GoTour Travels and Holidays is an emerging start-up bus fleet operator in Bengaluru, one that is becoming increasingly popular in providing excellent holiday packages and intercity transport services in the region. We spoke to Mr. Narendra Vallabhaneni, Managing Director, GoTour Travels and Holidays, at the company head office at Marathahalli, Bengaluru, to know more about its operations and future ventures.
Driven by passion
Recalling his passionate past, Mr. Narendra said: “I am a biker by passion, and have travelled the length and breadth of the country on my bike. My first steps in the travel industry came in December 2006 when I started ‘Gee-Vee Travel Services’ that was later renamed as ‘GoTour Travels and Holidays’ and officially registered in 2010.”
GoTour started its initial operations with package tours, which included corporate packages, weekend-tour packages, adventure packages, etc. The company bought its own vehicles in 2011, starting with one air-conditioned Force tempo traveller. Soon it increased the fleet strength of tempo travellers to six and added luxury cars to its fleet.
The company’s entry into the bus segment came in 2012 through a channel partnership agreement with ‘Morning Star Travels’ of Guntur, Andhra Pradesh for its Karnataka operations. Having successfully met its partner’s expectations, GoTour’s number of schedules soon increased to nine per day, with the channel partnership continuing until 2016. In 2016, GoTour entered into a channel partnership with Sri Venkata Ramana Travels and SVKDT (Sri Venkata Kanaka Durga Travels), both Vijayawada-based fleet operators, on fleet sharing operations for the Bengaluru region.
“Based on ethical business values, abiding by prompt payment norms and maintaining quality service, we have entered our second year of successful channel partnership with our two partners. Presently, we have five schedules everyday operated by GoTour and nine schedules operated by Sri Venkata Ramana and SVKDT under GoTour booking banner”, he shared.
GoTour Travels soon tasted good success in bus fleet operations in the region with its prompt service and dedicated approach. Leading from the front, the MD himself deals with the passenger issues, feedbacks and suggestions. The direct passenger communication initiative by Mr. Narendra has helped the company understand fleet operations better and know what travellers are looking for. He follows a firm policy of maintaining transparency in terms of decisions and issues related to bus crew and drivers which has helped create a supportive and cooperative environment within the organization.
Tech-savvy approach
As a new development on the operations front, GoTour has introduced a 24×7 operational passenger Whatsapp number service which is displayed behind each passenger seat. Sharing details of the initiative, the MD said: “We have introduced a 24×7 Whatsapp customer service number – 9483071166, in order to provide direct access for passengers in case of any emergency. We are concerned about the safety of lady passengers and hope the customer service number provides them better access to our management in case of any problems onboard the bus. Our staff monitor the Whatsapp number from our Marathahalli and Attibele offices 24×7.” GoTour has also initiated a special Whatsapp service for its crew and management, wherein the entire GoTour staff including drivers, crew, office staff and even the MD stay connected on the chat platform to streamline and monitor the bus fleet operations.
Apart from improving its customer service and intra-management services, GoTour is also working on integration of ‘Zippr’ codes for its boarding points in Bengaluru for easier passenger accessibility.
Expansion plans
With a bus fleet comprising mostly of 2+1 AC sleepers and 2+2 AC semi-sleepers, GoTour connects Bengaluru with Hyderabad, Hospet/Hampi/Gangavati and Mantralayam/Raichur, providing multiple schedules for Hyderabad and dedicated single schedules on other routes. While it plans to expand its fleet with Ashok Leyland buses in future, it has already placed an order for four new Veera V7 AC sleeper coaches, two of which have already been delivered. As part of its future route expansion strategy, GoTour will be bringing Maharashtra under its route map, as it plans to introduce Hyderabad – Pune and Bengaluru – Pune routes soon.
GoTour’s fleet maintenance is done on AMC basis, monitored by the company’s Vehicle Manager. It has also outsourced vehicle washing, upkeep & maintenance to be able to focus better on its core operations.
The larger picture
Expressing his concern on the challenges faced by private bus fleet operators in the country, Mr. Narendra termed issues such as unstructured transport law, volatile taxations and poor infrastructure as key hurdles. Seeking an amendment and reformatory solutions for the obstacles, he stressed on the need of a uniform tax structure, legalized bus transport business and concentration on passenger safety as the main requisites to hasten proper development of the bus industry. Acknowledging the Bus Operators Confederation of India (BOCI) as a bridge between the government and private bus fleet operators, the MD hoped that the BOCI council would play an important role in solving the current issues faced by the private fleet community. He stressed that the implementation of ‘One Nation – One Tax’ is an immediate necessity for the welfare of the sector.
Coming back to his own firm, Mr. Narendra concluded on a positive note: “GoTour is an inspired start-up and over the years, we have grown in the market by doing ethical business and keeping our social responsibility upfront when it comes to our service and fleet operations. Our fleet operations have improved thanks to our continuous team work and efforts. In the days to come, with an expanded fleet and initiatives on plying new routes, we aim to serve people better and in a more dedicated way. I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the efforts of some of my key team members who have supported me throughout our exciting journey – Mr. Harshavardhan. G, In-charge – Holiday Operations, Mr. Satyadev. N, In-Charge – Channel Partners Operations, and Mr. Vamshi Krishna Maddineni, In-Charge, Intercity Bus Operations. We at GoTour will continue our passionate journey as a team with our travel mates, as we continue to work and contribute towards the betterment of the bus industry in India.”
GO TOUR TRAVELS & HOLIDAYS STATS
* Founded in 2007
* Number of vehicles in fleet: 22
* Longest route operated at present: Bengaluru (Attibele) to Hyderabad (ECIL) (700 km)
* Average distance covered everyday: 8,000 km
* Passengers carried daily: 450-500
* Schedules per day: 14
* Workforce: 81
* Online Booking Portal : www.gotour.co.in and www.gotourholidays.com