Indian traveller is bolder than he used to be."
Meeting up to the demands of the technology-driven younger generation is one thing Duggal loves to do. "In the last two years, people came to us, well-informed about their destination saying they want to travel through France but want to do it their way. They know where to eat or what to see because someone on Twitter or Facebook told them so,''. He adds that he "feels pleasantly challenged by his customers today."
This new trend has created a healthy environment, Duggal feels, where tourism boards, hotels and airlines are trying to offer varied services. "The challenge for us is that the market aspires to travel more and we have to create the right products that excite the customers!" says Duggal.
Though the industry saw a surge of new kind of travellers which made travel companies confident about launching extensive US and Europe packages, the downward slide of the rupee started showing its effects. "Indian travel went through trouble last year," claims Duggal. An expensive dollar took costs of holidays northward and hence out of the control of both the agent and the traveller. "Where a holiday in Europe cost Rs 8 lakh for a family of four, today it costs 80,000 rupees more. I wouldn't spend that kind of money, so I understand the fall in demand for these destinations," says Duggal.
Being a businessman, he is aware of the decrease in business but prefers to focus on a solution. "Basically, in the current scenario, no long-haul packages will do well. So instead of a fortnight, people might holiday only for a week. Or they might do a solo destination. People don't want to spend so much money, but they want to travel. Which is a good thing!" says Duggal.
Putting himself in the shoes of the customer, Duggal says that he would rather opt for domestic travel. "One might argue that domestic flights are more expensive than international. In that case, I'd take my family to a destination which can be reached by road, where all the costs are under my own control," Duggal says, admitting that the trend is not in the favour of his industry. "We work with very narrow margins and what happens in the domestic market is that it takes just as much work, but is hardly lucrative for us. Even though the numbers travelling domestic are high, we don't end up making much money on it."
Duggal believes in observing the Indian traveller at close quarters. "Their first requiremen is to see and discover new things. And the second is that they love to shop!" he exclaims. Now that Indians have international brands easily available, the focus has shifted to discovering new experiences. Subsequently, people are open to discovering non-traditional destinations. More the people explore a new destination, the easier, Duggal says, his job becomes. "I can negotiate harder for better prices on air-tickets, hotels and more! This in turn makes that exotic location more accessible to people," he says.
He has also observed that food and language, which were the biggest deterrents for international travellers, have now become highly manageable because of technology. "The customer drives the market and he has to. The younger generation uses social media and their knowledge base is far wider than ours. They will drive us to discover new destinations," he says excitedly.
SOTC is thus, attempting to stand up to this challenge by revamping their appeal and training their staff extensively. "The Kuoni academy is training our people; we send all our staff on familiarisation trips. This is essential to make sure that they are quipped to answer any questions that the customer might have," he says. Also, because customer relationship management is his priority, Duggal has a social media team addressing complaints. "But I have to remember that in travel, satisfaction levels vary from person to person and not all complaints can be addressed."
The tech-savvy director however doesn't prioritise on selling through his website. "Indians can't buy an entire holiday deal online because our visas are still a problem." He also says that the Indian customer has two very peculiar traits, one that they still believe in the touch-and-feel concept and the second being the need to blame somebody if something goes wrong. "If you land in London and your hotel isn't available, you can fight with the agent. But if you book online, who will you fight with, your laptop?" he laughs.
But one thing Duggal is clear about is that his company's website should showcase great content that will drive a customer to call his call-centre. And considering his companies send out 140,000 people on holidays every year, he seems to be doing just fine.