Rajesh Soni, who operated his travel and tours business for the past 15 years from his tiny office in Andheri, has closed down his business and now works in a private firm dealing in garments.

Similar is the case with Yusuf Chauhan, who was asked to leave his job with a tour and travel agency as his employer could no longer afford his service due to the constantly dwindling income. These are just two of the many examples highlighting the wave of change in the travel and tourism business in India. Prime reasons for the slowdown in this business include increase of online travel portals, decrease in percentage commission offered by airlines to agents, growing popularity of foreign travel agencies, poor government policies and poor condition of the aviation sector in India in general.

“It’s a very bad time for travel agents and is getting worst by each passing day,” said Iqbal Mulla, president of the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI).

According to industry insiders, the post-liberalisation period saw the growth of many private airlines (including Raj Air, owned by Raj Travels). It is during these times that agents like Raj Travels innovated and started providing community-centric tours to foreign countries, along with food prepared by Indian cooks.

However, the industry changed drastically in the past five years with the growth of online travel portals. At the same time, big tour operators with financial muscle and world-class services took over the traditional agents. “As a large tour operator, we source our business at a very competitive price, unlike smaller agents that do not have the muscle in contracting holidays at cheaper rates,” said Karan Anand, relationship head, Cox and Kings Limited.