He is a veteran in the travel fraternity and yet most of his ardent followers belong to Gen X – not because he carries the “cool” quotient, but because of his easy-going nature. Unlike people his age, he won’t lecture or preach you, simply share his experiences and give you enough space to be your own person. P.P. Khanna, President, ADTOI and Director, Diplomatic Travel Point, shares insights on what the people in the domestic tourism needs to do in order to grow and how the travel fraternity needs to move together in one direction to appear as one voice, which he believes is very important for the growth of tourism in the country.
Priyanka Saxena Ray
After his graduation and being employed in the catering services at Air India, HCI, P.P. Khanna, much early in life realised the value of education and so went on to acquire some. He did PG in Tourism and Hotel Management from Rajasthan University followed by MPA – Masters in Public Administration, which gave him a different perspective into the field of public administration. One of the few IATA accredited companies way back in 1982, Mr. Khanna joined his brother’s travel business and the rest, you can say, is history. “At that time, when accredited agents were far and few, we were among the top 10 in India doing airline ticketing. I used to go to Germany to undertake special courses, which were curated by Lufthansa for their leading agents from all over the world. Those times were different – an agent enjoyed a different kind of respect,” he reminisces.
While life and business moved on progressively, Mr. Khanna became actively involved in ADTOI, having a flair in tourism and also as he felt that the association needed a common voice and platform where they could share their woes, experiences, stories of success and problems. Though he kept coming to power in various capacities (even as President of ADTOI) in the last few decades, his recent stint with the association as President, from 2016 – 2018 and then again from 2018 – continuing, has marked some landmark changes within the association to indulge with FICCI/CII/ASSOCHAM/PHD CHAMBER etc. and in the industry. “There were some problems, some disagreements internally, within the Managing Committee of ADTOI from 2014 – 2016, wherein many members even left the association. There was a lot of blame game going on and members had stopped behaving as one voice striving to fight for a common goal. However, after 2016, many members who had left have come back to the association and we stand united as the voice of domestic tour operators, yet again,” says an extremely patient and diligent President.
The growth in domestic tourism has been consistent over the last few years but so have the challenges. India is the third largest country in the world with the highest domestic traveller movement (after America and China) and obviously a major contributor to the economy and employment, yet the fraternity has to keep arguing and struggling for its fair share when it comes to getting benefits from the authorities. “The obstacles in front of the travel fraternity are manifold. While the biggest challenge is to convince the MoT and MoF on rationalising taxes in India and structuring an ethical tourism policy, the operational threat for us are the online travel agents. Last year, the entire industry was focussed on bringing the GST down as it had made travel very expensive and I am glad to say the MoT cooperated. However, the tussle today is between the online and offline agent. The OTAs, who come with the financial backing of big companies, are under-cutting the price and agents, especially the middle and small operators are bearing the brunt of this price-war. While the government has released certain guidelines for the OTAs, which are mandatory to follow, the need for an ethical tourism policy is the need of the hour,” shared Mr. Khanna.
In his own capacity as the President of ADTOI, Mr. Khanna urges members of the association to help promote each other to allow their business to grow. Infact, to ensure that the members take this seriously, he has also laid down that let there be a special rate given to an ADTOI member, if he or she is promoting the product of a fellow associate. India is a destination that can be sold all through the year, given the wide variety of offerings it has in store – if the agents can stand united, I am sure they will do wonder selling it united too.
“Our aim is to grow our database and continuously do efforts to ensure that our members stay together and excel in their business. We are also in the process of opening two new chapters – North East Chapter with 18 active members and Tamil Nadu, which already has 15 active members and are striving to touch 20 before the launch. As a director onboard of FAITH, I am actively involved in organising ITMs (which is going to be an annual feature) and are constantly in talks with various state tourism governments to host travel marts and educational programs for the members in various cities – especially tier –II and tier-III,” he elaborates.
With so much up his sleeve, there is little doubt that this veteran will continue to win the hearts of the members of his fraternity for many years to come still.
