Smaller travel firms form umbrella brand

In a first, five medium-sized travel agents have formed an alliance to offer international travel experience under a common brand – Landmark Journeys. Apart from companies such as Travels & Rentals, Trail Blazer Tours, Odyssey Tours and Travels, Equino Fun Holidays and Bharath International Travels, the alliance also includes Saltours International, a B2B partner.

“All our partners are established players in their own regions, and the decision to pool in the experience and expertise of all the partners is a unique initiative ”, says Nikhil Thakurdas, CEO of the Pune-based , Uniglobe Odyssey Travels.

Apart from taking on the big boys, this collaboration will help the travel companies to offer each other the advantage of drawing from the expertise of the co-partners, while sharing the responsibilities and the risks of the venture. “This is not just the coming together of a progressive partnership; we are also seriously aiming to fill the gap between traditional Indian operated tours and International vacations by offering new vacation experiences to Indian travellers”, says Devendra Parekh, Director – Travels & Rentals, based in Kolkata

Landmark Journeys will offer group tours for Indians to Europe and the US. The ground handling for these tours will be by Cosmos, a world leader in budget coach touring, part of Globus family of brands, one of the world’s largest coach touring companies. For the first year, Landmark Journeys is offering a choice of five vacations including two European Panoramas, one tour each to Spain, East Europe and the US.

“2011 has marked the beginning of this promising collaboration, and in times of intense competition partnerships is the way forward to growing our business”, says Nasrulla Tejani, Managing Director of the Mumbai-based Equino Fun Holidays.

All Landmark Journeys vacations can be booked through any of the partner companies across India.