Press Article in Travel Biz Monitor

Compact Travels Partners Ticketing Agents to Sell Integrated Tours.

With a view to distribute its products more widely and focus on its core vacation product and outsource the ticketing aspect, Compact Travels has signed on travel agents in Mumbai and Ahmedabad in a commercial partnership, currently in pilot phase. The partnership, essentially, involves merging tour packages and airlines seats to create an integrated product - Compact Travels will provide the former and the IATA-accredited travel agents, the latter. Uniquely, the destinations which will be included in the tour itineraries will all be relatively unexplored like Central and Eastern European destinations.

Subhash Motwani, Director, Compact Travels, says, "We're clear about not getting into the ticketing business. We do get the occasional walk-ins but we rely on our agent networks to provide the airline tickets. So there's a two-fold model of cooperation to be had, wherein we are able to sell holidays and provide both, ticketing business to the travel agents as well as allow them to earn discernibly high commissions from selling integrated tour packages, not just airline tickets." Motwani has signed on travel agents in Mumbai and Ahmedabad in the pilot phase. The company has a website with a separate agent login and they get access to itineraries and a cost break-up. "We have over ten agents on this network, single location small and medium agencies, mostly leisure.

They know that the future is a multiplicity of service, chiefly in the leisure segment, but do not have the wherewithal to set it up. We are looking at selling exotic products at wholesale price. We provide back office support while visa facilitation will be outsourced. Our core strength remains destination expertise." The agent count will for the medium term be restricted to 30.

"We will consolidate six regions, including Central Europe, Mediterranean, Eastern Europe and lesser-know South East Asian destinations like Cambodia and Vietnam so the profile of the travel agent that we're targeting is fairly niche," Motwani said.

He stressed that the idea was not to compete with travel agents but open new markets. Commissions could range from 10 per cent upwards. The company has received assistance from the littleknow European and Asian destinations, despite the fact that currently they don't have offices in India.