From solo trips to group rides, Designer Destinations is catering to the whims of every traveller and doling out the best of experiential journeys. KP Manjunath, CEO, Designer Destinations, sheds light on the trends.
What differentiates Designer Destinations from other tour operators? What’s your success mantra?
Designer Destinations are a tours company specializing in holiday packages. Started in 2005, the company has been witnessing a year-on-year exponential growth. Our success mantra: ‘Quality sans compromise.’
The company’s policy is to maintain a personal touch with our clients by treating them more like a family, rather than business associates. Our main USP is ensuring the retention of clientele. We have designed holidays according to the special needs of our clients to make our holidays more fulfilling.
How has the growth been? What are your promotional plans for 2018?
Our growth has been steady since 2005, and we have retained clients who have promoted us and given us a positive feedback. This has catapulted us into a league of the most-touted travel agency. We credit our success and growth to our clients who are our true ambassadors. We have already started promotional activities by taking part in some popular travel events and MICE-related shows. Our participation in travel and tourism fairs will help us gain more exposure in the travel market. We hope to design new destinations with exciting new offers and cater to something new and different in the coming year.
What unique features do you offer?
We pride ourselves on providing personalised customer services with a 24/7 availability to clients. This availability helps us resolve unforeseen challenges that may crop up during their travel. Our group tours are carefully designed keeping in mind the background, culture, and habits of our clients.
Has the tourist behaviour changed in the recent past?
Over the years, due to awareness and interactions over in both physical and digital platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram, holidays have become a must for family and friends. People are busy making bucket lists for exotic, unexplored places. While one section of travellers are happy to increase the number of places in one trip, there is another section which is happy to explore one place thoroughly and gain satisfaction with their experience.
Have you noticed any interesting travel trends?
People like to travel solo and explore places at their own pace. Travelling alone helps them hit the ‘refresh’ button. With taglines highlighting concept tourism, such as, ‘Home away from home.’ Travellers are also looking at long-duration vacations that will help them disconnect from the technology-centric hustle bustle of daily life. These vacations emphasize what is called ‘digital detox.’ Another interesting trend is the increasing number of tours planned around all-women groups and men-only groups. Self-drive tours are also catching up. People usually traverse across countries in small groups to explore the culture and heritage of the destination. Besides adventure and sports tourism, niche sectors like destination weddings, medical tourism, and pilgrimages are also making waves.
