Brightsun Travel Sees Huge Potential in India’s Tourism Sector

Sandeep Arora Director of operations with Deepak Nangla, MD of Brightsun Travel

India's tourism industry has long been a major contributor to the country's economic growth. The pandemic has changed the way people travel, and the tourism industry has seemingly adapted to these changes by offering safer and more immersive experiences. Several government initiatives to promote tourism, including the "Dekho Apna Desh" campaign, which aims to encourage Indians to explore their own country, domestic tourism will be a key driver of growth in India's tourism sector. There is also a large focus on improving infrastructure, including the development of new airports and highways as well as access to new destinations to attract international tourists from around the world. Industry experts foresee 2024 as the year when travel truly returns back to pre-pandemic levels of 2019.

Brightsun Travel is a comprehensive travel advisory service provider that offers value for money to customers through not only personalized deals but with specially curated trips suiting their tastes and budgets. In a post-COVID scenario, where travellers are more price-sensitive and the energy situation is driving costs northward, Brightsun works with the end-users and service providers to offer the best solution across categories. Established in 1986, Brightsun had originally started its operations in the United Kingdom with an office in Manchester and its head office in Hounslow, London. Brightsun Travel partners with some of the world's global airlines and hotel chains to ensure that customers receive the best deals when booking their trips.

Sandeep Arora, Director of Operations at Brightsun Travel Pvt Ltd, said, "Our partnerships are strategically dependant both on supply and demand. As we work directly with the end-users and with the service providers, we have visibility to future trends. We work with hotels and airlines in their expansion plans, telling them where to add rooms and where to discontinue services. Very much in the same line, we work with tourists and visitors, apprising them not only of the best affordable package but helping them secure the best end-to-end deals".

"One would appreciate that in the service industry, while smart technology and AI have taken over many of the opportunities, the need for human interaction remains. Although the Internet offers seemingly easy opportunities to book respective travel, the important services which need a human interface, like offering flexible booking arrangements, servicing your change, cancellation and refund requests, accepting low deposits to secure your holidays, saving money when you book a holiday package and getting the best prices, routing and availability on your preferred travel dates are just a few of them. Our business model is built on self-reliance, with in-house IT experts and technology platforms designed to service the needs of the customer and adapt to the ever-changing travel industry environment.," he added.

While Covid-19 has impacted the 2023 projected figures, the forecast is that passenger departure numbers by 2030 will still reach 5.2 billion, and according to travel pundits, 2024 will be the year when passenger numbers will reach the pre-pandemic 2019 levels. Brightsun believes that the right value offering to the customers will revitalize the travel and tourism sector faster. However, it also has concerns about the industry's readiness to handle the demand boom in the sector. Arora added, "In a post-COVID scenario, most established travel companies will report increased turnover through increased and far healthier profits in 2023 over 2019. Even though some of those profits will be used to cover the black hole left by the pandemic, this will drive further innovation and M&A activity between 2023 and 2024. If we look forward to 5 years, it is likely that the customer will have fewer travel companies that they can turn to and will have to pay for service charges for their travel due to long wait times, increased costs, and inflation. We are working to address this possible influx of demand-supply mismatch."

Given the fact that India is expected to top the chart for the travel and tourism industry, Brightsun has opened its retail offices in Delhi, Gurgaon, and now Mumbai. The travel specialist has over 200 experienced members of staff employed across Brightsun's network. The team is a strong mixture of travel experts and sales agents that work tirelessly around the clock to ensure seamless travel plans and emergencies are taken care of.

The travel company has services ranging from helping travellers find the right transportation, including flights, transfers and vehicle arrangement, helping curate domestic and international holiday packages to suit all budgets, along with meeting ancillary demands like cruise booking, suggesting tours, car hire, travel insurance, and visa services.

Interestingly, Brightsun offers a ‘Price Promise' to let the customers authenticate their flights and bookings in relation to price. If one has an existing flight or holiday booking quote, the Brightsun Travel agents will match the quote and do their best even to provide a better fare. However, the price promise is only applicable on the same day the agents have given the quote. In addition, the price promise applies to the identical product booked and offered in the same destination as that being sold by Brightsun Travel.

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