TravTalk India Online Magazine
Celebrating 90+ years of its existence, Globus family of brands has pioneered a number of travel concepts besides offering over 480 vacations to six continents across 81 countries. Varesh Chopra, Regional Director—India, South Asia & Middle East, Globus family of brands, in an interaction with TravTalk, reveals more…
TT Bureau
Q. What sets apart Globus and Cosmos from its competitors?
Our heritage is Swiss, and that I believe is a differentiator in itself! Moreover, we pioneered escorted touring way back in 1928 and continue to be the leading escorted tour operator in the world even after 90 years. Our claim to fame is the original introducer of the round-trip tour. In the early 50s, Globus introduced the ‘circular tour’, offering a one-price, all-inclusive vacation package. Just a little later, we pioneered again and Grand European Touring was launched, offering first-class tours around Europe. We were practically also the first ones to custom fit a coach to serve this unique touring concept. On our journey of over 90 years, we not only innovated constantly, but also inspired other players with unique concepts like local favourites, Wi-Fi on our coaches and Trip Protection. As a brand, we have enjoyed trade relationships and have served clients from India for more than 4 decades now!
The sheer experience of our tours encompasses an authentic, in-depth insight into the destination, escorted by a highly experienced and indigenous tour director catering to evolved international travellers. The tour director travels along with the group through the length of this itinerary and weaves a complete story of the destination and creates bonhomie amongst all. We are, thus, not a hop-on-hop off-service catering to tourists whose single motivation is to simply tick some places off their bucket list at whatever cost! Our travellers consciously choose a multinational group as they believe it offers a more rewarding experience.
Q. How has 2018 fared for your company in terms of growth?
Thankfully, 2018 has continued to show good growth despite changes in the macro environment. I have always believed, with the gradual maturing of the travel outbound market in India, there is bound to be growth for all genres of travel. We have stayed strong in terms of our patronage in India because we have a leader’s advantage with a strong repeat customer base and brand loyalty. Our patrons never got swayed with replicas of our travelling style and finally there is a huge upcoming audience today which really wants to travel in a newer and a more international way.
We have stayed strong in terms of our patronage in
India because we have a leader’s advantage with a strong repeat customer base and brand loyalty. Our patrons never got swayed with replicas of our travelling style and finally there is a huge upcoming audience today which wants to travel in a newer way
Q. How are you reaching out to Tier II, III cities?
Tier II, III cities will take a little more time to understand and demand this authentic and international style of travelling. But there are rapidly emerging clientele segments in those cities and towns as well. As a company, again we were quite early in responding to this potential. Our agency sales and training teams have been covering these markets consistently for more than a decade. Our agents’ training programmes include these cities each year and they are never an afterthought on our agenda.
Q. Please share your marketing and promotional plans for the year 2019.
Very recently, we pre-launched our 2019 programmes in five cities across India with exclusive super early bird offers. Continuing the momentum, these offers will continue till the end of this year. We released these privileged offers with a demand from our customers and to reward their loyalty and the early bookers. So, these concessions aren’t long term as we believe discounting to be the worst form of denigrating the value of one’s own product and simply because the experiences we offer aren’t discounted.
The underlying marketing message will remain as – There is nothing like leaving your travel hassles to an expert who does it better than doing it on your own, saving a lot on logistics, time and money. Adding to this, one gets to explore the world along with savvy international travellers and a local tour director who is a master story teller.
Q. What steps are you taking to engage with the travel trade fraternity?
The Globus Family Club (GFC) is Indian travel industry’s first loyalty club exclusive for its trade supporters. Pioneering the concept of an agent loyalty programmes, GFC has added value to the agents’ professional lives with incentives, Fams, celebrations and activities which are fun and intellectually stimulating. In continuation of 90 years celebration of the Globus family of brands, we started off with exclusive events across the country through GFC. Our first-ever event of this kind was held in Delhi where GFC members joined our team for a tee off at Delhi Golf Club. In Bengaluru, agent partners got a different taste of a vineyard, unique in many respects. They had a wine-tasting experience with a breathtaking view of the hills, a lake and a hidden vineyard overlooking rows of vibrant grapevines and coconut trees. Agents in Mumbai were taken on an expedition to discover landmarks across their own city on a clue trail while travel trade partners in Kolkata experienced a sunset cruise on the Ganges, taking them to a little-known heritage island. Of course, very soon, we will be back with another of our legendary conferences.
Q. Would you like to share any other announcements?
We are raising the bar yet again and creating new innovative experiences for our existing and new customers in the very year we have completed 90 years of operations. Going by the oft-requested demand by our customers to have Globus quality private tour available where one can have their own exclusive group on a Globus itinerary to Europe – well, that is possible now with ‘Globus Private Touring’! Another unique addition to our product offering is ‘Escapes by Globus’ comprising more than 30 itineraries for vacationing in winter to 20 countries starting from $599. Finally, to satisfy the ever-dynamic market trends, we are also introducing ‘Cosmos Lite’ – the world’s first a-la-carte touring catering to those who look at the economy and ease of a Cosmos tour but without a pre-determined regimen. We have also launched the ‘GoAPPS’ for the ease and convenience of our travellers on Cosmos, Avalon and Monogram Vacations to avoid carrying bulky guidebooks and papers – all information will be available at your fingertips!
New products, new experiences
Having completed 90 years since Globus was started, the company has been continuing the streak of innovation through 2018 as well. To just name a few, it has introduced new travel styles such as Globus Escapes, Globus Private Touring, Cosmos Lite and the incredible GoApps which are digital travel guides and journal — all rolled into one!
Globus has also launched ‘GoAPPS’ for the ease and convenience of travellers on Cosmos, Avalon and Monogram Vacations to avoid carrying bulky guidebooks and papers – all information to be available at the fingertips!
‘Escapes by Globus’ comprises more than 30 itineraries for vacationing in winter to 20 countries starting from $599.
‘Cosmos Lite’ is the world’s first a-la-carte touring catering to those who look at the ease of a Cosmos tour but without a pre-determined regimen.‘Globus Private Touring’ allows one to have their own exclusive group on a Globus itinerary to Europe.
