Our Aim Is To Be Among The Top Three Tour Operators: Ketkar

Charmaine Fernz - Mumbai

Jayram Ketkar

With the outbound season picking up and the festive season nearing, most tour companies are all set to make an impact. Keeping the optimistic scenario in mind, TCI's new chief operating officer Jayram D Ketkar has something different on the agenda. "Having been in the travel industry for a while, it is a fact that this industry has and will emerge with time. Considering this fact, we at TCI firstly want to consolidate our position in the industry and then drive all our products. As it is undoubted that this industry is growing by leaps and bounds and with growth comes demand."

Elaborating further on industry segments, Ketkar adds, "With this growth, there is also a change in the travel patterns of Indians. Most travellers nowadays are looking for something new and unique and definitely not run of the mill. It is here that innovation comes. Keeping this in mind, it is seen that there is indeed a strong future for leisure FIT. We are looking at new destinations such as Russia, which is a very big market for inbound and would be focusing on the domestic market too. On the inbound front, medical tourism is one of the emerging areas. We would also focus on corporate travel, which is fast becoming a year round phenomena. Apart from that outbound charters could also be a possible area we would consider in future."

With a strategic plan in place for the next year, Ketkar explains the methodology that would be adopted for implementation. "We feel that aggressive marketing is the key in destination promotion and this could be through any medium. Subsequently, technology too plays a pivotal role in any business. With all these factors well in place, our aim for the coming year would be to place ourselves among the top three in the Indian travel industry."