Airlines offer incentives to travel agents

Largest Indian travel agency will open branches in Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Bahrain, said K V Abdul Nazar, Chairman and Managing Director of Akbar Travels.

Nazar said travel agents continue to do roaring business even after the introduction of zero commission system by most of the airlines and adverse factors that hit the travel trade.

He said the cancellation of commission system by airlines have hit the small travel agencies in the Middle East and India, but the leading travel agents like Akbar Travels continue to receive payback from the airlines in the form of incentives and promotions.  The introduction of zero commission was expected to hit hundreds of smaller agents, but the business continues to thrive, according to Abdul Nazer.

He said: “It is true that travel agents have lost the commission paid by airlines, but the introduction of zero commission system has not affected big agencies as all the major airlines continue to pamper agencies with incentives. All the major airlines from India and Middle East continue to give incentive to us.”  

Akbar Travels, established in1978, claims to be the largest travel company in India, with 56 IATA offices across India. It is also one of the largest operators of Hajj and Umrah pilgrims to Saudi Arabia.

“We are not getting as much as we used to get, but continue to get good incentives from airlines. The zero commission system did not create much problems for travel agents, but the change in the credit period from fifteen days to one week will hit many small agencies,” he said.

Akbar Travels, which started Middle East operations with just one Sharjah branch in 2008, is now opening its 40th branch in Abu Dhabi and plans are drawn up to open new branches in Kuwait, Bahrain and other Gulf countries, Europe and USA.

“In the Middle East our revenue has grown up from just Dh15 million to Dh600 million. Being the largest provider of Umrah and Hajj pilgrimage services, we have been growing at comfortable levels,” he said.

He said the steep depreciation of Indian currency against dollar and dhirham has had double impact, the number of outbound Indian travelers have come down, while the number of inbound travelers to India increased.

Akbar Travels is opening its next UAE branch in Abu Dhabi to cater to the travel needs of corporate clients and holiday travelers from Abu Dhabi.

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