In “Spotlight” we will be discussing the
opportunities and challenges that our clients face in various
sectors, in conversation with CXOs. This month, we speak to the
Managing Director of Globus Family of Brands India (GFOBI) a group
company of Group Voyagers Inc., Mr. Varesh Chopra.
Group Voyagers Inc. is an international group in the tourism
industry that runs tours under the Globus, Cosmos, Monograms and
Avalon brand names. Originally founded in Switzerland, Group
Voyagers is now a global group with significant presence in North
America, Europe, Oceania, India and other countries across the
globe. We caught up with Mr. Chopra to discuss the pre- and
post-pandemic India story, for GFOBI and the travel industry.

Group Voyagers Inc. is an established global business in
the tourism industry with a history of over 90 years in Europe and
North America. You entered the Indian market only in 2008 – what
has the experience over the last 12 years been like? What are some
specific challenges posed by Indian customers and how has Group
Voyagers dealt with these?

It has been a very good decision. In fact, we were distributing
our products through our Swiss headquarters for at least 3 decades
before setting up an office here and were seeing a growing need to
have a direct presence. India has been a special and consistent
market for GFOB since then. The level of repeat and referral
business is very high and we realise that we are perfectly geared
to an emerging segment of travellers who wish to explore the world
in a more international manner.

The fact that we do not offer one’s home fare on our tours
is not a preference for some. It has taken a dedicated
communications campaign through the last many years to bring home
the point that we focus on unparalleled & authentic destination
experiences and one of the aspects towards achieving that is to get
out of the mundane and try the local cuisine of the host
destination.

What is Group Voyagers’ unique offering and what
niche does it occupy? What forms the target audience for Cosmos,
Globus, Avalon and Monogram?

Our offering is a comprehensive selection of almost 500+ travel
programs both touring and cruising spread across 7 continents and
73 countries. With the sheer range of itineraries on offer, a
traveller will never be short of choices: be it a multi-country
experience or a more deeper dive into a single destination. Our key
USP is an opportunity to tour with a multinational group of
travellers to make one’s tour a far richer pursuit. Our tour
directors belong to the region you are travelling in and that’s
how we offer the unbeatable experience and knowledge that no other
organisation can. This also happens to be the top reviewed element
of our tour amongst others. It is like having a local friend
wherever one goes.

All our four brands have a unified approach in offering
authentic destination experiences but appeal to slightly different
set of travellers. Overall, the average age of the traveller is
between 45-50 and even seniors, solos, couples and families. We
basically appeal to urban professionals who are versatile
travellers from all across South Asia & the Middle East.

Overseas travel for Indian customers is a lucrative
albeit small segment of the general Indian population. Is domestic
travel for Indian customers an attractive opportunity for a company
like Group Voyagers? Is there scope to provide premium offerings
within this segment?

We have always offered an interesting selection of tours in
India for our incoming customers. The product ethos remains the
same as all other GFOB brands. Infact, we have an Avalon cruise
product on the river Ganges since the last two years, which has
done very well.

We have recently launched a selection of India tours under the
Monograms brand called Monograms India discoveries. They are a
selection of hub and spoke travel programs, which are an
interesting mix of the already popular and some more exotic
journeys within India. With the Monograms branding, we offer a
carefully selected list of unique hotels, safe and higher end
transportation, unique experiences built with guided sightseeing
and the “Local Host” concept. Last but not the least, we
offer health & safety assurance and all protocols as per
international standards. We’ve already received a lot of
enthusiasm from our loyal customers and have a strong belief that
quality sells! Today’s discerning traveller demands premium
experiences that can be great value, which don’t have to be the
most expensive.

Group Voyagers’ Indian entity started out as a
liaison office to promote and sell GV USA’s products to Indian
customers. However, since then, GV has set up an Indian subsidiary
that fulfils multiple functions apart from being a sales office.
What are these functions and how has it benefitted the group to
outsource these to India?

There are multiple advantages to increasing the functions in the
India office. Our channel of distributors are able to speak and
communicate with our support team based in Bangalore all days of
the week and this also sorts out the time zone challenges due to
the massive geography we operate in.

