What is customer relationship management all about?

The phrase Customer Relationship Management evokes, what is to be said, a very sales heavy emotion in the mind of any reader. Imagine a person on the phone with a customer, friendly, polite and then trying to up-sell something. Also imagine a relationship manager at a bank who becomes un-cooperative when something goes wrong and tries to convince the customer that the fault lies with him/her and not the management of the company. What is your relationship with the brands you interact with? The ugly truth is that this has unfortunately become a given when it comes to Customer Relationship management.

Most of the major brands have now discovered this fallacy and are moving rapidly towards well designed customer relationship management programs. This gave birth to what is known as Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems. There is no industry that is not dependent on management of customer relations, and the Travel and Tourism industry is no stranger to it anymore.

Today over 70% of the industries are using some form of technology to give a better customer experience. It is important to understand the choices and preferences of the customers. Also it is important for the company to not let the information of the customer and from the customer get scattered everywhere. This must be a system to keep and manage it all.

Here is a way of creating, customizing and keeping track of all your travel business related data. The TourGenie Travel Management System is a brilliant solution tailored for travel agents to help, organize and help you to give extra boost for you market your brand better to travelers directly. Read full article at: https://www.tourgenie.com/travel-diaries/travel-blogs/what-is-customer-relationship-management-all-about

Nagaland during festivals: best time to visit northeast India

The best time to visit Northeast India is throughout the year but there are certain times in the year that will add wonderful experience in your trip to this region. The best time to visit any of these 8 states of Northeast India is mostly during winter and spring-summer season. However, if you want to visit Nagaland in Northeast India, the best time to visit Nagaland is during winter from November-March as you would also be able to enjoy numerous festivals during this time.

Nagaland is a diverse state with many tribal communities and during these months they showcase their ethnic tribal diversity. One of the most popular festivals in Nagaland is the Hornbill festival which takes place from the 1^st to 10^th of December every year. It is one of the biggest festivals that take place in Kisama village near Kohima with music concerts now being held in Dimapur. This festival showcases the Naga culture, foods, handicrafts and more. Another tribal festival in Nagaland is the Kuki festival known as Mimkut which is celebrated in the second week of January. This religious festival is celebrated to honor and please the demon ‘Thilha’. If you visit Nagaland during this time, you will also be able to witness their amazing way of celebrating festivals. To attend this festival, the best time to visit is in January. Another popular festival of Nagaland is the Tokhu Emong – the harvest festival that is celebrated during the first week of November. The Lotha community celebrates this festival with singing, dancing, drinking, and feasting and generally has a glorious time among them. The significance of the festival is to celebrate ‘rest day’ since their harvest is over and they are ready for the winter.

Read full article at: https://www.tourgenie.com/travel-diaries/travel-blogs/nagaland-during-festivals-best-time-to-visit-states-of-northeast-india

India’s Eastern Reach: The 8 Spectacular States of Northeast India

The states of Northeast India represent a totally different stream of cultures and languages and it may seem like visiting a whole different country. Northeast India comprises of Sikkim, Tripura, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Assam, Manipur, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh.

Tripura borders Bangladesh, Mizoram and Assam and has beautiful landscapes. It is one of the nation’s most underrated tourist destinations. There is a great variety of what it has to offer both in culture and in nature. Some of the popular tourist destinations in Tripura are Neermahal, Ujjayanta Palace, Unakoti and Heritage Park. Mizoram is another state that borders Bangladesh but also borders Myanmar in the east. The best time to visit Mizoram is between November-March.

Visit Manipur, if you love rich culture, dances, food and want to see floating islands. There are plenty of ways to have rich ethnic experiences in Manipur. Nagaland is a state in Northeast India famous for its Hornbill Festival around December- the perfect festival to witness cultures, handicrafts and handlooms and dances of different tribes.

Assam is not only known for its tea production but it is also home to two-third of world’s population of one-horned rhinoceros. Arunachal Pradesh is a state in Northeast India that borders Myanmar, China and Bhutan. This state has a diverse climate ranging from subtropical climates to highland and alpine climates, depending on your elevation and location in the state. Meghalaya translates to “the abode of clouds” and is the wettest region in India. Under British rule, it was nicknamed as the Scotland of the East and is one of India’s prized hill stations. Like Meghalaya, Sikkim is a beautiful hill station and is famous for the world’s third highest mountain, Mt Khangchendzonga. It is also the second smallest state in India.

If you ever want to travel abroad without leaving the country, head towards Northeast India and live the experience.

Read full article at: https://www.tourgenie.com/travel-diaries/travel-blogs/indias-eastern-reach-the-8-spectacular-states-of-northeast-india

Witness a slice of heaven in Meghalaya!

Meghalaya is one of the most beautiful states of Northeast India which attracts tourists in large numbers every year. Meghalaya literally means ‘the adobe of clouds’ and its capital is often referred to as the Scotland of the East. Tourists come to this wonderland in large numbers seeking for adventure opportunities, sightseeings and peaceful holidays.

