Why have I started Niche Tourism Academy? This is the first question that I think I should answer to all of you here. Weather I wanted to start, or I had to start Niche Tourism Academy? So my dear friends I had to start because I have been forced to start Niche Tourism Academy. The corporate world is heartless. It does not understand your emotions, your talent, your honesty, and your hard work until and unless you dare to bring it to your own feet. The credit of your intelligence, the credit of your talent, and the credit of your delivery are always snatched by the corporates instead of some petty consideration. At the same time, corporate leaders’ business plan is always right even it is wrong. They realize only when it is too late. I asked many times myself why these leaders are like this? The answer is only one… their ego is their ignorance. So I have been forced by the circumstances to start Niche Tourism Academy.
Let me ask you one question. What is the relationship between success and failure? Everyone likes to achieve success and fear facing failure. But do you know success and failure are like twins? One can never achieve success without facing failure. One who dares to face as much as failure deserves to achieve as much as success. Now failure comes in many ways. So let’s not dive deep into classifying the types of failure etc. As I said that I had to bring Niche Tourism Academy, I didn’t want it because of the experiences gained from the corporate world in terms of my failure. Through Niche Tourism Academy, now I am in the best place i.e. “The Market” I mean tourism market, the place that always gives credit to your good work, appreciates your talent, and gives proper returns on your delivery. The market never is selfish like corporates. The market doesn’t see who you are, it focuses only on your delivery. If you can fulfill the demand of the market, you will be kept on the head otherwise you will be thrown out like anything.
I would like to give here my few valid bold observations related to the tourism industry. I understand many of you might not agree with these insights so I would like to invite them to come to my live webinar where I am going to logically prove it to you all that:
- Indian & many countries’ Tourism Market is predominantly an unorganized sector.
- Even the students pursuing degree courses from recognized Universities and institutions lack the basic knowledge on ‘Package Tour’
- 90% of tourism professionals lack the gross-root level knowledge of tourism.
- Tourism colleges and institutions are yet to provide any specialized curriculum on “Package Tour’ in the world.
- Courses on Air Ticketing, Hotels, and Hospitality are widely available, but authentic ‘Package Tour’ courses are still not available in the world.
- Top online companies are spearheaded by leaders who do not come from travel and tourism backgrounds in the world.
- Tourism companies are driven by leaders without the intrinsic understanding of the industry and therefore maximum travel businesses are standing on very weak foundations.
- Well-integrated online customization of package tour portals can showcase worldwide products in a single platform in an organized way.
- Talents with sound product knowledge in this business can bridge the gap in the online world tourism industry.
- The absence of innovative tourism in the global tourism market owing to a lack of awareness is creating bottlenecks for a successful business.
- Most of the holiday companies do not want their personnel to learn the trade secrets because they fear that after learning them they might start their own initiative.
- Similarly, B2B agents prevent the learning of B2C agents to prevent them from starting an independent initiative.
- Most of the tourism professionals do not join the domain with specialized tourism knowledge which in turn is affecting the overall efficiency of the tourism industry.
- Every year innumerable travel companies commence and close down owing to a lack of awareness, knowledge, initiative, and industry-oriented skill.
I will describe to you with 3 real examples, how mostly the tourism industry works in India as per the practical experience I have gained. One of my very close friends Lalit who has gained immense knowledge on inbound tourism & domestic tours. I have personally worked with him and I know the potential and experiences that he has on inbound & domestic tours. Once he gave interviews to few top tourism houses. I am sure the interviewers must not know about tourism that Lalit has. But none of them dared to take him in their company. It was not because Lalit didn’t qualify for the position, but it was because of the fear by those top tourism notches who themselves don’t have complete clarity on the fundamentals of tourism.
Now another close friend Himadri with whom also I have worked. He started his career at the age of 18 as a guide and I can say he knows every bit of places and regions of North East, the seven sisters. You will find most of the B2B agents or consolidators sitting in Delhi calling themselves wholesalers of North East package tours. And he has been refused by some of those corporate houses to take Himadri in the team. I know that Himadri is a core tourism guy but still, his contribution to tourism is nothing because the tourism corporate world doesn’t know to give respect to these types of professionals since the people who are in the core management seldom have root-level knowledge on tourism. We cannot blame them also because they are totally from a different area of specialization. But they want to dominate the real heroes of the tourism industry since they are technically sound, shrewd management ability, and financially sound. Unfortunately, the capital venturers also support them because of their ignorance and no other better option available.
When I was doing B2B for Andaman, I accompanied my friend Sandeep who used to look after our Andaman tours on ground level operations, to one of the top online houses in Delhi. We met the Vice-President Product because he wanted to start Andaman Chartered. During the meeting I got surprised to see that sitting in such a responsible product position, that person lacks the knowledge on tourism completely. And on the other hand, Sandeep was well versed with tourism especially on Andaman. So he assisted him to gain the knowledge to get the business.