We have a sales team which covers all parts of the country as
well other international markets and there is nothing to beat the
direct connect and relationships. Customers also feel more assured
and confident once they realise that GFOB has a direct corporate
office here in India. With the adage that you need to be always
within hearing distance of your end clients – having our own office
in India provides our marketing team with grassroots intelligence
as well as ample creativity to connect directly with the network
and travelers alike.

Some international tourism companies run their global
call-centre from India due to the obvious advantages – cost
arbitrage, English being commonly spoken and so on. Is there any
possibility that the Group will outsource some of its global
functions to India?

There have been internal discussions about this in the recent
past and I’m sure the time will come.

What is the degree of reliance on travel agents to make
sales, for tour operators such as yourself? Has this changed over
the last ten years with consumers becoming more
internet-savvy?

We have a major reliance on the trade and I don’t see that
changing due to the nature of our products. We play in a niche
category, where the travel programming is based on multiple
sub-components to create experiences and are preferred by savvy,
intellectual travelers. They want to deal with a name and a face
and want to experience their travel dream in a conversation even
before they get on a tour or a cruise. The mass market approach
doesn’t work here and our websites primarily remain an
informational and branding resource where the clients discover us,
rather than book online.

Are your customers driven by price, by brand (or
perception of quality) or by some other factor? What is the ratio
of new customers vs. returning customers in any given
year?

Our customers not only in India but worldwide appreciate the
value and quality that we bring to their travel experiences. Price
is important, but a secondary aspect of the buying decision. We
have a 67% returning customer rate with the last survey and study
we did. On a worldwide level, our NPS (Net promoter score) is on a
very high count.

The travel and tourism industry in India (and globally)
is a competitive space with many players in both the organised and
unorganised sector. What does a company need to do to set itself
apart?

Well, it is a very good question, at the same time the answer
cannot be simplified because of the sheer availability of choices
and the competition out there with everyone sounding the same at
times. However, we recommend what we call internally, the
“GFOB way” of doing things- At Globus Family, we use the
word family not only to give a common umbrella to all our brands
but also in the way we deal with our customers and all
stakeholders.

If you were to call all the tourist attractions , destinations
and the accommodation options as the hardware of a travel program,
then the software would really be the culture, the quality and
dedication of the human resources of an organisation like us. The
hardware available to all of us is perhaps all the same, it is the
people in the organisation who really make a difference. This
translates into bringing highly immersive content into all our
travel programs and experiences and making sure that we are always
creating happy travellers, which comes by having a professional and
transparent product offer and pricing. Our innovations and
value-adds are industry leading and our Tour Directors who really
make that difference, are the very best in the trade. We are
committed to making travel partners and associates successful and
we are genuine, loyal and trusted in our approach. It is a lot to
achieve and balance but it has become our second nature: for us,
that is the sweet spot of success and differentiation and make us a
segment leader worldwide.

What according to your customers makes the GVI
experience delightful? What helps you earn their
loyalty?

Our Indian customers are increasingly appreciating that we offer
exploration through culture and cuisine and the authenticity of
experiences is top notch as well as great value for their time and
money spent.

Our touring and cruising experiences do a deeper dive into the
story of a destination, its history, culture, sights, smells,
sounds and tastes. We aren’t superficial in our approach and do
not sell tourism in the name of a ‘tick it off your list’
fleeting tour that’s bound to impress only on the outside
packaging.

Apart from bringing the destination to life through the top
notch storytelling and concierge-like skills of our affable Tour
Directors, we stand for making multicultural friendships along the
way, seeing the world through many eyes rather than only yours!
This what our clients expect from us and love about the Globus
Family of brands.

How has Covid-19 impacted 2020 and 2021 for GVI
globally, across geographies? What is your expectation on a return
to ‘normalcy’ for the travel/tourism industry, and what
potential changes do you think we will see in group tours as a
result of the pandemic?

Nearly half of our customer source market being from North
America and a similar fraction of our ground operations on both
touring and cruising happening in Europe, we have definitely not
been spared from the repercussions. I must mention here that, when
this situation started we had some customers travelling on the
ground in various countries. GFOB brought in quick policy
initiatives and proactive measures including footing the bill
wherever required, as well as threw in some amount of heroics to
get all the customers back home safely.

