TravTalk India Online Magazine
The recently launched digital platform – Red Planner – is designed to not only educate the smaller agencies in secondary markets about destinations but also build an itinerary within minutes, thereby empowering them and offering them opportunities that were not easily available to them. Its founder, Rajesh Kakade, shares more.
Hazel Jain
Rajesh Kakade, CEO, Red Planner, has always believed that travel, like everything else, must evolve. “Technology started to take over everything since covid and using it, the new digital platform will help agents sell on the spot without waiting for the DMCs to reply or waiting for rates or itineraries. We have also started working on an AI-based platform,” he says.
The response that he has received for Red Planner portal since its launch has been overwhelming. He says, “Travel agents especially from the tiered cities are actually finding it as a game changer for their bookings and are benefiting from the same. In terms of new developments, we have tied up various tourism boards and are running contests. In terms of new features, we have incorporated AI as well and added standalone services along with complete holiday packages along with cost in under three minutes. It is also multilingual now. Upcoming features include downloadable e-flyers with the option to customise.”
The market feedback for Red Planner is excellent and it is garnering momentum through word of mouth, he adds. “In the last three months, we have registered more than 1,600 agents on Red Planner. Out of this, more than 73 per cent agents are actively working on Red Planner. It’s the age of digital transformation so the sales are rapidly increasing with online exposure and also helping streamlining operations and enhancing customer engagement. It’s not only about becoming more efficient but also being able to position ourselves on a global scale,” Kakade says.
The primary focus for Kakade right now is on five major destinations, which are USA, Canada, Europe, Scandinavia and Australia. “We have uploaded more than 200 readymade itineraries with instant real-time costing. However, besides the run-of-the-mill itineraries, we are also focusing on new locations, destinations, upcoming cities and newer attractions,” he says. This includes places such as Seattle, Northern Alaska, Atlanta, Nashville, and New England in USA. In Europe it is East and South of France, Switzerland storytelling itineraries, couple-friendly or romantic itineraries for Flanders, beautiful beaches with historic itineraries for Rome and surroundings. In Australia, they are promoting Adelaide, The Ghan Train, and Darwin.
Kakade adds that the team is in the process of adding couple of other interesting countries which will be live by first week of January.
The evolving Indian outbound
India’s outbound tourism has seen a significant surge in the market (the FIT packages growth is around 23-27 per cent) and is projected to do even more so soon. Kakade adds, “There is a surge for experiential itineraries, and besides the Instagramable locations, the travellers are looking for a relaxed, luxurious holidays and out-of-the-box itineraries.”
Secondary market issues
Catering to secondary cities of India as well, Kakade is witness to the challenges they face. “In a tier III or tier IV city, sometimes even in tier II cities, the agent does face a challenge in finding the right DMC to get the right kind of itinerary and cost. Often, it’s time consuming for them. Through Red Planner, we are empowering these agents,” Kakade adds.
