TravTalk India Online Magazine
The travel consolidator recently conducted an educational trip for its agent partners – to reconnect with old partners and re-educate new agents and highlight new destinations in Kerala. The intention was also to underline the fact that FlyCreative Online is now also an OTA with its own online B2B booking agent, informs Adl Karim, Director, FlyCreative Online.
Harshal Ashar
FlyCreative Online recently organised a familiarisation tour to Kerala for its travel partners to showcase its offerings, particularly for MICE. Adl Karim, Director, FlyCreative Online, who led the delegation, said, “We had 19 travel agents coming from cities like Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Delhi and Mumbai this time. The main idea behind organising this trip was to reconnect with them because we have been a consistent DMC who used to offer such familiarisation trips every six months in order to rejuvenate and educate our agent partners.”
This was the first familiarisation tour by FlyCreative since COVID-19. Apart from the idea of reconnecting with old partners, the aim was to re-educate new agents and highlight new destinations in Kerala. Speaking about the itinerary, Karim said, “The itinerary this time was a little different from the standard itineraries. This time we included Ashtamudi, Varkala and Athirapalli, which are some new destinations for our partners and I’m sure this will help in selling it in a little different way to their clients.”
Domestic market booming
India is growing and so is India’s domestic tourism market, Karim said. “Most of the hotels here are full. That shows the potential of domestic tourism, and we are sure, with the experiences and the offerings that this destination has, growth will come indigenously, returns will come indigenously except for some natural disasters that are happening. So, if that is under control, I think the destination will grow and the DMCs will also have good returns,” he added.
FlyCreative has been focusing on MICE movements and that has been its forte, especially for a destination like Kerala “because the corporates are looking for activities that can be offered, and Kerala is a destination which gives you different experiences”. Karim explained, “We have got hill stations, we have got backwaters, we have got beaches, we have got wildlife, so there are different experiences and activities that can be offered to clients. So, that is the area that we are focusing on.”
FlyCreative an OTA
Karim underlined the fact that FlyCreative Online is not just a South India DMC; it is an OTA. “We are one of the consolidators in the OTA space and we have this new booking engine which we have launched for our B2B partners, which is our focus, and we will be expanding on that front. Many agent partners in the industry know us as a South India DMC but that is just one of the verticals we have. Our main business is consolidation with a mid-size consolidator in the airline space. We are now entering into the OTA segment, and we have our own online B2B booking agent which we launched last year. We are expanding our footprints to all cities in India and increasing our sales force,” he informed.
They have multiple products in one basket – air, hotels, travel insurance, buses, holiday packages, making it a convenient mode of offering its services to its agent partners. “It’s already live; the soft launch was done last year and now we are marketing it. It’s an updated booking agent which offers all different kind of features. We have features in the air vertical from NDC fares, special FD fares, everything included. On top of that, we have got our South India DMC standard packages included as well, so if an agent partner prefers a certain itinerary all the details are online. So, we do not have to e-mail back and forth,” he said.
