To survive, one has to keep adapting and self analysis is critical | Anosh Erach Kanga, Co-founder, Explorience and Partner – Ahura Travels

Primary motivator to pursue your professional goals in the travel and tourism sector? Born into a family where travel was a religon has been a boon for me. As both my parents have been part of this industry, even before I was even born, that’s what I have always been exposed to and that is the first thing I remember my family discussing or speaking about at home. Even as a kid, on any school holiday, I used to force my parents to take me to office because for me it was an outing where everyone at work spoilt me! So it was only natural that when time came I made the choice to jump into the family business. But not before I took some professional experience in other fields like Finance and Oil and Gas for about 3 years. As a traditional family owned company in the market for over 30 years, I felt we had a great name and enjoyed the trust of our clients, but there was so much more we could change or do better in terms of services offered, technology, marketing or even simply servicing clients. In those days, we were more a corporate travel firm, we were not that active in the leisure market and that was something I laid my eyes on. Having travelled a fair bit I wanted my clients to experience the same and that was the basis for the leisure outbound team. That is where I began focusing my attention and time has flown since then. Over the years I have been lucky to have had some great guidance of industry stalwarts and met the right people. An observation about the industry, either a challenge or an opportunity? Wherever there is a challenge, there will always be an opportunity. It may sound poetic but that’s how it always plays out. Over the past years the industry has surely going through its fair bit of challenges- the online vs offline debate, the GST issue etc. But every time there has been a down, its been followed by an upturn. I can only use my example here. I have always been asked the perennial question – if the online industry has affected our business and how are we coping with it? But we believe to see it differently – The online market is different and does pose a challenge like in any other business. But what it has given us are clients with more clarity knowing exactly what they want. Has it affected us? Yes maybe, it has slightly affected numbers in terms of direct flight ticketing or hotel nights, but at the same time the quality of business has gone up. If you are smart about it, you can pick and choose your clients. Those spending good money will want personalised service and something unique, something only a personal travel advisor can give. That is where the business lies. Also with the spew of information available online, clients do not know who to or not to believe and rely on us even more now. Hence challenge yes! but that has given rise to an opportunity for us to adapt a little and do even better. Vision for the business? Perfection is what we strive for in all aspects. Personally, I have taken it as a challenge to make the entire travel process as seamless as possible, and that is our foremost goal. This I believe will only help in the travel experience and in guests coming back for more ideas in the future. From selling tickets and holidays we now sell ‘Experiences’- which are the key! Guests may forget the seat they were seated in, the airline they flew, the car they used etc but if you manage to make them experience something extraordinary, that is something will always remember. That’s the main essence of our team. We also understand the meaning of value. We understand what keeps the guests happy and what we needs to get done to keep them coming back to us in the future. More than asking why, we have learnt that when it comes to travel, the “Why not’s?”are more important, thus enabling us to offer our guests something out of the ordinary and something they would themselves not have thought of. From this year- we have begun taking baby steps and are trying to play a small role in conservation efforts as well- that is something really close to my heart. In the future, I would feel proud if we could made a positive impact in this sphere. Technology has a substantial game changer. Comment. Technology is surely a game changer and has increased leaps and bounds over the years! From simply organising your day and week to optimising internal team operations to interacting with your clients, tech plays a major part in all, and will only get more important in time. From past yearly comparisons to forecasts for your own business, future strategies can be laid out as well. That’s how important technology has become in today’s world. I feel its imperative for individuals and companies to adapt to these changes or they will slowly get left behind. Its never easy making so many changes at the speed tech is changing, but its only for the better. Gen Nxt thought? Change is the only constant! If I compare travel today to what it was when I joined the industry 10 years ago, the change has been drastic. Hence, I feel if you have to survive, we have to keep adapting- be it market conditions, rules & regulations or simply technology. Self analysis is the key in this. We need to step out of the business for a second and take a look at the larger picture. It’s not the easiest thing to do as we are emotionally attached to our businesses, but it is required. Since years I have been hearing people say that travel agents will not survive over the years because of the online influence or other reasons, but I have only seen their importance grow. If we look hard enough there are that many more clients who need hand holding , guidance and look to us for our expertise. Hence education for us and our teams is really important. We need to keep studying destinations, adapting and giving the clients what they ask for. Lastly, always be ready for the impossible- I would not be shocked if some years down the line, Space travel becomes common and we begin getting inquiries for the same!]]>