of activities. Our aim is always to offer activities which any avid traveller will have on their bucket list.

It is also imperative to understand the destination, the finer nuances and the logistical challenges if any which could be present while executing the

travel plan. This forethought not only multiplies the fun but also makes the event relatively more successful.

Brief us about the services that the company offers.

Guideline Travels offers and operates its very own Vegetarian and Jain group tours to various countries of the world including USA, Europe, South Africa, Canada, Australia besides Middle East and Far East Asia. We are also the preferred selling agents for well-known cruise brands like Dream Cruises, Crystal Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, Jalesh Cruises, Regent Cruises etc. We also offer turn-key solutions to our corporate clients for their MICE Movements and our services include our involvement right from the beginning at the planning stage to the handling of back end operations and to then finally to the execution of on ground operations.

What are the unique propositions that the company offers giving it an edge over competitors?

Our unique selling point is the personal touch in our service. It is the sheer involvement of our management level in discussions, planning and execution of the finer details which proves to be a winning point and edges us ahead of our respected competition.

Also the zeal with which the entire on

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LEADING CORPORATE

TRAVEL AND MICE MANAGEMENT COMPANIES

ground operations team performs proves to be instrumental in meeting the needs of the clients. So for us the mantra is professional and focussed operation with our own personal touch and attention to details.

What is the CEO/Founder’s contribution towards the upliftment of the company?

Mr. Pradeep Saboo, our company’s Founder and Managing Partner plays a very pivotal role in the day to day operations of the company. He is the strategic brain behind the company’s growth over the years. Our organisational model is an owner driven model and this is what helps in quick decision making and action.

What are the challenges in this industry in India?

The biggest threat or challenge in the MICE Segment is that the competitors are willing to work at much lower margins, because some of them just wish to deck in the numbers and make a profile.

Another challenge lies in the sudden shift of business to OTA’s which threatens the mere existence of the traditional Travel Companies. The traveller is now trying to book all their services online but seldom realise that they surely will need a Travel Expert’s advice to fully enjoy their trip and get value for their money.

Please share the latest technology that the company is utilizing to offer better solutions.

We believe in the idea of services with a personal touch. However we have now started combining technology with that with the use of social

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Mr. Pradeep Saboo Founder and Managing Partner networking applications and we keep each client informed about their travel details on messaging applications. We also use the online forms and internet based cloud services for an enhanced communication experience between us and our value customers.

Which Country/State, according to you is most popular when it comes to corporate events and why?

The destination depends on the client budget and the schemes as announced by them. At Guideline Travels we have operated our corporate groups to Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Philippines, Dubai, Russia, Europe, Australia, USA and to many such exciting countries. Cruise ships are also popular choice for these tours. The most popular being Dream Cruises Ex Singapore. Jalesh Cruises from Mumbai is also slowly gaining traction on the MICE Destination Circuit.

What would be your advice for the budding start-ups and entrepreneurs in the industry?

Travel Industry is growing fast and rapid every day. However with growth comes a lot of competition. For a new start-up, it is imperative to understand the challenges which comes while running a business. Any beginner should be wary of the fact that no business comes easy and without competition. Patience is key because there is no short cut to success.

Brief us about the company’s future perspectives.

We are happy at the pace with which we are growing on the MICE segment, successfully delivering results for our clients year after year. There is an undeniable scope of growth which can be achieved but this growth has to be financially viable and can be achieved by our persistent, determined, honest and focussed approach.

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MICE trends that will dominate year 2019

About the Author Prasad Pallival is the Managing Director of Quality Travel World Pvt. Ltd., established in 2013, with a vision to provide the Indian traveller with SUPERIOR QUALITY package tour facilities. He ensured that the services of Quality Travels would be totally customer focused and would maintain their exclusivity. The objective was to make family holiday tours more comfortable, more exciting and most memorable.

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September 2019|

Trend Alert!

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ith large conglomerates throwing an incentives programs, the MICE segment in India, though young, is projected to show remarkable growth.

2019 looks bright for the Indian hospitality segment.

Last year, most hotels in the country showed a positive performance in both Average Room Rates (ARR) as well as occupancies. With hotels now focused on experiential hospitality, it looks like 2019 will see a healthy outcome as well.

The India hotel sector’s occupancy are inching closer to the 70% mark. In 2017-18, India’s nationwide ARR was INR.5,759/- for all hotels. This is primarily because the hotels have begun experimenting and are open to new ways to grow their brand due to MICE. “The hospitality industry has taken a step away from the traditional and keeps exploring and growing, adapting to needs and demands of users who want to push boundaries and 2018 was no different.

Mumbai grabbed an occupancy rate of 75%, and continues to rule the roost. With an average rate of Rs.7740, Mumbai achieved RevPAR growth of 3.7% in 2018.

