Tag Archives: tour operators

‘We aim to expand into metro cities & emerging tourism destinations’

Make It Happen, a platform to connect travellers with destinations and their various facets, is keen on engaging with the B2B trade for a wider outreach. Maria Victor, Founder & CEO, Murali Shankaran, Co-Founder & COO, Make It Happen, spoke to Disha Shah Ghosh about their plans.

Q. Give us a brief background about Make It Happen.

Founded in 2011, Make It Happen began with a vision to connect travellers to local communities, celebrating culture, heritage, and traditions through immersive experiences. Starting in Goa, the organisation has expanded to curate unique travel experiences across India, including the Nilgiris and Diu, transforming destinations into vibrant microcosms of cultural discovery.

Our journey has been defined by a commitment to sustainability, storytelling, and community empowerment. From Heritage Walks and Culinary Journeys to Village Saunters and Nature Trails, we have redefined how travellers explore and connect with destinations. By collaborating closely with local communities, we empower them to share their stories, talent, and craftsmanship, creating meaningful cultural exchanges. This focus on storytelling fosters authentic connections between travellers and locals, enabling visitors to not just explore destinations but also understand the cultural narratives that define them.

Make It Happen’s innovative approach to experiential tourism has garnered widespread recognition, including the prestigious Outlook Responsible Tourism Award and features in leading platforms like BBC, CNN Traveler, and Fortune India.

Our impact extends beyond tourism; we have successfully partnered with Diu Smart City in a public-private collaboration to curate Heritage Walks, showcasing the island’s rich culture and history.

With over a decade of expertise, Make It Happen continues to pioneer experiential tourism in India, building bridges between travelers and the heart of the country’s diverse heritage.

Q. What is your customer acquisition strategy?

• Our website: (www.makeithappen.co.in) Offering a seamless online booking experience through a user-friendly website and mobile app.
• Implementing a robust SEO strategy and targeted Google Ads campaigns to increase website traffic and drive bookings
• Leveraging social media platforms to showcase unique experiences and storytelling through engaging content.
• Building alliances with hotels, resorts to cross-sell experiential tours to their guests.
• Engaging with travel agents, destination management companies (DMCs), and tour operators to integrate our experiences into their offerings.
• Conducting educational tours for schools and colleges, highlighting cultural and historical aspects of destinations.
• Offering curated team-building experiences for corporate clients to foster engagement through culture and storytelling.
• Collaborating with PR agencies to ensure consistent media coverage and enhance brand visibility.
• Featuring in renowned travel publications and online platforms to establish credibility.
• Empowering local storytellers and artists, creating a network of ambassadors who promote the experiences organically.
• Introducing “Friends of Make It Happen” programs to encourage
referrals from satisfied customers and ambassadors.
• Partnering with government initiatives, such as Smart City projects, to develop and promote heritage trails and cultural tourism.
• Aligning with tourism authorities to position Make It Happen as a key experiential tourism provider.

Q. Which are some of your prominent top selling destinations? In terms of traveller trends what observations have been made?

Goa has always been our home destination and the heart of our experiential offerings. Our flagship Fontainhas Heritage Walk in Panjim has been a hallmark of our success, recently earning the prestigious TripAdvisor Best of the Best Award in 2024. Beyond this, we have curated over 30 unique experiences across Goa that showcase the state’s vibrant culture and heritage. These include Culinary Journeys, where travellers explore Goan cuisine through local flavours and traditions, and Village Saunters, which offer an intimate glimpse into Goa’s rustic charm and community life. Additionally, our Nature Trails provide a refreshing way to connect with Goa’s serene landscapes and biodiversity.

In addition to our extensive work in Goa, we are proud of our public-private partnership with Diu Smart City, where we collaborated to transform Diu into a heritage-rich tourism destination. Through this partnership, we developed multiple heritage walks that redefined Diu’s narrative, moving beyond its image as a leisure spot to one that celebrates its cultural and historical significance. This successful collaboration exemplifies how experiential tourism can create a meaningful impact at both community and destination levels.

Looking ahead, we aim to expand into metro cities and emerging tourism destinations across India, including the Nilgiris and beyond. By introducing our storytelling-driven approach to these new regions, we strive to connect more travelers with India’s diverse cultural heritage while continuing to elevate Goa’s reputation as a hub for immersive tourism.

In terms of traveller trends, we’ve observed a growing demand for meaningful and sustainable tourism. Travellers increasingly seek to go beyond conventional sightseeing, craving experiences that allow them to connect deeply with a destination’s people, stories, and traditions. We’ve noticed a rise in Indian travellers exploring lesser-known destinations, showcasing a shift toward slow travel and interest in heritage, cuisine, and authentic local lifestyles. Travellers now prefer well-curated, boutique experiences that offer exclusivity and authenticity, steering away from mass tourism activities. This trend inspires us to innovate and design offerings that remain relevant to the evolving preferences of modern travellers.

