BWDisrupt interacted team of Nirvana Excursions and spoke Ms. Nidhi BatraFounding Date: 1st February, 2013
Founders: Nidhi and Viren Batra
Startup Description Nirvana Excursions is a full service travel agency offering services such as flight booking, hotel booking, holiday packages and travel support services such as visa facilitation, foreign exchange, travel insurance etc. Our focus and expertise lies in Interest based trips, exotic and less traveled destinations and experiential travel. We have also launched our own Group Departures for Vietnam and Cambodia and will also be covering destinations such as Ranthambore and Rann of Kutch Festival under our sub brand Little Nirvana Explorers
Unique Features/ServicesNirvana Excursions focuses on understanding the traveler interests and goals when planning a trip. Our packages are then designed specifically keeping these in mind. Even if we are planning for common destinations such as Thailand, Dubai etc we always look for something different that we can add which would make the trip special.
Under our sub brand Little Nirvana Explorers we plan itineraries with a focus on children. Apart from the customized itineraries we are focusing on special tours such as Camping getaways around Mumbai, a Diwali trip to Ranthambore National Park and a visit to the Rann of Kutch festival during the Christmas Holidays. We plan our trips around the school holiday times and try and give the children a fun experience along with exposure to Nature and Culture. These trips are a great chance for parents to expose their children to something new, while having all the arrangements taken care of.
Key Differentiation Both the founders have traveled extensively in India and around the world. Whether it is business trips, backpacking, group travel or luxury they have experienced it all. When a package is being designed with the input of someone who has in depth knowledge of a destination it makes a world of a difference. The personalized service and understanding that comes with dealing with an experienced travel agent offers a great value over booking a trip online. Nirvana is also focused on making exotic destinations more accessible which is why we have launched our own departures to Vietnam and Cambodia. Places like Ha Long Bay and Angkor Wat are on the bucket list of so many people and this is a convenient, comfortable and cost effective way to visit both spots and experience 2 unique cultures.
Funding Status The business is currently self funded with plans to raise a Friends and Family round in the near future to facilitate the growth plans.
Future Plans Nirvana Excursions will be putting a major focus on their own Group Departures over the next year. Tours to a wide variety of destinations will be planned with a focus on specific interests such as food, photography, beer, adventure, wildlife etc. At the same time we would be strengthening our supplier network to be more competitive in pricing and have a wider variety of offerings for our customized travel offerings. With the expected funding the founders are also planning to grow the sales and marketing team in order to position these offerings correctly and generate business.
Challenges Faced The travel industry is an extremely crowded and disorganized marketplace. There is a lot of misselling of products that happens. There are many agents in the market who see a holiday as a commodity and market is as such which leads to selling purely on the basis of the monetary value. Service and information is not given any importance. The biggest challenge faced by us is to change the perception of our customers as to what a travel experience should be like.
Market Size and Opportunity The size of India's travel Industry is over $30 Billion and is growing at a phenomenal pace. As the economy matures we have more and more people in the middle class who now have the disposable income to take annual holidays. The number of Indian's travelling abroad is increasing at a rate of around 20% a year. Millions of Indians have taken several International trips already and are willing to explore different options. There is enormous scope in the travel industry in India and success is simply a matter of finding a niche in which you excel and positioning yourself correctly in the marketplace.
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Soumya is a young writer and journalist, with bachelors in Multimedia and Mass Communication. She is an alumini of the Asian College of Journalism, and finds politics and sustainability intriguing beats to work with.
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