Technology will be vital

Akbar Travels has added more than 500 new products to its portal, especially on the holiday front. It has also strengthened its corporate booking tool so clients can be serviced better.

Hazel Jain

This year is going to be all about weekend getaways, feels Benazir Nazar, CEO, Akbar Holidays. “People will want to be able to drive to their holiday destinations and reach there in the comfort of their own car where safety and hygiene can be controlled. Keeping this in mind, we have started promoting our specially-designed packages called ‘Ghar se Ghar tak’. We send a car to pick up our guests from their homes and take them to a luxury property for a couple of nights and then bring them back home,” Nazar adds.

Ticket bookings and refunds

Touching on a hot topic, Nazar shares that some airlines have been giving refunds but they have definitely delayed the same. “But, they are offering customers a credit note which has a long validity. This gives the customer an opportunity to think travel again and some airlines are also offering the credit note to various destinations they fly to. So this gives the customer a choice of where they can travel as well. We at Akbar have done about 200 charters from the Middle East to various parts of India and are looking at doing a lot more,” she says.

The business that one can focus on in the lockdown is purely repatriation business. “We are also giving good deals for future travel on international sectors like Dubai, Maldives, Sri Lanka and even Jalesh Cruises. People are looking at booking their holidays for future travel as we are guaranteeing our customers a complete refund if there is anything to do with pandemic or force majeure,” Nazar reveals.

Focus on technology

Akbar Travels has also been focusing a lot on technology. Nazar shares details on this and says, “This pandemic has given us time to strengthen our portal. We have added more than 500 products recently. This gives the customer a varied choice of packages. We have also strengthened our corporate booking tool so corporate clients can be serviced better.”