With enhanced connectivity and world-class meeting facilities in the pipeline, Mumbai is all set to top the charts. “The tier-2 and tier-3 cities played a major role in the expansion of mid- to economy scale hotels in India. The luxury segment will continue to expand, keeping only metropolitan cities as their major base.”

2018 witnessed a balanced MICE business with India coming to terms with the aftermath of demonetization and GST effect nullification. With large conglomerates throwing in meetings and incentives programs, the MICE segment is India, though young, is projected to show a remarkable growth this year. Thanks to the efforts of the Indian government, preparations are in full swing to introduce new policy changes that would make India one of the most preferred MICE destinations in the world.

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In an effort to aid the MICE segment, the government is working on easing the visa process, which currently requires multiple visa clearances to attend short-term conferences. Once this is done, Indian hotels can expect more footfall than they can handle as India, as a destination, has already made its mark as safe and spectacular.

2019 looks like a MICE-dominated year with many city sold-out events, including Pharma and Aero India 2019.

Successful competition of such events will promote India as a responsible country with the infrastructure to cater to much larger events in the future. With diverse cities and cultures along with International Brands, India is a hot pot full of excitement for the organizers. Hotel companies investing in the MICE segment have opened up opportunities for international corporate travelers significantly.

Even hotels that were not MICE-centric is beginning to see the potential. “The Hyatt Hotels though not a very large market for MICE has seen its fair share of events picking up. The weekend MICE business which was non-existent for corporates has now evolved and weekends are now busy. Most large MICE events in cities are now over weekends. Thanks to a lot of factors like transportation, infrastructural development, the boom of corporate companies that have added to the same.

The MICE in 2019 is expected to grow at an average of 7% to 10%. The sizes of MICE will become larger, making it a buoyant 2019. The meetings above 500 delegates are expected to grow from 74% in 2018 to 80% in 2019. This means the size and the scope of corporate events are getting bigger. This growth of the size would obviously increase the spending budget. India has a lot of destinations which are being geared up for a larger MICE business in terms of infrastructure and preparedness. The use of outdoor facility and technology would be among the top trends in 2019.

India has huge potential when it comes to being a major

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MICE destination as it has such a varied landscape – from a beachside setting to cool calming hill stations, from buzzing cities to sprawling deserts, there is something for every kind of meeting organizer. The buoyant growth in the tourism sector and the support from various government agencies and private players to improve tourism infrastructure will help India become the most sought-after MICE destination.

Personalized experiences: Increasingly meetings are becoming areas for creative collaboration, instead of a standard meeting room, there are emotionally intelligent event spaces such as sensory lounges, recreational rooms and experience zones that help to facilitate greater partnerships.

Social Media: For the past few years, live feeds and Q&A via social media platforms are being used to keep the audience engaged throughout the events. Utilizing these social networks can be a big asset to any event organizer who is keen on collecting useful data analytics about their attendees.

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Virtual reality/Augmented reality: Virtual reality or Augmented reality enables users to have a perspective of how a room/meeting space would appear with certain changes. This technology is increasingly being used to enhance attendees’ experience at events.

Metro cities: International MICE of Small & Midscale is not only looking at Leisure destinations but have started trying Metro cities as well with strong travel connectivity.

Green initiatives: Domestic MICE, attract a lot of energy-saving initiatives oered by hotels.

Ideal time: Major months for large MICE activities are October, November, February, and March.

The airline industry is also opening up the skies, adding new destinations, making travel accessible and time short. This will grow by leaps and bounds bringing cheer to the hospitality network and in extension the MICE segment.

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Interview with Insights Success

Indiattitude Adding Value, Exceeding Expectations

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ndiattitude is one of the leading companies in the Indian MICE industry with an unblemished track record of over 1000 events of various magnitudes already under its belt. Headed by Amit Saroj, CEO and Chief Creative Officer, the company is driven by its core values and hands-on knowledge of every aspect of Conference and Event Management.

The company’s Marketing Head, Nishtha Bindal, divulges details on how the team constantly strives to ‘Add Value’ to events. The following is an excerpt from an exclusive interview with Amit Saroj.

Presently I look at the expansion goals and strategy implementation in the organisation.

Having started as a hotel sales professional, always had the inclination and training towards customer service and hospitality. At Indiattitude, the story continues, with our team believing in the old adage and putting in optimum resources, latest technology, best of experience and personalized services to efficiently organize our client events, ensuring that we ‘add value’ to the original outcome of the event.

1. Kindly brief us about the company and its initial journey.

3. What are the key points that you consider while organising any event?

Indiattitude, previously “Attitude” was started in the year 2000. Over the initial years we got our business breakthroughs from the development sector organisations, specializing us, as a development sector meetings specialist.

Indiattitude is now a full-service conference management company with a team of committed, innovative, customer focused and experienced professionals with positive attributes of flexibility and adaptability.

