Akshay Kumar – Mumbai
UAE headquartered online travel agency Musafir.com which forayed into the India market in 2013, will be launching a concept called ‘Travel with Tendulkar’ by May 2015. Former cricketer, Sachin Tendulkar will travel along with his fans to select destinations. Currently, Musafir.com has shortlisted Dubai, Singapore, Australia, London and Japan for this.
Speaking exclusively to Express TravelWorld, Vijay Kesavan, chief executive officer, Musafir.com said, “Our major USP is that we have Sachin Tendulkar as our partner and also a minority stakeholder. This year we have planned an extensive media campaign with Tendulkar and will also launch our new product ‘Travel with Tendulkar’ in April or May. The packages which we have planned is not only for the premium travellers but also the people looking at mid-budget tours.”
Technology remains a key focus for Musafir.com according to Kesavan, recently the OTA has also launched their mobile application which is one of their biggest investment into technology. Musafir.com is also setting up offices in New Delhi, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru and Chennai this year.
Speaking about the trends, Kesavan added, “In India, holidays is one segment where people are still inclined towards offline tour operators, but travellers conduct their entire research using the online medium. We have seen a positive growth in the online segment and we are now majorly focusing in investing in technology. Within the next two to three months we will expand our presence in Qatar and Saudi Arabia.”