The document details the Ayanaant 2013 event hosted by Viva Voyages, aimed at addressing challenges within the travel industry in India while promoting knowledge sharing among industry leaders. It includes various panel discussions on topics such as cruising, online initiatives, and MICE planning, along with insights from key speakers regarding future travel trends and growth opportunities. The event fostered networking among stakeholders and facilitated the presentation of white papers on relevant travel issues.

1. AYANAANT 2013 - A SUMMARY
A Viva Voyages Initiative

4. AYANAANT
‘Ayanaant’ is a Hindi word, which means ‘solstice'. By inference, it
also denotes the pinnacle of prosperity, progress and wellbeing
For us in this context, it was the longest day of the year, to
generate maximum worth from a day of work and the longest
night, to revel the harvest!

5. VIVA VOYAGES
Established in 2006
Prominent and well-networked travel marketing company
Provides marketing solutions for travel companies desirous of
expanding their business in the Indian market
Travel Representation & Sales Promotions
Travel Consultation
Travel Sales & Marketing promotion planners
Back Office operations support
Travel e-Marketing
Destination & Travel Industry marketing

6. AWARDS
Most Promising Brand, Runner Up, 2013
SMEs Excellence Award 2013
Awarded by ICAI (The Institute of Cost Accountants of India),
MSME (Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Govt. of India), and
ASSOCHAM (The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India)
Best Travel Marketing Company of the Year, 2013
Global Business and Service Excellence Awards
Awarded by Prime Time Media
Travel Marketing Company of the Year, 2013
World Travel Brands
Awarded by Brands Academy and NDTV Good Times
Best Travel Marketing Company, 2012
World Travel Brands
Awarded by Brands Academy and NDTV Profit

7. A Viva Voyages Initiative
AYANAANT 2013

8. THE CONCEPT
• To bring together some of the finest stalwarts of the travel
industry with the sole purpose of augmenting knowledge,
addressing issues plaguing the trade
• To present an opportunity for convergence of leaders of the
outbound travel business in India, with an intent to discuss
strengths, challenges, opportunities and threats to the
business in general and to shed light on the way forward

9. THE EVENT
9:30 am – 5:30 pm, 21 June 2013
India Habitat Centre, New Delhi
Anchors:
• Aashima Khanduri, Director, Viva Voyages Pvt. Ltd.
• Vishal Gupta, Chief Strategy Officer, ISSworld.com

10. THE EVENT
Panel Discussions
• Worldwide Cruising
• Online Initiatives
• Brochure Products
• M.I.C.E. Planning
Key Note Speakers
Felicitations & White Papers

11. PANEL
DISCUSSIONS
THE EVENT

12. L-R: Gopinath Nair, Sumit Banerji, Ratna Chadha, Sidhartha Roy, Nishith Saxena, Naresh Rawal
WORLDWIDE CRUISING PANEL

13. THE PANEL
Moderator: Gopinath Nair, Founder & CEO, Tourism DNA
Observer: Keki Master, Senior Vice President, J.M.Baxi & Co
Panelists:
• Naresh Rawal, Vice president, Sales, Star Cruises India and
other regions
• Nishith Saxena, Director, Cruise Professionals
• Ratna Chadha, Chief Executive Officer, Tirun Travel Marketing
• Sidhartha Roy, Sr. Vice President, Business Development, AMA
Waterways
• Sumit Banerji, Founder & Country Head – India & South Asia,
Cruise Masters

14. KEY TAKEAWAYS
• Commission in Cruise business (15-20%) while comparing with the airline
market (0% and retail 5-7%) is much higher but still there is a huge gap in
between the Cruise business in India (1,00,000 pax annually) and across the
world (16 million pax).
• River Cruising is the fastest growing segment in cruising.
• People in India are willing to book closer to the travel date.
• Top 3 Decision Factors:
Distance to the Home port, Price, On Board Facilities
• Top 3 sectors of growth:
Weddings on Cruises, Ethnic Groups, Honeymoon Traffic

15. PANEL SPEAK
Ratna Chadha:
Cruise is not a commodity, it’s not a product but it is an experience.
All cruise companies need to understand that we are not in the business of selling a
product but we are in the business of allowing our passengers to experience the
world differently. Cruise is an experience that can not be sold but marketed and trade
is not doing fair job at marketing. We need to first educate ourselves.
There are 3 main points: 1. Education, 2. Marketing 3. Changing our mindsets
We need to form an association with all the equity stake holders as members.
Naresh Rawal:
Cruising is in a nescient stage in India. We need to promote Cruising in India.
We should start a Cruising Specialist Program.

