Back in ‘84 when Kesari first started, they did their advertising through hand-written postcards sent for 10 paise each, Shailesh Patil, Managing Director at Kesari, tells us. Shailesh and sister Veena prodded their father to start his own travel agency when they realised that he wasn’t getting his due at the previous agency where he worked. A bold move for two teenagers of 17 and 18 and their father. Here’s how that story panned out…
All Aboard
“We named the company after my father Kesari Patil. Since we came from the village to Mumbai, we didn’t have any other identity other than his.” The advertisements on their postcards would read something like: “We are arranging a tour to Kashmir from the 5th – 11th of April. If interested, come visit us.” Their little family would stay up all night writing about 100 cards each and send them off the next day.
Then, in 1985, Shailesh recollects visiting Singapore for the first time where he saw a computer. Rajiv Gandhi, the then Prime Minister, had a scheme giving loans on computers. Under that scheme, they paid the initial deposit of Rs 15,000 for a computer and printer costing Rs 79,000. “People thought we were crazy. The cost of the computer was higher than that of our office which was Rs 60,000.”
The computer, while an enthusiastic investment, didn’t initially reap any benefits. People didn’t really know what to do with it. Through research, trial and error, Shailesh figured out some of its uses like typing and printing and soon got into programming. He built a program with a database of all Kesari’s customers and their birthdays. This marked their move into personalising experiences for customers in a big way.
Automating Before It Became The Norm
Shailesh realised that the company needed to use technology as much as possible to automate tasks and when Citibank was getting rid of some of their old computers, Kesari bought 14 of them. Shailesh urged his staff to get on board with technology and learn to use it to their benefit.
But a lack of trust in devices fuelled by computers that hang and printers that stall kept people using good old pen and paper. “One fine morning, I walked into the office, picked out all our railway registers, tore them up and threw them into the bin.” Everyone had to start using computers to store data. By 1988, they had even set up their call centre.
“It was my father’s DNA of personalisation that the brand captured.” Shailesh credits the growth of their brand to their motto of personalisation. Birthday greetings were sent to every member of the family – parents, grandparents and children. And finally, came brand visibility. “Wherever Kesari travels, people should see Kesari.” They put stickers on vehicles, caps with logos and stickers on baggage. Their international travel experiences gave them the upper hand in exposure. And they were quick to implement what they had learned, back home.
Giving The People What They Need
Kesari Patil learnt that food was the way to Indian travellers’ hearts and made it a goal to give customers the best F&B experiences they could. A big case for word-of-mouth became their bed tea and coffee offerings on tours. They made the beverages with condensed milk and served it to guests first thing in the morning in their hotel rooms. Back in 1984, this was a unique concept. And for a nation of chai and coffee lovers, a major talking point.
“Our tours worked on the fact that we would always deliver on our promises. And often, deliver more than what we committed.” When Shailesh got into photography, he and his team would take pictures of travellers on tour. Images were later sent to them on occasions like birthdays and anniversaries. The attention to detail and thoughtfulness struck a chord with their travellers.
His sister Veena has a passion for designing tours and booking advertisements. It was she who came up with the idea of a women-only tour ‘My Fair Lady’, and a ‘Second Innings’ for senior citizens. Kesari even has a tour especially for honeymooners and couples which is scheduled based on the marriage season. Shailesh meanwhile worked at the backend on operations and setting up the DNA of the company.
“Currently, we have 20-plus offices all over India and 500-plus agents and associates.” While online travel and ticket booking companies like MakeMyTrip and Yatra.com have taken the digital savvy generation by storm, Kesari still holds a strong footing as a major part of their clientele are seniors who like having a trusted brand to rely on and savings and time that give them multiple travel opportunities through the year.
“Today social media is so good that you can create your brand with no costs,” he says in the praise of new-age travel companies that have disrupted the landscape. “Idea is king.”
Enablers & Disruptors
The shutting down of airlines, wars, earthquakes and floods are some serious disruptors in travel. For a brand like Kesari that makes it its responsibility to fulfil the promises it makes to travellers, the team will book new tickets, extend stays, postpone tours and take on the financial pressure with occasional losses.
In addition to the natural calamities, the travel landscape has also seen tectonic shifts with ease and convenience in booking air and rail tickets, making hotel reservations and interstate bus travel. India is transforming and the new generation of people and travellers are well equipped to make reservations independently. “The new gen wants things cheap. They want to do quick and short trips. And they want to experience experiences.”
In the building of their tour packages, the brand has to rethink their original framework of “wake up at 7, breakfast at 8, explore all day, dinner by 8, lights out at 10.” The new generation wants to go out in the middle of the night, eat different kinds of food, travel on bikes, get up and close to the real culture of the place, meet locals and do fun things at unconventional hours.
And the biggest change they have found in today’s consumers is the fact that they are willing to shift their loyalty for a better deal. “The generation under 35 don’t mind automated responses. Speed is the key for them. But people above 45 still have patience and like talking to a human being.”
Can There Be One Solution To All Travelling Needs?
To cater to both generations’ needs, Kesari has moved many of its functions to its mobile app but has still kept its offices and call centres running. But low-cost, value-for-money still works for both segments.
“Travel is vast and people have all kinds of aspirations and ambitions,” Shailesh explains. Some have dream destinations, some want to see the whole world and some people just want to travel during the festive season to skip out on all the traditions they would be obligated to back home.
Kesari is now focused on group tours and the corporate sector to provide for MICE (an acronym that stands for meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) tourism needs. It is a segment that brings in large numbers with both people and budgets.
Years behind him but looking at the years ahead, Shailesh’s interests are diversified in the hospitality and tourism business. He simultaneously runs the SukoThai franchise in India (a brand that specialises in foot spas and massage therapies) and has a vision to make Kesari a five-star hotel brand. Enterprising as ever with a big vision, he tells me, “Come again for an interview about Kesari Hotels. And SukhoThai!” And I sure hope to.
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