Understanding the dire need of simplifying visa processes for the travel trade segment, Rajan Dua, managing director, Udaan, established his company as a one stop visa processing facility in the country. As Udaan completes 25 years in the industry next month, Express Travel World speaks to Dua on his momentous journey By Saloni Bhatia
Udaan was started in 1992 as an end to end visa facilitation centre headquartered in New Delhi. Realising the true potential of visa processes from the southern market, the company targeted the region, later expanding to west and east India. Soon, the company bagged many clients from western and eastern markets making it one of biggest visa providers of the time. Udaan currently functions through nine offices across India. Speaking about why he started a visa only agency, Dua, shares, “Everyone was selling hotels, packages, travel facilities at that time and the only factor missing to complete the circle of travel was visas. I realised there was a huge opportunity in visa processing as there were few agencies working exclusively on visas.”
Dua’s one year experience with a travel agency and connection with embassies came in handy for the growth of the company. “South was a big market for us as all the embassies were based in New Delhi. So we strengthened our clientele in the southern market before expanding to west and east. The urgent visa facilities provided by us highlighted our efficiency in the business as we started building good relationships with the embassies. A lot of homework and training went to make sure that each day was utilised to its best. The quickness and prompt thinking helped us to stand out as reliable agents at that time.”
The company initially faced huge challenges because of sudden growth in business but the team kept pace with new work. Sharing one of the transforming moments for Udaan, Dua remarks, “We became the member of the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) in 1996 which changed the demographic for us as an agency. We started meeting majority of agents under one roof, which helped us diversify our portfolio. In fact in 1999, SITA Travels was the very first company to shut down their visa division and outsource their work to Udaan. Soon others followed suit and we were handling major clients like, Cox and Kings, etc.”
In 2002, the company took a technological step forward by creating an online portal udaanindia.com where agents were give login ids to track their visa processes, and following the idea of creating a niche in visa processing, the company then expanded to other cities with regional offices in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, Pune, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad in 2007. The brand also upgraded to handle corporates over the years which now amounts to 60 per cent of revenue, mentions Dua. He adds, “Udaan will continue to concentrate on corporate clients as it is one segment where travel is unperturbed by other seasonal factors.”
Commenting on how the market has evolved, Dua opines, “Travel has changed drastically in the past 10 years and now there is more digital transactions. People are already well aware about destinations and the visa process of most countries is online. The ones who don’t evolve with technology or the needs of the sector will perish or fade out.”
Udaan launched a Destination Marketing Conglomerate (DMC ) last year to represent selective destinations in Europe and Asia. Talking about the future of the business, Dua states, “We are only focusing on bringing MICE to these destinations and already have a few queries for the month of February and March. We will be participating in two of the largest travel trade shows in India to make people aware about the immense opportunities in these destinations.”
Udaan has also recently ventured into medical tourism with the Caring India initiative. Dua adds, “Medical tourism is on the rise in the industry and we have tied up with major hospitals in India to bring patients from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Africa. It is important to grow with the times and foresee upcoming potential markets.”