16. PANEL SPEAK
Nishith Saxena:
Customers are not educated enough about cruise holiday. Trade partners have not
taken the Cruising seriously. Agency owners should be educated for cruise.
Siddharth Roy:
Distribution Mechanism need to be altered. The commission given by Ama Water
Ways River Cruise is even higher and can may go up to 30%. Trade Partners need
to put the agenda of cruising higher on their selling agenda. We should start an
Executive Development Program for travel community. All cruise companies should
make a pool and should advertise collectively for the awareness about cruise holiday
in India and to promote cruising in India.
Sumit Banerjee:
Trade needs to create its quality manpower. We need to take an initiative on
developing knowledge. Stakeholders need to create a common pool for knowledge
and training.

17. INTERACTION
Guldeep Singh Sahni, President, OTOAI:
“OTOAI will be happy to work with Association of Cruise.”

18. L-R: Vinay Gupta, Vikram Malhi, Ram Mohan KM, Nikhil Ganju, Meenu Sachdeva
ONLINE INITIATIVES PANEL

19. THE PANEL
Moderator: Rajiv Bajaj, CEO, Tourism Interface & Beyond Basix
Panelists:
• Meenu Sachdeva, Co Founder & MD, T I Infotech Pvt. Ltd.
• Nikhil Ganju, Country Manager, India, TripAdvisor
• Ram Mohan KM, Head IT, Kuoni India
• Vikram Malhi, General Manager, Expedia South Asia
• Vinay Gupta, Chairman, Via.com

20. KEY TAKEAWAYS
• A traditional agent should get a portal only if going online fits his target
segment, is ready to invest hugely, and has enough selection of products
• While going online, agent should keep in mind right technology partner,
right technology, right strategy, what services he wants to sell and right
type of marketing
• Online Industry is in sync with the end user that’s the reason it is growing
& taking the market share from offline. But it certainly needs improvement
• Luxury products can only be promoted and not sold online
• Social Media is very important. We need to synchronize social media with
actual booking

21. PANEL SPEAK
Rajiv Bajaj:
Online revolution has completely changed our Travel Distribution System. It has
created a new breed of travelers.
Meenu Sachdeva:
For a traditional agent to get a portal : need right technology partner, right
technology, right strategy, what services you want to sell; right type of marketing. You
should know market, what you want to sell, where you want to sell.
Nikhil Ganju:
Use Online for acquiring new customers; have portal that enables people to book as
well.
Do you want to engage your existing customers online? Need to figure out what you
want to do online. Need to understand what your ambitions are.

22. PANEL SPEAK
Ram Mohan:
Online complements your offline presence. Online is a channel of business. Rolling out a
strategy that is relevant to the customer. Need to have the support of Expert at the sales
counter to sell as selling is a challenge in online.
Social media is not a way to generate queries but it’s a way to address to the customers.
Luxury products can be better promoted online and not very well sold online.
Vikram Malhi:
If going online fits your target segment only then you should go online. Are you willing to
invest hugely in online. Do you want to spend a lot of money on acquiring customers. Do
you really have selection of products that you need online. Social Media is very important.
We need to synchronize social media with actual booking.
All models of business including online and offline can survive but each model need to
understand clear strategy & clear target & what they are really good at.

23. L-R: Dr. Robin Yap, Manas Sinha, Sunila Patil, Sanjay Shah
BROCHURE PRODUCTS PANEL

24. THE PANEL
Moderator: Ashish Kumar, CEO, Independent Travel Management
consulting firm
Panelists:
• Dr. Robin Yap, President, Asia, The Travel Corporation
• Sanjay Shah, Managing Director, Flamingo Transworld Pvt.
Ltd.
• Sunila Patil, Director, Veena World
• Manas Sinha, Assistant Director, Key Accounts, Banyan Tree
Hotels & Resorts

25. KEY TAKEAWAYS
• Brochure needs to be relevant, very specific, truthful and it should inspire
and influence purchase
• Brochure make sense specially in tier 2 and 3 cities and with the huge
customer base who are still away from fast internet connectivity
• But today printed brochure need supplement of Online or PDF brochure
• Brochure handling person must be very much convincing
• Full tour is normally costly online comparing to offline
• For a common man, without the human support of offline agent, there is
no relevance of online

26. PANEL SPEAK
Dr. Robin Yap:
Brochure needs to be relevant & very specific. It needs to inspire and influence purchase.
Before internet, it the conversion ratio to the printed brochure was 1 to 24 and now it has
reached to 1 to 6. We manage brochure according to market, depending on brands and
depending on size of distribution.
Sanjay Shah:
I am the hard core believer of selling and promotion through Brochure.
Brochure should be truthful. Negative points (reality) should be mentioned first.
Brochure has a value. In Gujarat, housewives and other females take the decision on
vacation and mostly they don’t know English so brochures in Regional language is very
important.
Full tour is normally costly online comparing to offline. For a common man, without the
human support of offline agent, there is no relevance of online.