Over two decades and 1000 plus successful events, our team is one of the most prepared group of professionals in the Indian MICE industry. We strongly benefit from our core values and a ‘Can do attitude’. With a wide-ranging experience, our team understands the time constraints, complexities, needs and goals of our client meetings.

Indiattitude is an organization specialized in handling large high-level conferences and meetings across India.We have the credentials of handling National and International, Nonprofit organizations and Government meetings. Delivering customized, cost effective and long-term solutions to our clients and setting new benchmarks of excellence has been the standard operating procedure at Indiattitude. We have grown consistently both horizontally as well as vertically.

We have handled over 1000 events of various magnitude, a guest list that has seen successive Prime Ministers, Presidents of India, political and business dignitaries from all over the world.

Key points we consider.

• Understanding of requirements: Understand the complete set of requirements of the clients and guide them through our extensive experience.

• Develop a detailed project plan with resource mapping and timelines • Take the ownership and accountability of the entire project with granular detailing of tasks • Use of technology (Salesforce.com) to record continuous progress • Follow a periodic evaluation, review system for course correction if necessary 4. Brief us about the services that the company offers.

2. Brief us about your role in the company and the motivation behind choosing this industry?

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Amit Saroj,

Nishtha Bindal

CEO and Chief Creative Officer

Marketing Head

We constantly achieve excellence by combining the elements of energy, strategy, creativity and technology to exceed expectations of our clients. We bring together a strong platform to support flexibility of operations, quick turnaround time, increased participation and revenue.

Strengthening the brand value using technology and be the credible partner for your meetings.

• Planning and Budgeting • Design, Conceptualisation, Website and Communication • Accommodation Management • Audio-visual Management • Conference Material Production • Airport and Transport Coordination • Staff Planning and Allocation • Entertainment Management • Venue Selection and Contracting • Online Registration and Abstract Submission • Secretariat Management • Exhibition and Displays • Tours Management • Protocol, Licensing and Security September 2019|

5. What are the unique propositions that the company offers giving it an edge over competitors?

We are governed as an organisation by our stated purpose “Connecting people to facilitate growth and knowledge sharing using technology”.

Our unique propositions for our customers include • Latest event technology mobile application • “FLO” our Loyalty Rewards program • “Attendee Mobile Application” for exchange of information in events • IAPCO certification for standards among 139 companies in the world • International affiliation in Europe, South Africa, China and Canada • Transparency in transactions 6. What are the challenges in this industry in India?

As per my understanding, the following challenges need attention: 1. Customer Knowledge and Outsourcing for events: Although, this is changing rapidly but being a relatively

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new industry the customer knowledge, to best use the outsourcing model needs more awareness. The difference between a vendor and partnership for common interest needs to be developed. This can happen through more interactions and we offer our clients consultancy based on our experience.

Delhi being the capital and Mumbai being the financial capital are the most popular hubs for corporate events. Most corporates are head quartered in these two major metropolitan cities and hence decision-making is concentrated here. These cities are well connected and offer variety of venues for conducting such events.

2. Scope Creep: Stretching of defined the scope of services without additional costs and free value offers, is sometimes a challenge. We present a detailed plan of deliverables and try and address it with clarity in agreements.

9. What would be your advice for the budding start-ups and entrepreneurs in the industry?

3. Scarcity of Talent: Relatively new industry with limited exposure in the educational institutions for formal training, there is always a shortage of the talent pool available for hiring. Mostly we have to educate and train on the job to suit our needs for the industry. Our management trainee programs have been very useful in this direction.

1. Event management is a very broad area and now getting into specialization and niche services, all budding start-ups should have a clear goal and clarity of which area of event management they wish to specialise as an organization.

2. It will time and years to build it, so stick with it.

10. Brief us about the company’s future perspectives.

7. Please share the latest technology that the company is utilizing to offer better solutions.

We are a technology driven company and we are able to deliver impeccable events through the use of technology.

We use CVENT, at present world’s best technology solution for event services and Salesforce.com, CRM for sales planning and execution of all our events.

Indiattitude is on a structured growth path within the umbrella of its stated purpose “ Connecting people to facilitate growth and knowledge sharing using Technology”. In future we will be focussing on international geographical expansion with additional verticals including Destination management, Technology initiatives, Growth workshops and Marketing services.

8. Which Country/State, according to you is most popular when it comes to corporate events and why?

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LEADING CORPORATE

TRAVEL AND MICE MANAGEMENT COMPANIES

Prasad Pallival Founder & MD

Quality Travel World

Explore the World Without Compromises 32

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one-stop shop for all travel related services benefiting clients to the core and taking care of all their travel concerns, Quality Travel World (QTW) has been in the foray since 2013. The following excerpt takes us on journey that Quality has been offering.

