The launch of Expedia Corporate Travel in China – And why can’t India catch up

Going into China for the first time, unsure where to stay or what to wear? Call Expedia Corporate Travel’s in-country call center or visit their website. Sounds too good to be true. Well, this is what Expedia is promising with the launch of Experdia Corporate Travel (ECT) in China, a first foray into the burgeoning Asia Pacific Region.

Does it sound tempting? Heck yes and why not. How many times have we been stranded at crossroads unsure whether to head north or south, never mind the myriad options the east and the west could offer us. How many times have we wondered why in order to answer three simple questions, we have to wade through reams of information either online or in travel books. How many times have we asked a colleague who supposedly went the previous year on the same assignment, only to have a pair of shoulders shrugged in our direction. How many times have we gotten in touch with hotels only to have too much information thrown back at us with the final product failing expectations. Too many and perhaps the time is right to take control over our travel programmes. Forget about being able to just access Expedia’s plathora of information online, you can also call into ECT’s in-country call center which can answer your questions in a choice of laungauges.

Expedia Corporate Travel will be a full-service travel management company in China and will be strategically partnered with Elong Inc. Elong is the second largest online travel company in China, proof enough of Expedia’s commitment. Companies and travelers doing business in China will have access to fully localized service and information, global reporting capabilbities in addition to the in-country call center. Customers will also have direct access to their travel data, so the travel nightmares will hopefully be a thing of the past. Database searches will be based on a range of product and service offerings based on specific needs – words from heaven for the time crunched corporate traveler.

ECT’s entry into China underscores the company’s focus on balancing each new market’s unique needs while maintaining a consistent, high level of service. In addition to global content across the Asia-Pacific region and the rest of the world, the partnership with eLong will provide ECT’s customers with access to over 4,700 hotels in more than 330 cities across China, as well as flight options to more than 70 major cities in the country.

ECT has had previous successes with similar need based models in United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany, Italy and Spain. The Chinese foray will now help increase its global presence in addition to being a critical initial footprint into the Asia Pacific reagion. Jean-Pierre Remy, president of Expedia Corporate Travel, said the the entry into the Asia-Pacific region was part of Expedia’s commitment to grow with the needs of customers. Business travel into China was an ever expanding market and a clear opportunity for Expedia to better service the needs of clients by being where they were needed.
“It’s exciting to partner with Expedia Corporate Travel as they enter China to meet the needs of global businesses” said Guangfu Cui, CEO of eLong. “Our local market knowledge and relationships with regional suppliers, combined with ECT’s outstanding level of service designed for the corporate travel market, ensures a strong corporate travel offering for companies doing business in China and beyond.”

Futuristic thinking indeed which leads us to the one question. What is India doing to catch up. The Incredible India campaign has been hitting us with state-of-art advertising for a long time now, but how is it meeting the needs of this not so new yet still challenging market. India seems to be foundering in the wake of the third parties commitment to doing business in Asia Pacific. From being an ostrich in the sand when it came to discussing the online world a couple of years ago, the Indian hotels have now decided that business from third parties may not be a bad thing indeed. But playing with them or trusting them is an altogether different deal. So, Rates are given albeit reluctantly and usually 30-60% higher than branded websites, commissions are not paid, loyalty programmes revoked and inventory just not made available.

Why? Nobody really seems to know. It’s the fear of the unknown, the move away from tradition, a sheer reluctance to play in a fair market scenario where the current set of revenue managers are just not net savvy enough and there is this misguided panaroa of loosing control. How long will the third party play along in this ever growing region. Well at least until they decide to boycott ‘Unfriendly’ hotels permanently from their databses. Would this affect a customer or Expedia. Probably not since there would still be a varied choice of hotels available in Expedia. Would the hotels close their doors to over 60% of customers who like the freedom of chocie today. Well – I think the answer to that one would be a ‘Yes’.

When Travel Agents become Beggars

The phone rings and a voice says ‘ Hello can I speak to you’. You know the voice since you have heard the same many many times over the last 5 years that you have been handling reservations for the hotel. Past experience says that this is not a courtesy call even as you roll your eyes heavenward at the sheer desperation in the voice. Sure enough this is a telephonic appeal to make some non-available rooms appear out of magic. The soft little voice on the telephone begs silently and then more loudly and you groan aloud for the voice is asking for the impossible. Why is it that the Travel Agent never calls with good news, never thanks you at the end of a season for your efforts and never remembers you except when they want a room. The nature of business? Perhaps yes, but then why is it that when things are not going their way, the aspect of business relationship suddenly crops up as omni-important and you are expected to turn the world upside down for the same.

