Spreading wings in ME

In a bid to expand its presence in English-speaking countries, Europamundo Vacaciones is now reaching out to the Middle Eastern countries.

TT Bureau

Europamundo has been present in the India market for the last three years. Alejandro de la Osa, Director Commercial, Europamundo Vacaciones, says that the experience in the country has been amazing. “We have our partners in India since the time we started. Now we feel that the product is ready for the Indian market and people know what Europamundo is,” he said.

He mentioned that the numbers in India are low as compared to the possibilities of the market. “Every month, we are selling double the numbers of last year and next year, we will again sell double the numbers. Even the number of Indian people on these tours has increased. While the growth in numbers is important, India has been an aspirational market for us with a lot of potential.”

Aparna C Basumalik, Country Head, India, Europamundo Vacaciones, revealed, “Compared to what we were doing last year, our numbers are already 48 per cent ahead.”

Currently, Europamundo Vacaciones is being represented by four companies in India. “We work with limited companies in the market globally. The companies we work with understand our product and are transmitting the qualities of the product in the market. We are not looking for more partners in India
currently,” said Osa.

Basumalik added, “We just want two or three good quality players who wish to grow with our company. This does not necessarily mean growth in numbers but increasing awareness and reach of the product. We have even reached out to Tier-II and Tier-III cities and did presentations in Raipur, Indore, Lucknow, Guwahati and Bhubaneswar. We have had people of 81 nationalities on the tours.”

Talking about competition, she said, “Five points actually make the real difference if one is on a Europamundo tour. Firstly, we are the only ones offering immense flexibility on our tours. If it’s a seven-day tour, one can opt to take just two days of the tour, which other agents won’t allow. Secondly, one has the option to either choose an Indian meal or have the flexibility to go without meals or special meals as per their choice. For every passenger who goes on a tour, it is important for him to explore the country in depth. Europamundo tours are very comprehensive as far as sightseeing is concerned. We don’t burden you with overpriced structures. The most important point is the frequency and variety as well as round-the-year operations we offer, unlike many others who do seasonal business. This gives the tour operator a lot of strength in selling.”

“Our guaranteed departures is a feather in the cap. We never cancel the tour, irrespective of the number of passengers. The idea is to provide value to representative companies” – Alejandro de la Osa, Director Commercial, Europamundo Vacaciones

“We just want 2-3 quality players who wish to grow with our company. This does not necessarily mean growth in numbers but increasing awareness and reach of the product” – Aparna C Basumalik, Country Head, India, Europamundo Vacaciones

Osa added, “Our guaranteed departures is another feather in the cap. We never cancel the tour, irrespective of the number of passengers. The idea is to provide value to our representative companies.”

Basumalik agreed saying, “We are pro trade and are happy to be backroom boys for every kind of agent, whether they are from big or small cities. Smaller agents who are basing their group departures on us don’t have to worry even if they have 10 people or two.”

As part of their strategy, the company is stepping into the Middle East market as well. “The next step is to grow our presence in the English-speaking countries and reach out to the global market. Coming from a small market like Spain, our comprehensive Spanish brochure goes till 2000 pages. It is definitely one of the biggest brochures in the world in any language, which covers all of Europe, USA, China, Japan and India as well. Imagine the possibilities of an English brochure like that. For us, the product is in place; we just need to have the guides in place,” said Osa.

Basumalik believes that she can see their English products selling in every country on the globe that speaks English. “Apart from India, we are very popular in the Philippines as well as other Southeast Asian markets including Thailand, Malaysia as well as Australia and New Zealand,” she claimed.