That the tourism and travel market is dynamic, and it taps new trends very quickly, has been cemented after the pandemic withdrew its aftershocks. Many countries are now developing measures to build a more resilient tourism economy post-COVID-19. These include preparing plans to support the sustainable recovery of tourism, promoting the digital transition and moving to a greener tourism system, and rethinking tourism for the future.

TravHQ, in association with OTM, curates a dialogue exchange on similar themes at the OTM Forum 2022. In conversation with Daksh Sharma, Managing Partner at TravHQ and Iffort, are renowned figures in the travel and marketing sector. On Day 2 of the Forum, two panels discuss two very intriguing topics – first, ‘How to win the Next Billion Indian Travellers’ and second, ‘Hello New World: Digital Marketing for Travel Brands in an era of Change’. On board are speakers from biggies like Twitter, SaffronStays, Thomas Cook, Adani Group, TBO.com, and EcoRentaCar.

OTM Forum Day 2, Panel 1: ‘How to win the Next Billion Indian Travellers’

Mr. Nitin Sethi, a product of the University of Pennsylvania, has 21 years of work experience in Digital Transformation, Product Design & User Experience. Currently, he is leading Digital Transformation for Adani Group. He specializes in leading multi-functional teams and establishing the best user experience practices and processes in organizations. He has built robust monetizable products for the biggest Internet companies in India. He has great experience in handling large global platforms. Mr. Nitin has expertise in fields like Digital Transformation, Design Thinking, D2C Platforms, User Experience & Design Strategy, Information Architecture & Interaction Design, Online Consumer Experiences for web and mobile platforms, New Media/ Mobile UX, Building/Leading teams in different verticals, Managing ROI, Competitive Analysis, Creative Duties/ Leadership, Project Conceptualization, Evaluation, Planning, and Execution. 

Mr. Ankush Nijhawan, Co-founder of TravelBoutiqueOnline TBO.com and Managing Director at Nijhawan Group is a graduate of Boston and he majored in Marketing and Psychology. Today Ankush is thriving with his strategic vision and direction to the Nijhawan Group to be a leader in the travel industry. He was chosen by CNBC as a Young Turk for revolutionizing the travel trade through his B2B travel portal. Ankush today by far is one of the most successful youngsters in the travel trade. In 2021, Mr. Ankush was appointed as Chairperson of the FICCI Outbound Tourism Sub Committee. 

Mr. Aditya Loomba is Director at ECO Rent A Car, Europcar India (Global Ground Transportation services – Chauffeur Driven & Self Drive). ECO is proud to be the winner of the prestigious national award, given by the President of India, as the best chauffeur-driven Ground Transportation company. 

OTM Forum Day 2, Panel 2: ‘Hello New World: Digital Marketing for Travel Brands in an era of Change’

Devendra Parulekar is the founder of SaffronStays, a hospitality collective that has an inventory of beautiful private homes and villas in various locations. An entrepreneur, a visionary, a dreamer, and driven by a larger purpose – Devendra wants to change the way Indians holiday and celebrate their special occasions with their loved ones in a private vacation home. 

Ms. Neha Sharma Katyal leads Twitter’s regional business in India. She is a seasoned commercial and digital marketing executive with a proven track record in leading high-growth businesses and cultivating top-performing teams. 14+ years of experience amassed at Twitter, Star Sports, Disney+ Hotstar, BBC Worldwide, and Network18 group, managing large teams across diverse cultural contexts. Held roles in growth strategy, customer marketing, revenue creation, and general management while working alongside global leadership councils & India leadership teams.

Mr. Neeraj Singh Dev is heading the e-Business channel, and product marketing for India, Asia, the Middle East, and CIS country outbound holidays for Thomas cook India Ltd & SOTC Travel Ltd. He has experience across travel functions of mid-size and large-size travel management companies in offline as well as online environments. He is currently a part of the leadership team at Thomas cook India.

The post OTM and TravHQ together delve into decoding the post-pandemic travel market appeared first on TravHQ.

The pandemic cursed the world to a standstill, and as a repercussion, the tourism industry became stagnant. With the world returning to its life slowly as the pandemic subsides, a travel boom is expected from the population that was locked indoors, living in monotony, for a long period of time. People are seeking breaks to counter stress from work-from-home. 

The OTM Forum 2022 edition is taking place at Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai on the 13th, 14th, and 15th of September where biggies from the travel industry come together to discuss the changing travel trends post-pandemic. TravHQ, in partnership with OTM, brings to you a platform where you can engage with the who’s who of the travel industry, learn about the changing trends and harness them better. Register yourself to participate now!

TravHQ in association with OTM has curated panel discussions that will aid you in sharpening your understanding of the post-pandemic travel market. The first-panel discussion, on Day 1 of the forum, will talk about Trends Shaping The Indian Travel Market in 2022 and beyond. The panel will feature Brett Thorstad, VP at Sabre, Daniel D’Souza, President & Country Head – Holidays at SOTC Travel, Praveen Iyer Co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer at Akasa Air, and Sudhir Patil, Founder of Veena World. The discussion will be moderated by Daksh Sharma, the Managing Partner at TravHQ and Iffort.

Brett Thorstad is Vice President, Commercial, Agency Sales at Sabre. He is the regional head of Sabre’s travel agency business in Asia Pacific and is responsible for commercial performance across all Asia Pacific markets and the retention and organic growth of both local and regional accounts. He works closely with Sabre’s distribution partners and product and technology teams to drive customer-centric solution deployment in Asia Pacific.

Daniel D’souza is President & Country Head – Leisure ( Holidays ) at SOTC Travel Ltd. He has experience in sales management across multiple channels, marketing, brand positioning, change leadership, development of new business models and processes, and industry and consulate liaisons and PR across industry verticals. He has exposure of over 20 years in leading teams, handling people, delivering sales, initiating marketing & product initiatives, and overall P&L responsibility.

Praveen Iyer is a business leader with a career spanning 23 years. He has held several leadership positions covering Global Operations in fast-paced and dynamic consumer-focused businesses. Having worked both in India and overseas, he has grown revenues and contributed to increased profitability and margins, while leading Corporate Planning & Strategy, Alliances & Partnerships, Pricing & Revenue Management, Cargo Sales, and Ancillary Revenues. He has helmed large teams in developing new markets, implementing customer acquisition strategies, and fostering global alliances and partnerships. Praveen is especially adept in integrating long-term business strategy with annual business plans, managing large-scale complex operations, managing and leading change, and building high-performance teams.

Mr Sudhir Patil is the Founder of Veena World – a travel company that rides on the idea to create a world of affordable tourism and exploring as well as innovating new avenues in the travel industry. Since its inception in 2013, Veena World boasts of 950+ dedicated travel professionals, 5,00,000+ satisfied guests, 2,000+ travel & hotel associates. 

The post TravHQ partners with OTM to investigate the changing post-pandemic travel market appeared first on TravHQ.