This is the situation in most of India’s metros today. Rooms are either not available or sold at a premium and why not since the client seems to have the spending power. And the voice pleading on the phone is the voice of a market segment which simply does not justify the costs of servicing a hotel room. This is the travel agent who though will charge top dollar from a client, refuses to give fair share to the hotel for services rendered. Why then is everyone surprised that today more often than not rooms are ‘Not Available’ for a Travel Agent. Business with this market segment is anything but crystal clear.

First the agent will only insist on the Base Category or the Cheapest rooms. Many headaches, phonecalls, partial threats, pleas ensue before some business can be done. How is this possible in a hotel which usually boasts a minimum of 5 room categories. One headache over, you wait for the drama to unfold. For these same bookings can be canceled at the whims and fancies of the very same agent who made your life so miserable to confirm the bookings. 600 headaches later with an over 60% cancellation rate and you are left with a miserable 40%, wondering why you even bothered to take them on the books when far more lucrative business is knocking on the doors. For relationship sakes, says a weak voice within you even as your head doing the mathematics tends to disagree.

The vouchers follow, mere afflictions of toilet paper since this does not guarantee that the business will happen. Have you ever tried to charge retention for a voucher guaranteed tourist group that got canceled last minute. The entire hotel will get to hear the agent’s pleas before you can say Jack Robinson. Further dramas mean that Higher category of rooms are trying to be converted to the Base Category, dates are changed a hundred times, complimentary rooms are pleaded for, all under many disguised and some not so subtle threats even as you wonder just how you going to make forecasts and explain all the revenue changes to the hotel auditor. By this time though the agent has become a major thorn in the side and you start wishing for him to just vanish into thin air never to re-appear. What did he do to deserve this. Well if only he had not called you pleadingly quite so many times during the day and night, you might have looked upon this as mere business where forgiveness is bliss. But is the agent willing to forget and forgive. No siree… You are reminded a hundred times that even the smallest slight will affect all dealings in the future until death do us apart. However by this time you are oblivious to the constant swords hanging over your head.

You give some and retain some with fingers crossed that this will have no long term effect on the whole farce called relationship building in business parlance where one party can get away with murder. Never mind the financial implications and sheer exhaustion of it all, but I often wonder where the dignity of doing business has gone. Perhaps if the agents spent half the energies wasted on me to garner new business, they would’nt have come down to the level of begging for each morsels and where business was just another part of a perfectly normal day.

The above are the experiences of a Senior Reservation Manager in the Indian Five Star Deluxe Hospitality business and I am sure shared by many others bitten shy.

Dissecting Vijay Mallya’s ‘Fly with the Good Times’

There is a key word called Hospitality which seems to be missing from the air-hostesses parlance altogether. One look at the air-hostesses in red and we perhaps begin to see just what the King meant by ‘Good Times’. Tight and even tighter pants and skirts to the point of being tasteless would best describe these so called pagans of hospitality. In the Chairman’s message on the airlines branded website, Dr Mallya proudly talks about personnaly hand-picking the crew himself. Perhaps that is why they are all stereotyped with packs of foundation to hide away the ‘Indianess’ of their heritage. I have not heard of any unwritten rule that insists air-hostesses to be pale to the point of being ghostly and the tropical Indian weather makes this effort even more incredulous.

Vijay Mallya also boasts of the fact that every crew is instructed to treat a guest in the same manner as when they visit his home. Having flown Kingfisher a few times, I can only say that if this is true, nobody would be visiting the king. 10 minutes after being seated by the haunted, anorexic looking hostess, you are handed this little red pouch which might excite a 2 year old and that too perhaps. We are mostly adults in the flight and I see no joy in being woken up only to be handed something I definitely do not want. I mean – what happened to Class or is cheapness the way to fame these days. You sit back for a re-nap with what you hope is a do not disturb sign on you and this time it is the juice. Then it is the fact that you have to listen to the long speech prepared in case of emergencies because you are sitting on the emergency exit. All attempts to tell the lady that you would rather shift your seat in the half empty flight fall on deaf ears since the lady is not listening lest she loose track of the tirade she has memorized. So you just walk off into the next row mid sentence to settle down once again to sleep – hopefully. Food, tea-coffee means more awakenings and by now you are beginning to take on the look and mood of Hagar the horrible. I know that Mr Mallya demands individual attention and he supposes that his guests do to, but perhaps this is taking things a bit to far.

