Delivering diversified range of travel services to its customers in innovative and cost effective ways is Destinations Gateway Pvt ltd – a leading Travel Management Company well-equipped with specialists in creating tailor-made holidays. To get more insights about the company’s prominent services and uniqueness, we bring you an exclusive interview with a young and dynamic professional Vivek Nigam, the Managing Director.
Kindly brief us about Destinations Gateway.
Destinations Gateway is committed to provide a range of travel products to its customers, in an innovative and cost effective way. The company was formed with a vision to be regarded as the best and most sought after Corporate Travel Management Company, delivering superior returns to our stakeholders. We have a dedicated team of experienced travel professionals, who strive to provide highest quality of customer service, ground operations and overall assistance to our valuable customers. We work closely with our clients to optimize their expenditure and manage complexities of business travel, while addressing the needs and expectations of the travellers. Our core services have a presence across the travel spectrum
Brief us about the Founder/CEO and his/her contribution towards the upliftment of the company. What was the source of inspiration for your company to be a pioneer in the Business and Corporate Travel Services Providers segment?
Destinations Gateway came to existence as a private limited company on 06th January 2013. The inspiration to start a business stemmed from a burning desire to work for myself, to find pride and fulfilment and to reach the place as a businessman that once my grandfather had. Besides I have always been passionate about travel.
I started my career as a travel consultant in 2004 and worked my way up to the management level, gaining valuable insight about the industry working in different travel companies. In 2008, I went to Oxford to pursue a Master’s degree in International Tourism Management. After the completion of my studies, I struggled to find good opportunities in the U.K travel industry and faced rejections from everywhere. I had to change my domain for survival and I started working in financial services. This went on for nearly two years and I continuously hoped that I’d find an opening back in travel because that’s where my true passion was. I had thought about starting my travel business a lot of times but couldn’t move forward in that direction. When I finally took the leap, I received complete and unconditional support from my family who has always backed my idea of becoming an entrepreneur. Thus the journey started.
What are the distinct products and services provided by the company, setting it apart from its competitors?
As opposed to selling packaged tours with common inclusions while competing on price, we at DG develop a repertoire of unique experiences and special access. For us it is all about selling experiences. The more unique they are, the more value we are add and the more differentiated we become. This practice is underlined by the fact that we don’t sell deals, we sell our expertise. Each of our team members has detailed information about the destinations we promote which is used for creating a unique and memorable experience for every guest we cater to.
We show our customers behind the company. We believe that people buy from people. Travel is a service-oriented industry and a face is always more trusted than a machine. We use this simple human psychology to show our customers the amount of effort we put in to make a good trip for them. They always appreciate it. So to sum it all, Our USP is the passion and expertise of our destination specialists which we use to make our customers’ holidays memorable
What is the current scenario of Business and Corporate Travel industry, from your point of view?
India is the world’s tenth largest business travel market and is likely to clock the fastest growth in this segment in the next five years. Business travel spending is expected to treble until 2030 from $30 billion in 2015, a report by consultancy KPMG.
There are quite a few companies offering corporate travel management in their service portfolio, however, very few of these have a specialized focus in this segment. This can be attributed to the high level of risk and credit period involved in dealing with corporate companies in India. Having said that, as this segment grows, more players will be looking to make an entry into this domain if not already present.
What are the benefits gained by your clients while doing business with you?
Each of our team members has a proven track record in their area of expertise and they are always available to provide all kinds of assistance to our customers and ensure that they have an unforgettable holiday experience. Our network of associate offices are constantly engaged in contracting a range of travel products to provide value added services to our clients such as hotels, ranging from a budget accommodation to five-star property, sightseeing tours, transfers, and excursions in exotic destinations around the world. We ensure that while our customers get the most competitive rates in the industry, and are provided with an exceptional service.
Corporate travel management is our flagship service. We have a unique approach to strategic account management help the companies take the stress out of business travel
What is the role of your employees behind your company’s success? How do you keep them motivated?
Our team members are the backbone of the company. We wouldn’t have achieved even half the success we have if it weren’t for the team effort. All company related decisions are taken after carefully considering each team member’s opinion / though process on the matter.
We keep them motivated by allowing them to work in their own style while giving them ownership. We also take frequent picnic trips together to promote team-building.
What would be your advice for the budding startups and entrepreneurs in the industry?
Don’t lose hope if you are face tough situations initially. There is a lot of help around. Get in touch with the right people. Don’t try to expand too quickly. Focus of the quality of service
Brief us about Destinations Gateway’s future perspectives.
We aim to be involved in all aspects of a traveller’s cycle and are learning from collective consumer behavior to deliver intelligent recommendations to enhance their travel experiences. Keeping up with the millennial generation of travelers, we will soon launch our corporate mobile app to engage them. We have already done the soft launch of our travel services platform yatrapartners.com which brings together social network and travel.
We plan to expand our operations, starting with an increased focus on ancillary services such as visa assistance, travel insurance, forex and others. We also plan to open more profit centers in tier two and tier three cities.
Source :-The 10 Highly Recommended Business & Corporate Travel Companies
Destinations Gateway: Making Holidays Memorable!
