In the days when Google Maps, GPS and Internet were nearly non-existent, a young man started his career by designing maps and giving directions to self-drive tourists in 1961. Sushil Bhatt, CEO, Forvol Travels looks back on his early days and how it shaped his career map By Akshay Kumar
Born in 1943 in Mumbai, Sushil Bhatt grew up to be one who lost interest in studies after completing his SSC exams. Bhatt says, “After SSC I wasn’t interested in studies anymore and that was the time when one of my cousin sisters was working for Western India Automobile Association (WIAA). She asked me to join the association if I didn’t have the interest to study further. That is how I started my career with WIAA in 1961. We used to design maps during the period when there was no Internet, but still our maps used to be precisely designed with every information about the area. We also used to get calls from travellers and we guided them and helped them with directions. We used to make maps of one mile to one inch scale during that time. Today if you ask me, I can give you any detail about any place.”
Today, sitting inside his sea facing cabin as the CEO of Forvol Travels since 2003, Bhatt adds that his experience in WIAA has taught him one important lesson, that in every work there must be authenticity. “There should be originality and authenticity while designing a package or planning an itinerary,” he points out. From his drawer he removes a book called ‘Motoring Maps of India’ and explains that this is his Bible.
But that was not the end of his education for he went on to complete his law. Bhatt exclaims, “One fine day my father asked me to study as I already had a job. I started studying Bachelors in Arts from Jai Hind College. Later, I also completed Law and Business Management in Industrial Relations from the Government Law College.”
That was the time when tour operators used to visit WIAA to get a detailed map of their itinerary. “This is when Tej Sahni who used to handle inbound in Trade Wings used to frequently come to us for map designing. We used to prepare customised maps for them. One day, he asked me if I was interested in joining Trade Wings and he called me to his office. But due to some commitments I couldn’t make it. After a month or so I finally went to the Trade Wings office where I met Tej Sahni and Vinoo Ubhaykar. I joined Trade Wings in 1969. This is the place where I actually learnt making itinerary, costing, handling accounts. This was the second successful step in my life,” highlights Bhatt.
From 1969 to 1984 Bhatt worked with Trade Wings. Later in 1984, Bhatt and Jai Saini both planned to either start their own company or join some other firm. Bhatt mentions, “After a lot of discussions, finally we both joined Thomas Cook from where I retired in 2009. In my new role I was the head of inbound. Here I got a chance to handle many big conferences like the World Interpol Conference in New Delhi with 1000 members. But the biggest conference which I remember is the World Poultry Congress in 1996 in Ashoka, Delhi. We managed over 4,500 delegates in that conference without any glitches.”
Finally giving a word of advice to the youth in the travel industry, Bhatt emphasises, “Be honest to yourself. Sincerity and hard work is what I believe in. The most important advice which I would give to the next generation travel professionals is to know your product. Product knowledge is extremely important. Secondly, perfectly structuring the itinerary and packaging is important in our industry. This will help in increasing customer satisfaction. In short, one should have passion to work in this industry.”