Q. How are you planning to foray into the B2B travel space?

1. Leverage Media Recognition
o Utilize media features and awards to position as leaders in experiential tourism.
o Highlight recognitions in sales presentations and marketing collateral to build trust.
2. Showcase at Trade Fairs
o Actively participate in domestic and international travel trade fairs to reach potential B2B clients.
o Aim to secure speaking opportunities at these events to demonstrate expertise and thought leadership.
3. Digital Presence on Travel Portals
o List offerings on key B2B travel portals to enhance accessibility for agents and operators.
4. Professional Memberships
o Register with associations like IATO (Indian Association of Tour Operators) & TAAI (Travel Agents Association Of India) and India Tourism to gain credibility.
5. Collaborations with Hospitality Partners
o Partner with hotels to offer curated in-house cultural experiences and tailor-made itineraries for guests.
6. Engage with OTAs and Tour Operators
o Build partnerships with Online Travel Agencies, MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, Exhibitions) operators, and inbound tour operators to include experiential packages in their offerings.
7. Partnerships with Airlines
• Collaborate with airlines to feature experiential packages as part of their destination promotions or loyalty programs.
• Work with in-flight magazines and media to showcase unique travel experiences and engage with a global audience.

1st ever India-Nepal Tourism meet in Kathmandu to promote Mahakumbh 2025

The Embassy of India in Kathmandu, in association with the Nepal Tourism Board organised the 1st India-Nepal Tourism meet focusing on promotion of Mahakumbh 2025 in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh.

The event organised with an aim to create B2B connections to foster implementation of circuit tourism between India and Nepal was attended by Minister of State for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Government of Nepal Arun Kumar Chaudhary as Chief Guest. Deputy Chief of Mission from the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu- Prasanna Shrivastava, along with Deepak Raj Joshi, CEO, Nepal Tourism Board inaugurated the session on Tuesday, a release from Indian Embassy stated.

In his remarks, Prasanna Shrivastava, Charge D’ Affairs, Embassy of India, underscored the developments in physical and digital connectivity that are driving higher tourism flows between India and Nepal. He also stressed on continued joint efforts of both sides to fully leverage the India-Nepal tourism potential, including through promotion of religious and cultural circuits involving places in Nepal and the neighboring states of India.

In his opening remarks, Deepak Raj Joshi, CEO, Nepal Tourism Board appreciated that India was the biggest source of foreign tourists visiting Nepal and highlighted the various initiatives taken by the Nepal Tourism Board to foster India-Nepal tourism.

Chief Guest Minister of State for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Arun Kumar Chaudhary in his remarks mentioned that cross border tourism especially through land routes is a big contributor to tourism in Nepal even though not totally captured in formal statistics. He also suggested that both sides need to focus on cross border connectivity particularly in remote areas such as in the Sudurpaschim Province.

Tourism Officer from Government of Uttar Pradesh, Kirti, delivered a presentation on Mahakumbh 2025 that showcased the importance of the event especially for Nepalese devotees.

The event concluded with a mesmerizing Kathak dance performance by an eight-member troupe from India supported by the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR).

The B2B event at the Meet was attended by 13 delegates from India and 60 tour operators from Nepal. The discussions focused on promoting cross-border tourism especially through the land route. Tour operators from both sides deliberated on possible travel plans for visitors from both sides including in the context of Ramayana and Buddhist circuits.

As part of the programme, Nepal Tourism Board had organised a familiarisation trip for visiting delegates and tour operators from the state of Uttar Pradesh to Janakpur and Kathmandu from December 8-9. (Source: ANI)

South African Tourism Minister, Patricia de Lille

South Africa to register 23 Indian tour operators for group visas under TTO scheme by month end

 

South African Tourism Minister, Patricia de Lille while addressing the press in Mumbai at The Trident today during her week-long visit to India, announced a slew of changes in the visa process for Indian nationals.

She said, “We have undertaken a range of measures to ease visa processing for Indian nationals, removing the additional and unnecessary paperwork. India is a key source market for South Africa, and our aim is to grow visitations from India,” she said.

The Rainbow Nation has unveiled the Trusted Tour Operator Scheme to establish a symbiotic relationship with tour operators for processing group visa applications from India. Under this facility, in the first phase 23 tour operators from India will be registered by the end of the month, with the round two selection slated for February 2025. This will reduce the group visa processing time to 3-4 days.

Secondly, South Africa has phased out the e-Visa scheme since it was cumbersome and required extensive paperwork. This is replaced by the ETA (Electronic Travel Authorization) that reduces turnaround time of visa processing to 24-48 hours, while streamlining paperwork.

