‘Explore the heart of India’
Harmandeep Singh Anand, MD, and Rishiraj Singh Anand, joint MD, and Gulshanpal Singh Anand, Chairman of Jagsons Travels Pvt. Ltd, share details on Global Panorama Showcase 2015 and give insight into the industry
A project conceptualised in the year 2007, it took almost six years for Jagsons Travels to organise Showcase Jagsons, which became a success in 2013, and got rechristened as Global Panorama Showcase (GPS) in 2014. The vision of GPS has been conceived with the intention of educating the buyers from central India who normally are left behind and do not get the much needed information. This year will be the second edition of GPS and as an event organiser the third event for the company.
The theme for GPS-2015 is ‘Explore the heart of India’, this year’s Global Panorama Showcase is to be held at Hotel Centre Point, Ramdaspeth, Nagpur from February 8-10, 2015. The event has received confirmed table bookings from 120 exhibitors, while about more than 350 buyers are expected to attend the event. Jagsons Travels is hosting close to 120 buyers from central India and the remaining are from other parts of India. Tourism Malaysia is the major Country partner for GPS 2015 and Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) is the State partner. About 12-14 tourism boards are participating at GPS 2015 which include: Malaysia, Spain, Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau, Bulgaria, Canada, Indonesia, Mauritius, Seychelles, Oman, New Zealand, Germany, Switzerland amongst others. Lavasa is Smart City Partner for the event.
Apart from these destinations, the event will also have local and international hotel chains, airlines, DMCs, cruise liners, travel insurance provider, visa service providers and other ancillary service providers participating as well. “The main focus of GPS is to meet, network, educate and empower the agents from tier II and tier III cities of Central India and give them a larger exposure to available products and services to cater to their clientele in a much professional and organised manner. The workshops are interactive and allow the participants to ask questions relating to destinations, products and visas that will help them in creating itineraries and explaining to their customers better,” says Harmandeep Singh Anand, Managing Director, Jagsons Travels and Hon. Secretary General, Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI).
Unique aspect
The unique aspect of GPS 2015 is that the first day is open for B2C interactions, while the next two days are an exclusive B2B event day. “Jagsons Travels Pvt. Ltd. have tied-up with York University in Canada who are the Global education partners. FansonStands.com is the Sporting events partner. The Technology partners include InterGlobe Technology Quotient and Travelport and Global Destination Partners Outbound Marketing and OM Tourism. TrawellTag-Cover More is our Travel assistance partner while Indigo Airline is the Airline partner. Ms.Madhu Saliankar of EntReps Solutions is Marketing Partner for the event. Jagsons Travels Pvt. Ltd. are also organising post familiarisation tours to Pench National Park and stay at Tathastu, which is the post tour partner for the media and hosted buyer group,” mentions Anand.
Gulshanpal Singh Anand, Chairman of Jagsons Travels Pvt. Ltd. opines, “Earlier for anything or event related to the travel industry we had to depend on the bigger cities, but now we are providing a platform through Global Panorama Showcase 2015 for the travel fraternity to showcase the products and get educated with the latest trends and products in the market. Our main motivation is to equip and educate the agents locally so that they are at par with their counterparts from metros and other major cities. Ever since we have started organising GPS we have tried to bring all the best of suppliers in the travel fraternity under one roof. Besides this, now with the growing middle-class spending capacity and interest to visit new destination, Nagpur as a market has a lot of potential for growth.”
On the challenges of the travel industry, Rishiraj Singh Anand, joint MD opines, “With more number of travel agents entering into the market, the environment has become quite competitive and hence for survival in the market, it is imperative that travel agents focus on upgrading their knowledge on various products and skills, as well as look at serving ancillary services while keeping a close watch on the changing dynamic trends in the market.”
With Nagpur being the Tiger capital of India, inbound tourism to the state has been increasing considerably. Moreover Nagpur being well-known as a Buddhist pilgrimage destination, there are many other surrounding areas and new destinations in the state which are offering unique experiences to travelers. The growth potential of the state is enormous in terms of tourism development and attractions.”
