How many people do you know, who while being in their late 40s unabashedly says that it is just now they have started working and that there is so much more than remains to be achieved?! Not many, right? Well, I happened to interview one lately, who is undisputedly one of the most dynamic travel experts we have in the fraternity today. Rajat Sawhney, Director at RAVE Tours and Travels, is not just a power-house of knowledge and energy but also someone who believes that there is immense potential in the travel sector, waiting to be explored. Here’s an exclusive feature on him in our BOTT Fabulous 40s!
Priyanka Saxena Ray
I have known him for many years now and every time I meet him, my respect for him as a person, not just as a professional, increases manifold. He knows his subject, talks sense, acts like a perfect gentleman, never bad-mouths his competition and is always ready to lend you a helping hand – should you need one. Even though he is at the fag-end of his 40s, with over 25 years of work experience, when you propel him to talk about his achievements and journey, he humbly brushes it aside saying that what he has achieved is just the tip of the iceberg while the entire mountain awaits his exploration!
A Delhi boy born in a business family, Rajat laughs at remembering his entry into the travel industry “by chance”. “In the summer of 1991, my friend and I drove down to Manali, in our zest to explore new destinations. We were staying at the ‘Log huts’ in Manali, which was owned by Himachal Tourism and used to play host to political leaders. While exploring that area we came across a beautiful new hotel in the vicinity, which was 90% complete in construction but not operational. The owner shared his financial woe and showed interest in giving the property on lease to whoever would pay the remaining amount needed for construction. I somehow arranged for the money (Rs 4.5 Lakh) and sealed the deal. We opened that property in summer of 1992 and were sold out from day one! We had to refuse and send back people. From April 15 – July 30 we enjoyed tremendous occupancy and when I went back to Delhi, I had money to return and surplus. We had made profits in just one quarter,” he reminisces.
This was the start of a travel venture full of milestones. From one hotel, Rajat went on to get lease of another property in Manali. His friend, who was also his partner in all these ventures, had a small restaurant in Delhi, thus making “catering” task up in the hills easy for them. They would take their chefs and equipment and their F&B also flourished along with rooms. Early 90s, when Kashmir was a terror zone and not tourism friendly, the pull of the hills pushed people towards two popular destinations – Manali and Shimla. “I had a friend in Shimla whom we collaborated with and so our portfolio of offerings increased. Every agent of Mumbai and Gujarat knew us. We took up an office space in CP and named our company RAVE Tours in 1993,” he shares.
After his father passed away, Rajat also had to look into the family business and managing hotels became tough. So he gave it up and concentrated on his business at hand – promoting domestic tourism. This was the time when just a handful of people were offering such a service and Rajat’s experience and expertise helped him craft memorable holidays for his clients.
“Happy with our services, our clients started demanding international holiday packages from us and we started venturing into outbound with South-East Asia packages. However, I realized that there was a lot of demand for Europe and since it was impossible to sell all experiential holidays (we possibly couldn’t visit them all!), we collaborated with service providers in those markets and sought their help in drafting holidays and packages for us. This is where the role of travel shows and events play a major role – in increasing our inter-face with the service providers we would be working in, in future,” he explains.
With more than 25 years of work experience, Rajat strongly feels that what he has done and experienced so far is just the tip of the iceberg. In times to come, India is going to see phenomenal growth in the outbound sector. Destination Weddings and Events – a zone that Rajat has just stepped into three years back, holds exceptional potential and is going to be a big focus area for them. He is not in this for numbers. “I do quality business with good margins. My competition in travel is not with fellow agents. It is with the B2C portals – with extreme discounts they offer. The market in India will take some time to understand that the services offered by an agent are far more valuable than saving few thousands on online booking,” he adds.
In another portfolio, Rajat is an active member of two leading associations – ADTOI and OTOAI and has held several significant posts in the former association, interacting with the domestic tour operators and helping them solve their woes. The last Convention of ADTOI in Vizag, which was handled by Rajat as the Convention Chairman was one of the best ever conventions hosted by the association, which will be remembered for its panel discussions, ambiance, venue, f&b offerings and record profit!
As I thank him for his interview, he graciously thanks me back stressing upon the point that the travel trade industry is a “peoples’ industry” that functions on “human touch”. All these road shows, events, industry meet-ups are mere networking forums that help people stay connected.
Well, I couldn’t agree with him more and since he has figured this secret out, guess his success in this arena is guaranteed for sure.
