Naveen has excelled in Tourism, Hospitality and Events Management. His passion and desire for service excellence have lead Leisure Corp to be the most admired companies in the space of MICE, Luxury travel and Sports Travel.

TWO TIMES National Award winner in Tourism, Naveen Kundu, now serves as the Managing Director of Mercury, An Ebix Cash Luxury initiative. Driven by ambition and a result-oriented achiever, Naveen has focused on achieving results in highly competitive environments that demand continuous improvement and dynamic approach. In a career spanning over 29 years, Naveen has excelled in Tourism, Hospitality and Events Management. His passion and desire for service excellence have lead Leisure Corp to be the most admired companies in the space of MICE, Luxury travel and Sports Travel. Thereby winning some of the most prestigious tourism awards, top of the line being the National Award presented by the President of India for his contribution to the growth of tourism. In an exclusive interaction with BW Hotelier, Naveen Kundu spoke about the current scenario of the travel industry and emerging trends.

Tell us briefly about the current scenario in domestic and international travel domain?

Domestic and International travel continues to be growing from India. We have recently witnessed a 11 per cent rise in domestic travel in spite of the closure of jet airways and we are witnessing a sharp rise in international travels and outbound market. India will be having 50 million outbound / international travellers by 2021.

What are the emerging travel trends that can be expected in 2020?

There are many factors to this:

• The economy continues to be our strength and people continue to spend. A large part of savings is now being spent on aspirational requirements of which travel and holidays are the most important.
• Increased awareness of travel through social media is another major factor.
• The philosophies such as 'You travel, I follow', 'Friends travel and they share experiences' are emerging travel trends.
• Faster processing of visas and more awareness that visas are not a difficult thing to obtain.

What does India need to do to become a mega MICE market?

Only one thing - major convention centres. India has almost none of the international standards convention centres. There are a few larger hotels and almost negligible exhibition facilities. We need to buy more and more convention centres at key locations, and not only in gateway cities.

Which are the top five outbound tourist destinations Indians like to travel? Why?

Destinations like Singapore, Thailand, Dubai, Mauritius and Hong Kong continue to be frequently travelled because they are short-haul, more and more airline seats are available, and visas are easy to obtain.

What are your plans for 2020?

To be the next big disruptor of travel and holiday business and dominate all domains off travel and foreign exchange.