Making travel possible for all
30/07/2018Rayna Tours’ CEO, Manoj Tulsani talks about his business journey and reveals the secret of his immense business success in an exclusive interview with Let’s Travel Mag.
Integrity, loyalty towards customers, and transparency in business dealings are among the keynotes that persistently come in during a conversation with Manoj Tulsani, who is at the helm of one of the UAE’s largest Destination Management Companies. Founded in 2006, Rayna Tours and Travels is now staffed by a diverse workforce of more than 450 travel specialists, and offers all-inclusive travel services, from international visa services and worldwide hotel reservation to arranging tailor-made holiday packages, dinner cruises, water activities, and off the beaten tours.
“Be it personal or professional, trustworthiness is the very base of success in any endeavor,” asserts Manoj Tulsani, 38. He is a self-confessed workaholic person, and this is apparent from the way he is actively involved in the strategic day to day activities of highly successful Rayna Tours and Travels, which has its main office in Dubai and branches across UAE, India, and many Southeast Asian as well as European countries. Attention to detail and being respectful and professional in all circumstances are all what he attribute the success of his business to.
How it all began?
Born into a modest family in Ajmer in the Indian state of Rajasthan, Manoj had well dealt to push the envelope right at the very young age. He came to Dubai when he was just 20 and landed a marketing job in 1999. Shortly, Manoj’s career grew in leaps and bounds and he became the Marketing Head of Time Machine Group of Companies. Nearly after seven years to his arrival to Dubai, a chance cut through for him to conduct an in-depth analysis of Dubai’s tourism sector, which eventually proved to be his turning point in the life.
Opening of Rayna Tours and Travels
“I have always loved traveling and what greatly thrilled me about it was meeting new people, exploring their culture, and taking home eye-opening experiences.” Manoj put forwarded his first tentative footstep in the travel business with the opening of an outlet in Dubai’s Grand Flora Hotel in 2006. But little did he know that this would demarcate his career and raise his position to an esteemed entrepreneur. “The idea of starting the outlet came to me when I realised that visitors to Dubai then only had the choice to book hotel rooms in advance. So what our start up initially targeted was to organise hassle-free Dubai tours and activities for the hotel guests, which was quite unheard and something innovative during those days. The concept got clicked and by 2008, I, along with my partner Kamlesh Ramchandani, managed to open six more outlets across Dubai’s major four-star and five-star hotels.”
On the Road to Making it Big & Branching Out
Manoj admits that he was poorly armed to tackle the fiercely competitive industry. “We had to rough it out in the beginning, however, to only later emerge as a major player in the industry through the conscientious planning and careful analysis of market trends and customer demands.” As the first step, they curtailed the reliance on third party suppliers by owning the desert camp and further lining up their own extensive fleet of dhows, yachts, and vehicles such as compact cars, coaches, mini buses, and even luxurious limos, thus ensuring customers best in the industry rates with price match guarantee for most services.
Knowing that divergent thinking was the ultimate way to stay ahead in the industry, Manoj later created an extensive online portal (www.raynatours.com) where anyone, from regular travel aficionados and luxury travelers to discriminating holidaymakers and honeymooners, can plan, choose, customise, and book their favorite tours and dream vacation packages on a single platform. As the business expanded, the company made its extensive product and service portfolio comprehensively accessible to the B2B market, with the launch of Raynab2b.com.
This was followed by tapping buyers from every nook and cranny of Dubai. “Despite the technological advancements, there are many customers who still prefer to make the booking or purchase of our services by directly dropping into our facility. To make things simpler and easier for our customers, we opened travel outlets all over Dubai’s major hotels as well as most visited malls.” This has been a great success, as Rayna Tours has now 70 plus outlets in Dubai, besides its principal office within Old Labor Office Building in Deira, Dubai.
Once the brand has established itself in Dubai, Rayna Tours opened its offices in Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, and then extended its services offshore in Pune (India), Singapore, Malaysia, Turkey, and Thailand. “As our business continually evolves, we eye on tapping a lot of markets internationally.” Besides the rapid expansion policy, Manoj has also focused on diversifying his business interests, being the co-founder of Raasha Real Estate, KNR Transport, and Technoheaven Software Consultancy.
So what is the real secret behind all these successes?
The success secret of Manoj, who runs the company with a turnover of over AED 150 million per year, is clearly hard work and his iron will to succeed. He strongly believes that success cannot be attained through easy, effortless tactics. “Success is not something that comes to you overnight; it is a painstaking process that happens over the time, with the development of an anchor of values which effectively unify and draw all people in an organization towards the accomplishment of the common goal.”
Another thing he swears by is the loyalty towards customers. “If you want your customers to patronise your brand, make sure that you staunchly listen to their ever-changing demands while establishing a long term relationship with them.” This approach has rightly fetched Rayna Tours several coveted recognitions including the Certificate of Excellence Award from such acclaimed brands as Ferrari World and TripAdvisor.
Most of all, Rayna Tours, for Manoj, is far more than a source to spin money and churn profits. “I incredibly enjoy what I do and never take unstable business ups and downs as a pressure. Moreover, I am extremely contented that I have been able to identify my potentials and employ them for resourceful purposes.”
Future Plans
Now what’s high on company’s strategic business plan is to elevate Rayna Tours’ status as one of the world’s largest Destination Management Companies. “We expect this to make it happen very soon,” concludes the soft-spoken yet exceptionally determined Manoj Tulsani.
