Tour Operators

I have been planning an overseas vacation for sometime now for the family.

We thought we will do this ourselves like what we had done in the past, the most memorable one being the NZ Trip in December 2004. All the trip planning was executed by us, including motel/hotel bookings for that vacation, which still remains as our most successful one ever. In fact, when we took a vote on what will be our next ideal vacation, the vote was unanimous - a self-drive holiday in NZ !

The Indian tour operators that I engaged - all the three of them are top notch in terms of market standing, reputation, and longevity - were pathetic to say the least. None of them could measure up to the complexities required in an “on your own” kind of holiday. All of them promote such holidays at their websites as well as in newspaper ads, but they have barely knowledgeable trip advisors who could talk sensibly and keep up the commitments to revert on time. Time, that inelastic aspect of one’s existence, was badly managed by almost all of them, save one. Though that exception was mis-managed towards the end of making the arrangements by the winning bidder. Service Industry in India has a very long runway - you see that everywhere - be it in retail, banking, airlines, or tour operators.

The best thing to do is again to arrange everything on our own. But time in Mumbai is in serious short supply. Racing like it is Hong Kong…….one has to outsource certain aspects of one’s life to achieve efficiencies of operation. However what is noticed in such outsourcing is the lack of quality in the delivery of the contracted service, and inaccuracies in written materials to the extent that even air tickets are printed wrongly. Pathetic !

The service providers cannot hide behind the excuse of volumes to justify their inefficiencies and inaccuracies. Not acceptable. Not when you are paying premium prices to premium operators to arrange the best experience on your tours.

Well, let me see how the actual vacation pans out. That will help me assess the actual quality of service. In a nutshell, be prepared for poor service. That is the way it is here. Premium or no premium, Platinum or gold or silver - the service levels are delivered poorly by poorly trained executives.

All the Best for a Successful Week ahead folks,

Best Regards

Vijay Srinivasan
20 May 2007
Mumbai