All the above three names I have mentioned are specialist on their area, they have the ability & a great potential, but they lack direction and is afraid to face the failure. So many such heroes in the tourism world need direction and support. The funny part of this tourism industry that the real heroes are not recognized at all and those who get the recognition doesn’t come from the tourism domain. Niche Tourism Academy is going to fill these market gaps in the future.
Although the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2019 ranked India 34th out of 140 countries, the rate of positive feedback by Indian tourists continues to be below 20% for many years. There is not a single curriculum offered by any universities and colleges across the world that promises such a comprehensive 360 degree and skill-based teaching-learning approach on “Online Package Tours”.
Today, technology is not able to work wonders for tourism businesses because it is guiding the product. Instead, technology needs to be steered by talents with sound product knowledge and a robust subject foundation. NTA will aspire to blend the best of both worlds, a perfect marriage between human intelligence and technology to coevolve in this industry. This will help enthusiastic tourism professionals to develop products that can cater to the unique tastes and preferences of modern travellers. This will bring a revolution in the tourism world. The movement has already started, and the homework has already been done. The real heroes of this industry will drive the industry in near future.
NTA is not only an academy but a movement to build the world’s largest core tourism professionals’ network. So this platform is for everyone those who are:
- Students pursuing Degree / Diploma or Post Graduation in tourism and hospitality.
- Students who passed Degree / Diploma or Post Graduation in tourism and hospitality.
- Tourism professionals from any functional area, market segment, and company.
- Small and medium travel entrepreneurs, managers, and top leadership positions.
- Academicians from recognized universities, colleges, or institutions related to tourism and hospitality.
- Enterprising travel industry enthusiasts who are interested in start-up their tourism initiative.
- Founders, Presidents, and Vice-Presidents of Online Tourism Enterprises.
Anybody who is adventurous, a creative thinker, resourceful, and has an incurable enthusiasm for travelling can become a successful travel and tourism professional. In fact, every soul is a traveller in their hearts.
If you have the right attitude you can explore careers in the travel and tourism domain. In this profession, you get unlimited opportunities to go places, meet different people and learn about diverse cultures.
Moreover, if you are one of those versatile individuals who want to create an impact and create a difference by creating employment opportunities and foster environmental well-being.
If you want to set a meaningful career direction in the travel industry, accelerate your employment opportunities, and do something innovative in this vocation, joining Niche Tourism Academy can help you go miles.
There will be different levels of learning here. Brick by brick we will be building the tourism skyscraper because this is the only proper way to do it. So in my level one, the takeaways can be summed up as follows:
- Identify the gaps in the tourism market and customize their services and products in keeping with the demands of the consumer expectations.
- Develop a theoretical understanding of tourism aligned with the contemporary industry best practices in the market.
- Learn with practical insights from real-life job scenarios and industry-driven case studies.
- Develop the ability to predict the changing trends in the tourism domain and adopt techniques to adapt to the market shifts.
- Ability to make data-driven informed decisions to drive business optimization in the tourism domain.
- Develop a cohesive understanding of key functional areas like product, operations, technology, marketing, finance, and HR in tourism.
- Acquire a versatile mastery in customized skills and competencies aligned with your professional portfolios.
- Upskill for a career up-gradation or a lateral shift in the travel and tourism sector.
Post-Pandemic the tourism industry is back to 1990 but we have the technology of 2021. So now the scenario will completely change. The tourism market will never be the same again as it was before Covid19. According to Forbes, the American leading business magazine there was an article published on Oct 2 2019 & it said, “Online Travel Agencies Need To Reinvent Themselves To Fend Off Rising Costs And Google.” So the current demand of the market lies on these 4 pillars.
- Target your products and services well.
- Educating your team on your brand values.
- Take quality seriously and create a truly one-of-a-kind customer experience.
- Focusing on niche growth & sourcing user-generated content.
At Niche Tourism Academy initially, my effort will be to build the core tourism professionals who can focus on building a business that is hard to compete and they should never stop innovating.
There is a formula and full-proof strategy to build any business where you will minimize your competitors. If not monopoly then you will capture the monopolistic market. The professionals must learn to come out of their comfort zone and swim in the green zone of the ocean. It Is Time To Distinguish Yourself In This World ! Differentiate Yourself.
My next article will be “Is marketing & promotion being the only biggest tool to make a brand popular and become a global player?” so STAY TUNED….
- If you would like to be in the community of Future World’s Largest “Core Tourism Professionals”
- If you would like to become the Master of “Fundamentals of Package Tours” and
- If you would like to “Differentiate” yourself from the rest in the Worldwide Tourism Market
COME & JOIN NICHE TOURISM ACADEMY…. LAUNCHING ANYTIME IN JUNE 2021… STAY TUNED & FOLLOW US
Compiled By
Asad Siddiqui
(Founder @ Niche Tourism Academy)
connect@nichetourismacademy.com, nichetourismacademy@gmail.com
www.asadsid.com & www.nichetourismacademy.com