There is a world of difference between traveling with a herd of tourists, and globetrotting in its truest sense. The latter sounds much more adventurous, doesn’t it? That is exactly what this business of arranging ‘unescorted’ travel is all about
Yogesh Shah and his spouse Suchna Hegde-Shah, of The Backpacker Co, can never forget how they scored their first customer. When Pooja Bakshi showed up at their home-office, our adventurous couple got ecstatic all right. Little did they know the level of convincing that they would have to do to score the first payload! Like most Indian parents, Pooja’s parents too were completely against the very thought of their daughter heading to Europe—alone and unescorted. “We had to go to Pooja’s house to convince her parents that it is safe, and that they should let her go,” recalls Yogi. “When she came back, she was very happy, had a new level of confidence, her parents felt proud, and emotions soared high,” he adds.
Genesis of the idea
The founders happen to be avid travelers and used to take off on their own, every time they got a chance (and had the money). “We never liked going on day-1, day-2 kind of ‘herded’ trips. We found our own way and planned our own itinerary to go places around the world,” reminisces Shah. “Due to our vast exposure, a lot of our friends and acquaintances would look up to us for advice. We just simply went out of our way to sort their trip out,” he says.
This is when the couple saw that there was a huge opportunity in the making that should be taken full advantage of. Besides their own passion to travel and to advise people, they were also aware of rising disposable incomes, and growth in the outbound travel sector. This is what brought about the founding of The Backpacker Co.
The Backpacker Co is an independent travel company, specializing in ‘unescorted’ backpacking trips. It differs from a regular travel agency in many ways. One can have an extremely flexible holiday planned with The Backpacker Co. Unlike packaged tours, where there is a fixed time-table (get up at seven, twenty minutes at the Louver…) and limited food-menu, the Shahs plan the trip according to the budget, timeline, and interests of the client. Keeping these factors in mind, they custom-package the client’s tour in the most economical way—where they could stay in youth hostels, bed and breakfast, doing their own cooking at kitchenettes, etc. While they also sometiimes go to the extent of arranging the ticketing, forex, et al; it is okay with them if the client says that they themselves would like to do some of these tasks. In a gist, what these globetrotters do is use their knowledge and experience to make their client’s trips worth every penny.
“We make arrangements for our clients to become a part of local festivals that happen abroad. For instance, we have some people headed to Spain in the month of July. This is when the famous ‘Pamplona Bull Run’ happens at the festival of San Fermin. We have ensured that these people will be there to have an experience of a lifetime,” says Yogi Shah. Cooking holiday in Tuscany (Italy), single-malt trip at the breweries in Scotland, vineyard trips in Champagne—they do it all.
Actual implementation
Now, the concept might have sounded interesting, but the start was not a bed of roses. “There were people who would think we were a ‘bag’ packing company and used to enquire if we supplied bags!” exclaims Shah. “Then there were quite a few people who were apprehensive of how trustworthy we were and if our systems were up to the mark as we were newbies.”
Customer orientation with regards to making them understand that they specialized in ‘unescorted’ travel was another starting challenge. “Making people understand that they would not get Indian food (a la ‘Rome ma ras and paris ma puri’) everywhere, was a challenge in itself,” says Shah. “However, we had the passion and conviction that there was a certain segment who wanted to travel independently and just needed someone to help them plan their trips, give them suggestions, tell them where they could sample the local food etc.”
Suchna used to fly as a cabin attendant with Singapore Airlines, and Yogesh was running a family logistics business. However, the passion to start their own venture made funding a huge issue. Approaching banks did not help, as the couple did not have any collateral to offer. “We approached many VCs, who at that time did not see beyond anything that did not have the letters ‘IT’ in it”, recalls Shah.
They put all their savings as seed capital and started the company. To save on costs, the initial operations took place from their home, and meetings used to happen at coffee shops. Their efforts did not go unnoticed, and they gathered some faith money from friends and family, which saw them through the initial years. When it came to registration and other paperwork, Yogi’s experience and contacts gained whilst working in his family business helped. And as they already had been advising friends and acquaintances, they had a fair idea of what the market was like. Besides this, they got their friends and family to spread the word.
Strengths
The Backpacker Co is the first backpacker-centric company in India, and hence has the first-mover advantage. Firsthand experience of having traveled all over the world and the knowledge that comes with time is one other strength of the company. Besides this, they have some eminent partners across the globe, with whom the company has signed exclusive contracts for India. Also, the training passed on to the team is an asset in this very personalized business format.
Weaknesses
The concept of ‘backpacking’ per se is still in its infancy, and there are still some misconceptions about this kind of travel. Spreading awareness and orientation among travelers is something that will take time and money for marketing. And then, there is the perennial problem many startups face—funds. There is a lack of people who want to back a business that has little or no data to fall back on.
Opportunities
Ask of the offshoot businesses that can emerge from this venture, and Yogi replies, “We have a plan to open travel stores across the country, retailing all travel-specific goods (be it backpacks, Swiss knives, travel guides etc). As travel is growing at an year-on-year rate of 20%, we see a huge opportunity for such stores.” Now that sounds capital intensive. Yogi adds, “We have approached a couple of angel investors and early stage venture capital companies and have received a positive response from them.”
 | Founders: Yogesh Shah and Suchna-Hegde Shah Company: The Backpacker Co Since: 2000 (informally), 2004 (incorporated) Big idea: Customized, low-cost ‘unescorted’ backpacking trips Charges: Depends on man-hours and resources put in Client footfalls: Initially 5 enquiries/week; now 70-80 enquires/week Conversion ratio: 50-55% Client profile: 18-35 years of age, singles and couples, high disposable income Staff strength: 25 full-time employees, 35 case-to-case external consultants |
Threats
As the entire travel market is in a huge growth phase, what is happening is category expansion and not competition. That is what Yogi believes, and he adds, “There is much for all to share. The problem, however, we see is from the global oil scenario as that will directly impact airfares, and the biggest chunk of a travel budget goes into buying the ticket.” Talking about the future, travel is set to get more specialized and companies will have to constantly evolve, and offer the right products, keeping up with the times.
What the future holds…
The company has a focused five-year plan to have a pan-India presence and cater to potential backpacking clients in the UAE, Sri Lanka and Singapore.
As of now, the company is only focusing on outbound tours, but by next summer they do plan to hit the domestic scene, where they will take people to home-stays in coffee plantations, etc.
Besides this, they plan to run specialty travel stores across India where the traveler will get everything from a backpack to a travel pillow to a counseling session with a travel expert. “We also see ourselves very active in the eco-conservation area and giving back to the society,” says Yogi. “We are looking to be the leaders in the ‘experience’ travel field.”
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written by mela, March 03, 2010
written by Toronto Suites, February 18, 2009
If you are ever in Toronto , I can only suggest one place for an extended stay executive suite.
They even offer fully furnished apartments and condos at amazing prices
written by Kunal, January 23, 2009
bt hw to get in touch with them???
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