27. PANEL SPEAK
Sunila Patil:
Brochure make sense specially in tier 2 and 3 cities and with the huge customer base who
are still away from fast internet connectivity. But today printed brochure need supplement of
Online or PDF brochure.
Veena world will print at least 5,000 brochures in the 1st year and expected conversion
ration to those printed brochures is 60-70% and Veena World will print 10,000 brochures in
it’s 2nd year.
Manas Sinha:
No segmentation in brochures.
Use of photoshop and other software to make the places look more attractive.
Right content to right target market should go.
Brochure handling person must be very much convincing.

28. L-R: Bharat Jain, Deepak Jagtiani, Naveen Rizvi, Arun Hattangadi
M.I.C.E. PLANNING PANEL

29. THE PANEL
Moderator: Tanuja Pandey, National Head, MICE, Network 18
Panelists:
• Arun Hattangadi, COO, TMIC
• Bharat Jain, Deputy Director, CII
• Deepak Jagtiani, Director, Corporate Events (I) Pvt. Ltd.
• Naveen Rizvi, Sr. Vice President – India & Head – TUI-
Meetings & Incentives

30. KEY TAKEAWAYS
• Combination of various services with specialization and understanding the
need of the corporate is important in MICE
• In MICE, Selling is not about discounting. Selling is about providing a kind
of an experience
• E-bid is a worst practice in MICE
• In the fight of MICE companies, corporate watch a circus
• It’s not only the price factor but concept also that may help you in winning
the bid
• Nowadays, corporates are taking MICE travel companies as MICE
executioners and not as MICE Planners. This is a real problem for MICE
companies

31. PANEL SPEAK
Tanuja Pandey:
Nowadays, corporates are taking MICE travel companies as MICE executioners and not as
MICE Planners. This is a real problem for MICE companies.
Arun Hattangadi:
Combination of various services with specialization and understanding the need of the
corporate is important in MICE.
Challenge on managing large scale incentive programs: becomes commercial for
corporates as they have budgets and they want the incentive group to be happened within
that budget.
E-bid is a worst practice in MICE. No company can handle more than 7-8 groups in a
month. MICE companies should stand on their quote for groups and should not do it in loss
for getting the business.

32. PANEL SPEAK
Naveen Rizvi:
MICE needs special skills and different thought process. It is a specialized
field.
In MICE, selling is not about discounting. Selling is about providing a kind
of an experience.
Deepak Jagtiani:
In depth detailing is compulsory for MICE as well as travel. It’s not only the
price factor but concept also that may help you in winning the bid.
Bharat Jain:
CII gets maximum response from members for untapped destinations such
as Argentina, Sao Paulo, Panama.

33. L-R: Anil Bhandari, J. B. Singh, Parvez Dewan, Stuart Lloyd, Dr. Burak Akcapar, Guldeep Singh Sahni
HONOURABLE KEY SPEAKERS

34. KEY SPEAKERS
• Anil Bhandari, Chairman, AB Smart Concepts
• J.B. Singh, President and CEO, InterGlobe Technology
Quotient Pvt. Ltd.
• Parvez Dewan, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism
• Stuart Lloyd, Acting Publisher, Travel Daily Media Group
• Ambassador of Turkey, His Excellency, Dr. Burak Akcapar
• Guldeep Singh Sahni, President, OTOAI

35. KEY NOTE : J. B. SINGH
Aviation is hugely under penetrated in India.
India will jump to 5the place in terms of domestic traffic flow by
2031.
LCC will grow about 15-20% by 2031.
Growth in travel will be with barbell effect ie in the high end and in
the economy sector.
We are navigating to a chaotic world where there will be a pattern
of No Pattern

36. VISION 2030 : STUART LLOYD
Window of opportunity for India will be 2015 to 2050. This will be the best time for India ever
Travel follows trade and top 5 export destinations for India in 2011 and 2030:
• 2011 :UAE, USA, China, Singapore, Hong Kong
• 2030 :UAE, China, USA, Hong Kong, Vietnam
Preferred Destinations in 2030:
• Business Travelers: Singapore, Malaysia, China
• Leisure Travelers: Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand
Big new OBT Opportunities in 2030:
• Women Business Traveler: 10 million in 2030 comparing to about 1 million now
• Youth Travel (aged in between 20-39) will be 32% of total travel
• Cruising: Higher aspiration in ASPAC
• Luxury Travel: HNI travelling number will reach to 1 million in 2030 putting India on 3rd in
the region

