TravTalk India Online Magazine
Filling his father’s shoes wasn’t easy but Himanshu Patil, Director of Kesari Tours & Travels, has done it with elan and taken on the mantle of leadership with reverence and responsibility.
Hazel Jain
When Kesari Patil along with his wife Sunita Patil started a travel company in the early 1980’s with the little seed money they eked out, they had no idea how ubiquitous that name would become in Maharashtra. After more than three decades of coming into existence, the name of Kesari Tours & Travels has established itself not just in this state but the entire western region of India, quickly spreading to other parts of India as well.
Carrying forward his legacy is his younger son, Himanshu Patil, who is now the Director at Kesari Tours & Travels. He was a child when the company started on June 8, 1983. “My older siblings joined the company as they started growing up. Eventually, even I joined the company at a young age of 15 or 16. I started conducting tours and that’s how my journey started. Luckily for me, I grew up to be passionate about travel and this industry. That has become my profession and I am enjoying it thoroughly,” he reminisces.
Having been in the industry for the last 30-odd years, he has seen it change and evolve. “Things were really tough for us when I joined. It was a small office of about 100 sq feet and I worked alongside my parents and my older siblings. What the company has become today is because of the contribution of the entire Kesari family. It is not just a business, but it has our family values entrenched into it,” Patil asserts.
“The trust factor with Kesari Tours is very strong. In today’s digital world when retaining the customer is the biggest challenge and brand loyalty means little, we are happy to say that our repeat clientele percentage is very high and that reflects our enormous success story”
Crossing milestones
Over a span of more than three decades, Kesari Tours & Travels has crossed milestones and won many accolades. One of the best ones so far, Himanshu Patil says, has been the ‘National Tourism Award for Best Domestic Tour Operator – Rest of India’ in 2013-14 as well as the ‘National Tourism Award’ for the Best Domestic Tour Operator for Kashmir in 2013-14 and 2014-15 consecutively, presented to his father by the President of India. Kesari Patil also won the ‘Gallery of Legends Award’ by West India Travel Awards in 2016.
The best award though, says Himanshu Patil, is from the customers. “The trust factor with Kesari Tours is very strong. For us, our repeat clientele is the best award for us. In today’s digital world when retaining the customer is the biggest challenge and brand loyalty means little, we are happy to say that our repeat clientele percentage is very high and that reflects our success story,” he says.
Special interest groups
According to Patil, Kesari Tours has always laid emphasis on creating new products, particularly the special interest tours that have now become so popular – Only Women Special, Students Tours, Second Innings for senior citizens, Sports Tours, etc. “These are just a few we have introduced and every year, we keep adding one new segment to our portfolio. We also keep adding new destinations. The plan is to introduce two or three new destinations and new tours every year. That is how we have tours right from the domestic market to Antarctica and even the Arctic Circle and the North Pole today. We were also the pioneers for introducing India to South America which we started in 2003-04, which continue to do well even today,” he says. The company’s latest products include packages to Eastern Europe.
Future perfect
While Kesari Tours has established itself firmly in Western India including Gujarat as per plan, it is now looking at developing the northern and eastern India markets. “Though we have a Delhi office, we need to focus more on the northern region. We are looking at more business coming from north. So while our clientele is dominated by the Maharashtrian community, we have already started expanding to include other communities as well. The idea is to go pan-India – no boundaries for state or region. We also have good presence in the south while west has been our traditional market. Our focus now is to aggressively develop the north and east India including Chhatisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Punjab and of course, Delhi. Our next move will be to look at having our presence in cities like Lucknow and Chandigarh,” Himanshu Patil adds. As a founder member and Vice President of the Outbound Tour Operators’ Association of India (OTOAI) Himanshu Patil’s aim is to increase membership so that the outbound agents can come together and form a strong force for the benefit of the entire outbound market.
Love for travel
This 47-year old expert who grew up surrounded by travel is passionate about self-drive holidays and adventure sports. He prefers SUVs and has driven up to the North Pole. “That was a fantastic experience. It was with my daughter and has been one of my best self-drive holidays so far. We drove all the way up to the end of Norway. My dream now is to do Mumbai-London. It will take about 30 to 40 days and will require a lot of planning, so it may not happen this year. But I have already started planning for my next holiday which depends on my daughter who is now in the ninth standard,” he says.
Patil also loves to run and participate in marathons across the globe. Last year, he participated in marathons: New York and Berlin. This year, he is looking forward to London in April followed by Chicago.
Growth Plans
The company focuses on aggressively developing north and east India including Chhatisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Punjab and of course, Delhi. The next move is to look at having presence in cities like Lucknow and Chandigarh
With an office in Delhi, Kesari Tours & Travels is setting eyes on the northern region. It is looking at more business coming from north