Thirdly, from January 20, business travellers from India, a crucial visitor segment for SAT with India its second biggest trading market, will be able to apply for five-year multiple-entry visa. This move, SAT, believes will be a shot in the arm, and help in boosting economic ties.

Moreover, with South Africa hosting the 2027 ICC T20 Cricket World Cup, plans are afoot to offer affordable tour packages for Indians to fly down to witness the historic tournament.

While easing of the visa process with an aim to boost arrivals from a crucial source market like India, the visiting delegation, with South African Airways also met with the management of Air India, IndiGo and SpiceJet to explore direct flights between the two nations.

IATO Convention 2024: Desperate stakeholders arguing Tourism!

India’s inbound tourism paints a very gloomy picture ahead. In the absence of adequate promotion, initiatives and funding, the inbound recovery was far from satisfactory the last year. However, and to the industry’s absolute chagrin, 2024 has been no different so far, probably even worse than the last year, amidst some clear indication that we would likely miss the bus in 2025 as well.

Furthermore, as if a host of unfriendly measures like shutting down overseas Indian tourism offices, discontinuation of scheme that earned the inbound operators incentives on the foreign exchange they earned, among others, were not enough, the 2024-25 Union Budget further plunged the industry, already tottering on the brink, in abject misery.

The recently concluded, 39th edition of IATO Convention, was organised at a time when eyes and expectations are on the post-Covid recovery and the growth thereafter. And in that context, probably the biggest highlight of the event was the lingering scrutiny throughout the three-day event of the government’s commitment to inbound tourism, voiced amply and repeatedly by stakeholders representing IATO and other industry associations and stakeholders.

There were some very strong suggestions, opinions, and demands, made during the events by the likes of IATO President Rajiv Mehra; Puneet Chhatwal, MD & CEO, The Indian Hotels Company Ltd. (IHCL); Ajay Bakaya, MD, Sarovar Hotels & Resorts; Vikram Madhok, MD, Abercrombie & Kent, Amaresh Tiwari, Vice Chairman, ICPB and Board Member – FAITH; among others, with regard to the current state of inbound tourism and the initiatives that are required.

While welcoming Union Minister Tourism and Culture at the inauguration, Mehra expressed hope that under the new Tourism Minister’s leadership, the industry will get full support from the Ministry and overseas promotions will restart. He also requested the Minister to re-instate MDA scheme for the tour operators which has been discontinued for last 3-4 years. “This has resulted in tour operators not being able to do overseas promotion and participate in overseas travel marts,” Mehra lamented.

Reinstatement of schemes such as SEIS that not only motivates and rewards inbound operators on the foreign exchange that they earn, but also aids their individual overseas marketing efforts, an efficient and better-funded Market Development Assistance (MDA) Scheme, putting up trained manpower at embassies overseas to undertake effective promotional work, undertaking different overseas promotion initiatives and regular interaction with foreign tour operators through roadshows, better budgetary support to Ministry of Tourism, advance planning and information for overseas promotion, development of new source markets, organising destination showcase thorough familiarisation trips for FTOs, journalists and influencers, prominently figured in various discourse and suggestions that took place at the IATO Convention.

The three-day event, themed ‘Resurgent India Inbound’ was organised along with a number of business sessions sought to not only, among others, highlight the immense socio-economic and job dividend that the country can benefit from by leveraging inbound tourism, but also highlighted the poor recovery in the aftermath of pandemic and the little support or attention that the inbound tourism sector has been given, amply demonstrated by India’s despondently poor show in attracting foreign tourist so far. Notably, the country earned foreign exchange in excess of USD 30 billion (INR 2,11,661 crore) in 2019, its best year till date.

However, Foreign Tourist Arrival figure is 2023 was still short by a lamentable over 15 per cent in comparison to the peak 2019 numbers, and the situation has not improved much in 2024, because of India’s heavy reliance on fewer source markets. The H1, 2024 inbound numbers were still lagging by 10 per cent, but that was before the Bangladesh, India’s number one tourism source market contributing nearly a quarter of the total FTAs, crisis. Given the continuing political upheaval there, India’s overall FTA number till date is probably worse off than the corresponding 2023 period.

Mehra also highlighted that over the years IATO Conventions have played critical role in showcasing and establishing destinations inbound profile and Madhya Pradesh as the host of the 39th Annual IATO Convention will reap big rewards with increased inbound visitations in the coming years. The delegates were treated with 10 richly crafted post-convention tours covering prominent sites such as Khajuraho Temples, Sanchi Stupa, the prehistoric cave paintings of Bhimbetka, all UNESCO World Heritage Sites, along with other prominent sites, such as Mandu, Jabalpur, Ujjain, Panchmarhi, Shivpuri, its rich wildlife, culture, among others, in order to unlock state’s inbound potential.