37. FELICITATIONS &
WHITE PAPERS
THE EVENT

38. L-R: Rajji Rai, Prof. Manjula Chaudhary, Prof. (Dr.) Manohar Sajnani, Prof. S. C. Bagri
FELICITATIONS

39. FELICITATIONS
Presenter: Rajji Rai, Chairman, Swift Group of Companies
Prof. Manjula Chaudhary, Director, Indian Institute of Tourism
and Travel Management
Prof. (Dr.) Manohar Sajnani, Director, Amity Institute of Travel and
Tourism
Prof. S. C. Bagri, Vice Chancellor, Himgiri Zee University

40. Guldeep Singh Sahni presenting White Papers to Parvez Dewan, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism
KNOWLEDGE SHARING

41. KNOWLEDGE SHARING
White papers prepared by students / faculty members /
researchers presented to Tourism Secretary:
• India’s Outbound MICE
• Online Initiatives in India’s Outbound Tourism
• White Paper on Worldwide Cruising
White papers and video coverage of all sessions accessible
publicly through blog

42. FEEDBACK
&
QUOTES
SOUND BYTES

43. QUOTE
In most of the meetings, Industry is concerned to their immediate
concerns and issues but discussing something about the thoughts
to understand what are the key drivers of the industry and in
which direction we are going. It’s a unique thing. It’s very
important.
- Prof. Manjula Chaudhary, Director, Indian Institute of Tourism

44. QUOTE
I would like to give a new meaning to the event Ayanaant.
Ayanaant is Aaya Na Ek Naya Thought. We should congratulate
Ayanaant for bringing a new thought to this day.
- Prof. (Dr.) Manohar Sajnani, Director, Amity Institute of Travel
and Tourism

45. QUOTE
If Ayanaant can facilitate some students of tourism who are
getting good marks in master degree, that will be really wonderful.
- Prof. S. C. Bagri, Vice Chancellor, Himgiri Zee University

46. FEEDBACK
I would like to congratulate the Ayanaant team for creating the
unique outbound platform of industry veterans to come together. It
was refreshing to see a wide range of panel discussion covering
various aspects of travel & tourism. The sessions and the topics
were very relevant in the present context and were crisp so it had
the attention of the audience. I wish the Ayanaant team all the
very best so that they can provide more such forums in future.
- JB Singh, President and CEO, Interglobe Technology Quotient

47. FEEDBACK
It was an honour as well as a pleasure to be part of Ayanaant, and
it was indeed a unique event of its kind in the industry. Thank you
very much for taking the initiative in coming up with such a brilliant
concept. As a first-time event, it was wonderful, and I am sure that
subsequent events that you plan will factor in all the issues
encountered in the first attempt, and I have no doubt whatsoever,
that the next one will be even better and bigger.
Keep up the great work !
- Rajiv Bajaj, CEO, Tourism Interface & Beyond Basix

48. NETWORKING
&
MEDIA
INTERACTIONS

49. NETWORKING
A platform for networking with crème de la crème of Outbound Travel
Company literature of all panelists circulated to audience
Support and representation from Travel Associations:
• Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI)
• Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI)
• Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI)
• IATA Agents Association of India (IAAI)
• Enterprising Travel Agents Association (ETAA)
• Society of Foreign Travel Operators (SFTO)

50. Newswire
July Issue, Page #2
Leaders converge at
‘Ayanaant’
Link:
http://www.newswirenet.in/ema
g/july-2013.pdf
MEDIA

51. MEDIA
Express Travel World
26 June 2013
'Ayanaant' focuses on innovation in outbound travel sector
Viva Voyages, a travel representation and marketing company, held an outbound travel
thought leadership meet at New Delhi recently to discuss the issues plaguing the outbound
travel market. Appropriately named 'Ayanaant', which means solstice, the power packed meet
saw a convergence of industry leaders coming up with ideas for innovation in the outbound
travel industry…
Full article:
http://travel.financialexpress.com/latest-updates/1533-ayanaant-focuses-on-innovation-in-
outbound-travel-sector

52. SOCIAL MEDIA
Ayanaant Blog
• http://ayanaant.vivavoyages.in/
Facebook
• https://www.facebook.com/ayanaant.conclave
Twitter
• https://twitter.com/ayanaant
LinkedIn
• http://in.linkedin.com/pub/ayanaant-conclave/67/539/ab7
LinkedIn Group : Advisory Council
• http://in.linkedin.com/groups?gid=4893149