Priyanka Saxena Ray
Start of the Journey
I started my professional journey by joining Destination Travel in 1994, a company that was started by my father in 1987 – a typical B2C Company that exists till date. I worked in that company for about 20 years and learned the tricks of travel business. Then in 2014, an opportunity came for a FAM trip to Almaty – a destination that very few knew at that time. During my trip, I realized the untapped potential of that place and steered the direction of my business towards this destination. I saw a window of opportunity and jumped on the bandwagon of promoting Almaty through my DMC – Kazin.
Establishing Almaty in India market
I spent the next 4-5 years developing this particular city (Almaty) in the India market. We were geared towards shedding light and promoting the destination in India as I felt people were still not taking it seriously and also not doing justice to the things it had to offer. We started doing Emailers, taking FAM trips, educating the travel trade on the potential of Almaty as a tourist destination, reaching out to them on WhatsApp, creating some special experiences which helped bring out unique aspects of the place. We did milestone celebrations, adventure tours, honeymoons – changed the image of Almaty from the cheap MICE destination to a high-end luxury destination with offerings that are simply out of the world.
We are strictly a B2B focused company – always have been. Infact, during those years, we did the work of a Tourism Board, spending our own marketing money in highlighting the destination and showing to the world the potential of Almaty. That’s how we became, and still are, the No. 1 incoming company for Kazakhstan. The tourism board was formed in 2017 and we started promoting the destination in 2015. Now, the tourism board supports us greatly. In 2019, I was nominated as their Brand Ambassador for MICE.
Adding New Destinations
Till 2018 we were only focused on Kazakhstan, primarily Almaty, which had picked up in the India market. In 2019 we launched Azerbaijan and Belarus but then in 2020 and 2021 everything went kaput. However, we picked up reins and as we stand today, we are a DMC for 4 destinations – Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Georgia. We do not have any plans to expand our portfolio as we want to remain focused and stay true to our knowledge on these 4 destinations and do justice to our partners. We do not wish to become Jack of all trades and Master of none. We want to become master of a handful of destinations because we own and operate our own offices – we don’t deal with local companies. We have our offices in all the destinations that we market and our own team who handles the bookings. The reason why we chose these 4 destinations, besides the fact that they are beautiful and unique, is that none of them are identical to each other in any way. They carry their own uniqueness, their charm, their individuality and that is what makes these destinations so different. Infact, one client, depending on how much time he has on his plate, can choose to go to multiple destinations at a time or one destination every year and they will not find them repetitive.
USP of the Destinations
Like I mentioned above, each of the 4 destinations are unique in their own way and have a plethora of touristy attractions/experiences to offer. Let’s take Almaty for example. It is a huge country, and the landscape varies from one region to another – you can go from seas to mountains to deserts to greenery – it has it all – everything that is known to mankind. The best part is that everything is within an hour or so of each other. You don’t have to travel long distances. Shymbulak Ski Resort is the only Ski Resort in the world, which is so close to the main city. It is just 30 mins from the Airport, which makes it s great option in winters. Then there are lakes, mountains, amazing nightlife, weather, shopping, casinos – very European vibe and just two and half hours from India with no visa. In the last few years, since we have started marketing, we have seen 400% increase in tourist traffic to Almaty with hotels running at 90% occupancy. India is in the top 10 markets for them. There are 4 direct flights from India – 3 from Delhi and one from Mumbai.
Future Plans
Kazin DMC has a very robust marketing plan for the India market. We have a Sales Team divided into North, East, South, West who do their meetings and handle their respective regions. We do roadshows – for example, we just finished a nine-city roadshow with Air Arabia, which was aimed at promoting Kazakhstan in India. Additionally, we do marketing presentations and FAM Trips. Five years down the line we would be the No.1 DMC for our all 4 destinations that we represent – primarily Belarus and Georgia since we are already No. 1. For Kazakhstan & Azerbaijan. We don’t intend to continue working as simply a DMC but go beyond it. Thus, we are moving towards becoming a company that owns its own transportation and is the one-stop shop for these 4 destinations with clientele across the globe and not just in India.
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