The event was attended by Dr. Mohan Yadav, Chief Minister, of Madhya Pradesh; Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Union Minister of Tourism and Culture; Rajendra Shukla, Deputy Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh; Dharmendra Bhav Singh Lodhi, Tourism & Culture Minister of Madhya Pradesh; M.R. Synrem, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India; Sheo Shekhar Shukla, Principal Secretary – Tourism, Government of Madhya Pradesh & MD, Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board, Bidisha Mukherjee, Additional MD, Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board, Dr. Ilayaraja T, MD Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation Ltd. and senior Government officials from Union Ministry of Tourism and Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Department, Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board and Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation Ltd.

More than 1,200 delegates attended the event. IATO’s famous Hall of Fame award was bestowed upon IHCL’s Puneet Chhatwal and Late M.L Razdan of Razdan Holidays.

Travel operators to see revenue rise 15-17% this fiscal: Crisil

Rising domestic tourism and increasing propensity to travel overseas will expand revenue of India’s tour and travel operators by a robust 15-17% this fiscal, says Crisil Ratings.

Improving infrastructure, rising disposable incomes, a behavioural shift in travel patterns, and the government’s increasing focus on boosting domestic tourism will further support the sector’s revenue growth.

To be sure, the growth in revenue will be on a high base of last fiscal, when revenue jumped ~40% on-year to about INR 14,500 crore, surpassing the pre-pandemic peak by ~20%.

The credit profiles of travel operators, too, are expected to remain healthy, supported by strong balance sheets and steady operating margins of 6.5-7%, in line with last fiscal, resulting in sizeable cash flows and continuing low reliance on debt.

An analysis of four major travel operators, which account for ~60% of the sector’s revenue, indicates as much.

Poonam Upadhyay, Director, Crisisl Ratings Ltd, said, “The trend of ‘revenge travel’ seen after the pandemic has evolved into ‘regularised travel’ in recent years with a significant shift towards shorter and frequent vacations, for both domestic and overseas trips. Moreover, growing middle-class aspirations, rising urbanisation, affordable packages, steadily increasing income levels, and the government’s focus on boosting Indian tourism will maintain the strong momentum in the tour and travel sector. This will, in turn, ensure healthy double-digit revenue growth for travel operators this fiscal as well.”

In the domestic tourism market, growth is being fuelled by micro holidays (e.g., quick getaways or staycations over long weekends), growing spiritual tourism, and better infrastructure (improved last-mile connectivity) facilitating travel to newer destinations.

An increase in inbound travel (i.e., foreign tourist arrivals) to pre-pandemic levels and high demand from the corporate and MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) segments are also supporting domestic travel.

For overseas leisure travel, growth is being led by higher disposable incomes, visa-free facilities from 37 countries, simplified visa processes (e.g., visa-on-arrival and e-visa facilities) and easing visa-related challenges related to long-haul destinations. In addition, attractive travel packages and increased focus of Indian airlines on new destinations in Southeast Asia and central Asia are spurring international trips, driving outbound travel to a record high this calendar year.

The increase in overseas travel is despite the hike3 in the rate of tax collected at source (TCS) on overseas travel packages effective October 1, 2023.

Anil More, Associate Director, CRISIL Ratings Ltd, added, “Strong customer retention, diverse revenue streams, various cost-optimisation measures, and investments in technology/automation undertaken since the pandemic will keep operating profitability of travel operators healthy at 6.5-7%, in line with last fiscal, despite higher marketing spend. Interest coverage ratio will also continue to be strong at over 5 times, in line with last fiscal.”

The tour and travel sector’s liquidity is expected to remain strong given the inherent negative working capital cycle on account of significant customer advances and lower dependence on debt.

That said, revision in visa guidelines, growth in commercial air fleet, sharp movement in air fares, change in tax structure, and inflation will bear watching.

 

Kiwi Link returns to Indian shores, strengthens New Zealand-India tourism ties

Kiwi Link, Tourism New Zealand’s flagship trade event, made a return in India this year, reuniting New Zealand tourism businesses with Indian travel sellers. After a 5-year hiatus, a 41-member delegation of New Zealand’s industry representatives, including airlines, airports, experience curators/ guides, hotels, and tour operators, converged to reconnect with 65 Indian buyers through 1,600 B2B meetings held from July 10th to 12th.

This intensive platform allowed New Zealand businesses to showcase their diverse offerings while Indian buyers gained valuable insights into crafting unforgettable New Zealand off-peak experiences. To further equip Indian travel agents with destination familiarity, a comprehensive frontline product training session was conducted on July 12th, both in-person and via a LIVE virtual session which garnered close to 300 participants.

The success of Kiwi Link India underscores the vibrant demand for New Zealand Tourism in India and signifies a renewed commitment to fostering a thriving partnership between the two nations.