Kindly brief us about the company and its initial journey.

Quality Travel World Pvt. Ltd. was established with a vision to provide the Indian traveller with SUPERIOR QUALITY package tour facilities. He ensured that the services of Quality Travels would be totally customer focused and would maintain their exclusivity. The objective was to make family holiday tours more comfortable, more exciting and most memorable. We want to be different and this has been our most outstanding quality. This is a trait which segregates us from the rest of the competition.We are aggressive, intense & passionate of our business of travel promotion. We provide a lending ear to understand the changing profile of today's traveller. We pack a lot of things to do and see in a short holiday, for some it may be taxing, for most it is the best way to holiday. Our young and vibrant team is full of ideas & eager to provide the right service.

Brief us about your role in the company and the motivation behind choosing this industry?

As the Founder and Managing Director of Quality Travel World Pvt. Ltd.(QTW), I am on a mission to transform the travel industry for better! With 15 years’ experience in the travel industry I am here to provide superior quality package tour facilities through QTW. My job is also to ensure that the services offered are exclusively customercentric. Since inception, it has been my primary objective to make family holidays and tours more comfortable, exciting and memorable.

What are the key points that you consider while organising any event?

QTW organizes Conferences and Events for Staff & Dealers within India as well around the World. Promising to make an event the best the customer can ask for, it takes care of it on the following lines: • Define the purpose and format • Pay sufficient attention to planning • Draft your budget taking into account unforeseeable situations • Allocate responsibilities • Inform client & vendors about the event • Pay attention to service

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• Carry out a final check / call 24 hours before tour Brief us about the services that the company offers.

Conferences / Events for Staff & Dealers – Within India as well around the World Domestic & International Flights booking with lowest rates Worldwide Hotel Reservations with competitive rates Foreign Exchange Travel Insurance Domestic & International Tours Car bookings – Within India as well around the World Rail Booking - Within India as well around the World Cruise Booking Passport & Visa Assistance Our service offerings include: Tailor-Made Itineraries Specialized Training Incentives Meetings and Events Management Outdoor and Special Interest Travel What are the unique propositions that the company offers giving it an edge over competitors?

We provide all inclusive products, No Hidden Charges and End to end services etc. We believe in guiding the traveller with an “all Inclusive” price point and not mislead a client with eyewash of a published low price, with all others as Optionals. Time and again, we have been able to prove to our clients that what is appearing cheap, is ultimately more expensive & there can be no compromises on a welltailored, all inclusive holiday. We believe in giving true value for money. It has been our competitor’s constant endeavour to prove us wrong; however, our satisfied clients have been our greatest spokesperson. A good product talks for itself.

What are the challenges in this industry in India?

India is the world’s tenth largest business travel market and is likely to clock the fastest growth in this segment in the next five years. In 2018, India saw a 15% increase in business travel spending, which will grow by a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 12% through 2020 to 6% by 2030. The industry does look promising but then there still is a certain set of challenge that needs to be overcome and includes: Lack of proper infrastructure Lack of adequate Marketing & Promotion of particular destination Taxation

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Security issues Service Levels Regulatory Issues Please share the latest technology that the company is utilizing to offer better solutions.

We found that communication has been a theme at the heart of some of the greatest technological advancements of the 21st century. Technology is playing a huge role allowing all travellers –solo, couples as well as families and friends make and change plans in a jiffy with the help of their phones.In order to provide our customers with even better experience we are utilizing some of the latest technologies like: Amadeus API Integration Social Media Integration Internet of Things (IoT) Artificial Intelligence (AI) Which Country/State, according to you is most popular when it comes to corporate events and why?

Some countries are better than others when it comes to starting and running a business.

Popular MICE Destinations: - Thailand / Singapore / Malaysia / Dubai & Hong Kong with Macau Reason: Because Excellent Air Connectivity from major cities of India / Easier Visa Formalities / Wide range of hotels available with lowest rate / Many attractions or sightseeing’s available for age groups / Superb Night Life available in all places / Shopping Paradise / Local Peoples hospitality / Wide range of Indian Restaurant available.

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What would be your advice for the budding start-ups and entrepreneurs in the industry?

Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.

Quality is much better than quantity. One home run is much better than two doubles.

Moving fast enables us to build more things and learn faster. We have a saying: “Move fast and break things.”

The idea is that if you never break anything, you’re probably not moving fast enough.

The most important single thing is to focus obsessively on the customers. Our goal is to be the world’s most customercentric company.

Business opportunities are like buses; there is always another one coming.

Business success is 80% psychology and 20% mechanics.

Don’t find a fault; find a remedy.

Brief us about the company’s future perspectives.

We are planning to expand outlets all over India for customer council. We are also developing a highly efficient online travel agent system and building up Online Travel Bookings.

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