After having quit the aviation business, the Sahara India group has announced the launch of India’s "largest" travel and tourism company — Sahara Global. The new "$10 billion conglomerate" will have 665 offices across 165 towns and cities both within the country and abroad.
The company will focus on inbound tourism (travellers visiting India), travel overseas, domestic tourism within the country, medical tourism, travel for conferences and exhibitions, NRI travel services and a travel portal backed by a giant satellite network that will facilitate flight and hotel bookings among other things. This was announced by the chief executive officer of the new company Romi Dutta. The Sahara India group had been planning the launch of the company for about 15 months now and operations will commence by the end of the month, Mr Dutta revealed.
The Sahara India group was in the limelight recently after it sold its airline company Sahara Airlines Ltd. (that operated Air Sahara) to market leader Jet Airways for a whopping US$ 500 million. The Sahara Group now plans to pump in Rs 300 crores as investment in the next five years to ensure further growth of its new company Sahara Global.
"We have a population of more than a billion people and a large affluent middle class. The age segment from 15 to 49 comprises 62 per cent of the population," said Mr Dutta, adding that the Sahara Global would target this segment. "We are eyeing the summer vacation market now. For customers anywhere be it Gorakhpur or Guntur, we will provide end-to-end travel services. It will be an enjoyable travel experience," he added. Former Miss World Diana Hayden also endorsed the new company, saying it would treat travellers as "next to God".
The company will focus on inbound tourism (travellers visiting India), travel overseas, domestic tourism within the country, medical tourism, travel for conferences and exhibitions, NRI travel services and a travel portal backed by a giant satellite network that will facilitate flight and hotel bookings among other things. This was announced by the chief executive officer of the new company Romi Dutta. The Sahara India group had been planning the launch of the company for about 15 months now and operations will commence by the end of the month, Mr Dutta revealed.
The Sahara India group was in the limelight recently after it sold its airline company Sahara Airlines Ltd. (that operated Air Sahara) to market leader Jet Airways for a whopping US$ 500 million. The Sahara Group now plans to pump in Rs 300 crores as investment in the next five years to ensure further growth of its new company Sahara Global.
"We have a population of more than a billion people and a large affluent middle class. The age segment from 15 to 49 comprises 62 per cent of the population," said Mr Dutta, adding that the Sahara Global would target this segment. "We are eyeing the summer vacation market now. For customers anywhere be it Gorakhpur or Guntur, we will provide end-to-end travel services. It will be an enjoyable travel experience," he added. Former Miss World Diana Hayden also endorsed the new company, saying it would treat travellers as "next to God".