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President Karl Dantas of Enterprising Travel Agents Association (ETAA) chats with Travel Gazette India.
TGI: Tell us more about ETAA.
We are the only representative body for non-IATA Agents in the country. Our headquarters are in Mumbai and our first chapter was started in Pune two years ago. We have more than 100 members in Mumbai and more than 40 in Pune.
In every business you have a manufacturer. In our case, the manufacturer is the airline. Then you have a distributor, a whole-saler, a retailer... we are part of that chain.
In today’s context, IATA makes no sense at all. Most agents, IATA or non-IATA buy their tickets from bigger agencies because airlines work on performance linked bonus (PLB). We can get tickets from any consolidator or from the airline.
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IATA is not issuing its own tickets, in any case. IATA was founded for inter-airline consolidation. It is funded by the airlines. We are not all small – many IATA agents do not even have a staff of 10. We have 19.
TGI: Where do you see potential for growth in India tourism?
I see a huge potential for inbound. But today we don’t have the infrastructure. Even if you have airlines, in some places accommodation is a problem. Even in destinations such as Goa, during peak season today, the inventory is not very large. That results in higher prices.
In Goa, for instance, at this time, you can get a package at the five-star properties, between 15,000 to 20,000 for three nights and four days including meals, transfer, sight-seeing and a boat cruise. Suddenly, when you come to October up to January, it becomes 20,000 for a night, without any meals.
We are only doing 5million inbound tourists because we don’t have the inventory. No one wants to pay $500 per night in India when you can get a better deal in nearby countries.
If there are more hotels – boutique properties, three-star to five-star resorts, eventually the prices will even out. The country will benefit.
The argument of land prices dictating costs does not really work because prices are not any cheaper in places such as Shanghai and Beijing, yet they have 10 times more room than what we have.
We need to recognise travel tourism as an industry. Why do we need to beg for that? It is an industry. In outbound too there is huge potential. Countries such as the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary have a lot of potential.
TGI: What are the issues you plan to take up in the next one year?
One of the main things we did to back larger associations in their fight against zero commissions. We‘re concentrating on starting additional chapters. This year, we plan to start our Gujarat, Delhi and Bengaluru chapters. We have been approached by non-IATA agents.
ETAA is talking to a US-based IT company to create an online portal so that we can access inventory of consolidators all over the world.
We have tied up with TAFI so that our members can become affiliate members of TAFI. We are in talks with IAAI to seek the mandate from their general body for ETAA members to become their associate members. We are looking at a pooling of resources.
TGI: Do travel agents need to add more value to their services now?
The Indian market is very unique – it is service-oriented. In Europe their labour costs are very high. You book online. You don’t require visas to many places. Here, to get a passport you need a travel agent. That is why there are regional success stories of package tours with everything taken care of.
TGI: As more and more international operators come in do you see specialisation becoming the norm?
Most tourism boards are conducting specialist programmes. Agents don’t read or expand our knowledge. Now there are interactive online programmes. Tourism boards of New York City, Germany, Spain all have these modules. In half hour you are an expert.
If your counter-staff attend the programme, even if they move to another agency, the knowledge stays within the industry.
TGI: How do you think traditional travel agents/consultants can work best with online media – especially reviewing-cum-booking sites?
We can use them. If my supplier sends me to a particular hotel in Prague, I can go online and get a review. You can read quotes from 10 or 15 people who have been to that that place. There is no obligation or charges to use that.
Most tourism boards give you online access. We also need to explore airline seating. There is a difference between lie-flat bed and lie-flat seats. You have to know which aircraft they use. In many cases, an agent cannot prebook the seat, only make a request.
So you have to find out the information and pass it on to the customer. There is tremendous scope for growth.
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