TravTalk India Online Magazine
India Assist, a mobile-based first-call assistance App, intends to make travel in India stress-free for foreign tourists. The App provides verified information over call and eases any distress caused during travelling by allocating a personnel to tourists at their live location anywhere in Delhi-NCR.
Peden Doma Bhutia
When we visit a new place, the experience that we have as a traveller helps us shape the image of that place and it kind of stays with us forever.
And at a time when India is pulling all stops to make the country a viable destination for tourists, it is even more important that as hosts we are able to send across the right image of this ‘Incredible’ country that we live in. This is the basic premise on which India Assist was built. If you are asking what exactly does India Assist do, then Harish Khatri, Founder, India Assist Insights, describes it succinctly, “At India Assist, we don’t just provide a sup- port system bridging gaps for travellers, but provide a means for societies to do better than they are, as a part of the tourism industry.”
Founded in 2017 with the vision to make travel in India stress-free for foreign tourists, India Assist is an App-based on-call assistance and distress management for foreign tourists. As Moqierish Tak, Co-Founder, India Assist Insights, goes on to explain, “We provide assistance by providing verified information over call and ease any distress caused during travelling by allocating a personnel to them at their live location anywhere in Delhi-NCR, and eventually in other cities of India.”
The App connects a person in the time of need to the right mode of solution in case of theft, medical issues, transit, or during any kind of altercation. Before embarking on the venture, India Assist conducted a study in which 260 foreign tourists participated. The demographic included 30 per cent of 18-25-year-olds, 31 per cent of 25-40-year-olds, 28 per cent of 40-60-year-olds, and 11 per cent comprised 60-plus year-olds. The survey consisted of group discussions and one- on-one interviews with these foreign tourists across Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Chennai.
With no template to follow, the journey for Khatri and Tak hasn’t been an easy one. As Khatri explains, “Without investor support while developing the technology, taking this kind of stand was not easy and we kept struggling to meet our expectations versus cost. We were determined that we would not compromise and give a half-baked product to our customers. Thankfully, once investors started believing in our vision and product, things eased out. It took us almost two years to perfect the technology that we now work with, and are constantly upgrading it for better-user experience.”
They are now looking to work closely with stakeholders
from the tourism industry whom they look upon not as competitors, but as partners. Tak rightly says, “All stakeholders like airlines, hotels, travel agents, OTAs, government authorities, media et al need to support the cause of assistance to travellers and we are more than willing to partner with them to take care of their customers whenever they need any assistance. We hope to partner with state and central government agencies and other stakeholder associations to endorse our services. Furthermore, we are also creating affiliate partners and connects in the tourism ecosystem wherein we enable the stakeholders to provide our services to their customers.”