The rest of the experience can only be described as terribly ordinary. Neither the food nor the service is exceptionally different from any other airline in the country. In fact I would rather fly Indian Airlines where even if the air-hostesses are nothing much to look at, years of experience ensure comfort whilst flying.

The individual in-flight entertainment system so proudly mentioned in the Chairman’s speech exists. But is it entertaining – no. Unless you mean being forced to listen to ads being run over and over again at top volume. Most international flights provide headphones so that you may or may not listen at your discretion and the entertainment entails a movie or two. Something Vijay Mallya needs to learn about.

Would I accept an invitation to fly the Good Times. Probably not. Would most of the male population of country. I think definitely yes. After all the red stirs a hidden though trashy inner cord in some bizarre way. Perhaps exactly what the King calls ‘Good Times’.

Is India missing the Band Wagon again to China with the onset of Chinese Vineyard Tourism

Making hay while the sun shines, China has recently launched Vineyard Tourism. The purpose is to show China’s culture of vineyards to the world. Chinese Wines has not always been popular globally and face it who asks for a Chinese wine on their table when the mucho popular French and Italian versions are widely available.

But history says that Wine has locally been a long and honourable tradition in China. The grapes, millet, rice, fruits, etc wines though quite palatable to the local palette were until recently not recommended for a westerners table. Today Chinese wine making has matured and the new batch especially the Whites are said to be comparable with the international best. In fact a French vintner, Alain Leroux, who arrived in China in 1996 with French grape vines and plenty of experience gained at vineyards like Alsace, cotes du rhone, claims that his Chinese Wines today can proudly stand beside the French equivalent.

The Chinese government, in its well-acknowledged methodological fashion have decided that its time for the Chinese locals to rejuvenate a major aspect of their heritage and the International world to recognize Chinese Wines. The Chinese Vineyards across the countryside will open to all for wine tasting, buying and if you are lucky, producing.

We are all sure that the Chinese will be very good at promoting this new venture across the globe. This is the story on one side of the Himalayas and whats happening on the other side. For years we have been hearing whispers about a supposed wine boom in India. Did it happen? Is India producing Wines? Are they Palatable? Who knows? Definitely not the world and I am sure not the majority of the Indian Urban Population.

Sula Vineyards, off Mumbai (Bombay), proudly creates its Cab-sav Shiraz (an interesting but watery Red Zinfandel), Chenin Blanc (perfectly acceptable in the humid Indian weather), Sav Blanc (enjoyable on a special evening) and the Dindori Reserve Shiraz, a well balanced, fruity, dense and possibly the best made in India today. Chateau Indage near Bangalore is another good Indian Wine maker producing quality but not yet outstanding wines under the ‘Ivy’ brand. They grow Shiraz, Caberbet Franc, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in addition to the ‘Marquis de Pompadour’ sparkling wine which the Indians fondly call an Indian Champagne. Also deserving a rave review is Reveilo, a Indian-Italian venture in Maharashtra with decent Shiraz, a well balanced and fruity Cab Sav and palatable Chardonnays. Seagrams, the big name in the alcohol industry, is another name worth watching out for.

Can the vineyards do it by themselves - Perhaps not. They should concentrate on what they know best and that is producing wines. The tourism industry, with the help of the government, are the ones to spear this revolution forward. India has many proven successes so why not in wines. I think the ‘Incredible India’ experience though wow is just a bit over the hill. Its time to offer visitors something a little more delectable. So why not wines – perhaps enticing enough with the Indian spices that the sub-continent is famous for.

Michael Rolland, a modern day alchemist and internationally acknowledged oenologist and consultant to a range of vineries from Bordeaux to California to Italy to Spain said that the Indian Wines appeared somewhat flat, without density or complexity, no ripe, a little aggressive and often acidic. However this is what I say. Wine is a very subjective taste, one persons nector may be anothers vinegar. So heres ‘Cheers’ to Indian Wines on Indian and International tables.