Himmat Anand, Founder, Tree of Life Resorts & Hotels has recently associated with Travel World Experiences (TWX) as its Honorary Chairman. Travel Trade Insider caught up with the industry veteran to know more about his plans to revive the dwindling company.
Q. What were the reasons behind your association with TWX as the Honorary Chairman? How do you plan to turnaround the company in your capacity?
A. I started the Tree of Life Resorts & Hotels just over a decade ago and have more or less achieved what I personally set out to do. The brand is well set, with my son Akhil Anand now taking it to the next level, giving me more time to do various other things. I was approached a few weeks ago by the key stakeholders of TWX to assist them in re-structuring and giving direction to the company. They are old colleagues who have a difficult situation on their hands and I have worked with them in the past too.
I agreed to join them as the Honorary Chairman as I love such challenges. Moreover, I can devote the necessary time needed towards the revival of the entity. As a first step, we have to regain confidence, both internally and externally. Internally, quite obviously the staff is under pressure and unsure of what the future holds for them. We must hand hold them and get their confidence back. We are now having regular meetings with our team, keeping them fully informed of exactly what is going on and what positive steps are being taken. Systems are being stream-lined with a more professional approach towards our deliverable.
Externally, the reputation has taken a beating as many vendors have not been paid their dues for around two years. Obviously, they are apprehensive to do business with us and that’s understandable. We are putting in place a very clear time schedule of payments and hope to clear most of these old outstanding by the end of summer and the remaining by winter this year. We are holding talks with our business partners; explaining to them what went wrong and I hope that they will see sincerity in our plan. At the same time, we are ensuring that we don’t lose any business to the competition.
Q. What is your vision for TWX?
A. We have created a core team, which consists of Hemant Golchha, Sanjay Mathema, Rajeev Rao and me. We have one basic belief that there is no compromise when it comes to honesty and integrity. We want these values to be the foundation of the ‘new’ TWX. We will turn TWX into a company which does not depend on fiefdoms and whims and fancies of individuals, but has strong corporate governance. We will make sure that going forward, our team members who have stayed till now and still believe in the TWX story are recognized for their loyalty.
We will be an organization where top line is not our driving force instead the bottom line coupled with a great standard of service and fair play with our partners will become our driving force. We will take all necessary legal and criminal action against those who have brought us to this grave state.
Q. What will be the focus areas of TWX going forward?
A. We have to retain all the business that we can quite obviously. A lot has been lost in the last 16 months. We also plan to fight back to recover some of our lost business – for me, this will be key driver going forward. Yes, the brand’s image has taken a beating and we will leave no stone unturned to win back the confidence of our earlier partners.
Q. What can other inbound tour operators learn from the business mistakes committed on the part of TWX?
A. I believe that any successful business must keep the interest of the company above personal interests of those who drive the firm. Most unfortunately this didn’t happen with TWX and personal greed drove the brand to where it stands today.
I also believe that you can’t allow for individual fiefdoms to be created internally – this is what has hit us the most. There has to be a very clear corporate structure with defined roles and responsibilities, where individual personalities should not drive the business and the brand. I see this as a growing menace, where individual people are moving from one company to another with their own small captive business and associating with the highest bidder! Our industry must recognize this fact and take corrective measures to stop this menace from growing.
Q. Even though a large number of inbound players are facing challenges in their respective businesses, the inbound arrival statistics of MoT and state tourism boards paint a rosy picture? How do you explain this mismatch?
A. I have stopped believing in statistics and figures thrown at us from various sources. The trade partners including hoteliers and tour operators are the authentic yardstick of growth and no one is listening to our side, which is a pity.
No, the India tourism story is still nowhere near its full potential, although I must say that some steps have been taken to improve the growth. Having said that, issues which were raised probably two decades ago still continue to be stumbling blocks. We need to invest more money in our positioning as a favourable destination and we must get more aggressive at the individual states level. Only, Kerala has got it right as of now along with Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan to an extent.
Q. Do you also think inbound tour operators too on their end have failed to meet the aspirations of the new age traveller, still continuing to sell India as the land of elephants and opulent palaces?
A. I would agree with you on this as an overall sentiment. We need to evolve quicker than the pace we are at presently. I think everyone is too busy in fighting to retain his or her own business and creativity has taken a back seat. However, there are some who have moved ahead and are doing some amazing work which is different from the rest.