The pandemic situation in the US, EU and UK has been
particularly acute. We are currently hoping for some return to
normalcy after Q2, owing to the vaccinations starting worldwide and
the eventual hope that clear regulations on border entries as well
as exits would emerge. GFOB on its part was the earliest mover to
ensure we had further strengthened our already robust Health and
Safety protocols and received the World Travel and Tourism Council
(WTTC) Safe travels seal. Under our On Trip assurance program, we
continue to follow guidelines given by CDC, ECDC as well as WHO,
CLIA & USTOA. We have introduced a travel bubble concept which
will offer the highest level of safety as well have reduced
participant numbers on our tours an average of 40% to ensure social
distancing and bring peace of mind. Top it off with a meticulous
selection of third party vendors, hotels and F&B establishments
as well as attractions which fully comply with our protocols and we
have a strong formula for a completely safe operation. GFOB has
also had a very robust incident response SOP for any eventuality in
parts of the world where we operate.

We believe that by the time it finally ends, this pandemic would
have taught all travel industry players as well as the travelers
themselves the difference between lucrative-looking pricing /
packaging, so-called “steal deals” and the sincere
health-and-safety-focused and value-added offering of authentic
travel experiences offered by players like us.

How is Group Voyagers India, specifically, dealing with
Covid-19 related slowdowns and the effects of travel
restrictions?

The well-being of our customers as well as employees remains
paramount and we are waiting for the right moment to restart our
operations. Though we had hoped to commence operations at the
beginning of October 2020 but had to unfortunately push back that
plan as the situation continued. Our operations currently remain
suspended till the end of March 2021. We continue to study the
situation very closely and will restart in accordance with the
respective Government and Health authority guidelines, never ever
compromising on health and safety aspects of customers and
employees.

Do you expect mergers/acquisitions and consolidation of
smaller players across the tourism industry as a result of the
ongoing downturn?

It seems inevitable especially with the situation continuing
over 2021 and lack of governmental support for the Indian tourism
industry as a whole here.

We understand that despite 2020 being a washout for the
tourism industry which led to widespread staff reductions globally,
GVI decided not to lay off any of its people. What prompted
this?

The situation that has come upon us as an organisation and
consequently upon all our stakeholders including employees is
undoubtedly unexpected & unprecedented. In our 93 years of
history as an organisation, we have been through many ups and
downs, the most significant being the Great Depression and World
War-II. We have not only survived but emerged stronger. It is in
the culture of the organisation to take the word ‘Family’
literally and we have endeavoured to have the least impact on our
staff as we believe once things will turn around, it is they who
will be partners in building the future of the organisation
post-Covid.

What do you think are the key measures that can be
undertaken both at the Government level and the industry level, to
help travel and hospitality return to stability and
growth?

The government should realise the massive employment as well as
revenue-generating potential of the industry especially with the
incoming tourism bringing in massive foreign exchange earnings.
Tourism is amongst the top employers in the country and assistance
in terms of direct measures like supporting some part of the
salaries for a short term, offering moratoriums on loan repayments,
GST rebates and speedy GST refunds are required. The proposed TCS
on overseas travel should be scrapped, and if not, at least
postponed for a period of 24-36 months.

There have been massive job losses in the industry and I’m
afraid many operators would never be able to bounce back and many
livelihoods are gone forever. From a purely incoming tourism
perspective, short-term visa fee waivers or reductions as well as
reduction in entry fees for monuments, lowering taxes on the
hospitality sector should help ease the woes and liquidity crunch
and getting back to business once tourism opens up.

What trends do you think will drive the travel and
tourism industry over the next decade or two?

According to me, the pursuit of more immersive and unique
experiences as well as more independent-minded travel will be the
name of the game going forward. Sustainability is a big and very
important word in the western world already, it hasn’t yet
caught the attention and imagination of travellers from this part
of the world, but is eventually bound to be recognised. The Globus
family of brands has existing as well as well-meaning and long term
plans on all of these aspects and it will take me another few
thousand words to explain them if you wish so.

To read more on this topic from Asit Mehta & Associates,
please click here.

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