Meghalaya has so much to offer and is famous not only for its splendid natural beauty but the Asia’s longest cave, cleanest village, wettest place on earth and living root bridges can be found in Meghalaya. The Living Root Bridges are simple suspension bridges formed by living rubber trees aerial roots by tree shaping and are around 200 years old. The most famous Living Root Bridges are in Cherrapunji in Meghalaya. Mawsmai the longest cave and Asia’s cleanest village Mawlynnog have become some of the major tourist attractions in Meghalaya. Mawsynram, the wettest place on earth with highest rainfall is on the wish list of many rain lovers all around the world.

Many beautiful waterfalls can be found in Meghalaya that are always attracting visitors. Also, the capital city of the state, Shillong has bewitching views and places you must visit in Meghalaya. Shillong is encircled by pine trees and astounding valleys that stand tall providing relief from the blazing heat across the country. This hill station has soothing and comfortable atmosphere and is suitable to visit at any time of the year. Cool gentle breezes and light drizzles make the visit more joyful. Shillong has many waterfalls, clean lakes, museums etc that magnetizes tourists and has many places of attractions too. Some of the other popular places to visit in Meghalaya are the Elephant Falls, Jowai, Nongpoh, Baghmara, Nohkhalikai Waterfalls, Dwaki, Umiam Lake and wildlife sanctuaries.

Spending your holidays in Meghalaya can take away your weariness of the city life and the atmosphere can keep you away from the hassles of populated and polluted places. Read full article at: https://www.tourgenie.com/travel-diaries/travel-blogs/witness-a-slice-of-heaven-in-meghalaya

Escape to the 8 states of Northeast India

Northeast region of India is popularly known as the seven sisters and a brother comprising of 8 beautiful states, namely Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, and Tripura and the brother as Sikkim.

The natural beauty of these states make northeast India one of the must visit places in the country. Tripura is visited for its culture, cuisine, heritage, archaeological sites, handicrafts etc. Some of the popular places of attractions in Tripura are Ujjayanta Palace, Neermahal Palace, Unakoti, Jagannath Temple, Sipahijala Wildlife Sanctuary and Jampui Hills. Another northeastern state, Assam is well known for its soothing beauty, Assamese tea, tourist’s attractions, spiritual ambiance, and humble people welcoming visitors. The beautiful state Nagaland ‘wild east’ of India abounds in primeval beauty and tribal culture, offering unending exploration possibilities from heritage villages to wildlife sanctuaries.

Similarly Manipur the jewel city of India is known for its famous classical dance forms, scrumptious cuisine, and traditional aura that fume like a lighted incense stick in sacred shrines. Mizoram the “Songbird of India” and has moderate climate all year round; comfortable even during summers, it makes for a popular destination for tourists from around the world.

“The abode of clouds” Meghalaya is not just famous for its impressive waterfalls, lakes and valleys but also for some of Asia’s longest caves and living root bridges. Mawsynram in Meghalaya is the wettest place on Earth. Arunachal Pradesh is home to picturesque mountains, unexplored passes, tranquil lakes, and famous monasteries. Most part of the state is covered with serene mountains that offer breathtaking views during the winters. And Sikkim is the second smallest state in India, nestled in the beautiful hills of the Northeast region. The third highest peak in the world and jewel of the state, Mt. Khangchendzonga lies in Sikkim and is visible from almost anywhere you stand.

The people of these states of northeast India have historically had close ethnic and cultural bonds with Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Myanmar. Hence, the prevalence of Tibet-Burmese languages in many towns in Northeast states in India can be seen.

Read full articles at: https://www.tourgenie.com/travel-diaries/travel-blogs/escape-to-the-8-states-of-northeast-india

What is customer relationship management- All you need to know

Many do not know what customer relationship management is but actually practice it without even knowing. It is a strategy for managing potential and current customer relationships through collection and analysis of data. And if you are in travel business, it is even more crucial for you to understand what customer relationship management really means.

Customer Relationship Management is how you go about managing customer relationships, knowing that, not all customers are created equal. This means the way you handle your relationship with X is not the same as you would do to handle your relationship with Y.

The few principles of what constitution of relationship management is for customers are very straightforward. Always put the customers first and look through their eyes. It takes a good while to nurture and build a relationship with them but it takes just one wrong step for all of it to come crashing down. Make use of CRM in proper way and know what your customers want through their preferences, behavior and offer what is relevant. Without a centralized platform for customer interactions, communications slip through the flood of information – this in turn leads to less than ideal responses to your customer. So focus more on administration rather than sells.

Customer loyalty programs are increasingly adapted by companies to build lasting relationships with their customers. They give new customers reasons to choose you and existing customers a reason to come back to you. Also, cloud-based CRM systems, such as TourGenie, make every operation easy and reliable. Your sales force out on the road can check data, update it instantly after a meeting or work from anywhere.

Customer relationship management is not a single sprint — it is a marathon that takes time to develop and nurture lasting customer relationships and this requires sharp focus on improvement of the overall customer experience.

Read full article at: https://www.tourgenie.com/travel-diaries/travel-blogs/what-is-customer-relationship-management-all-you-need-to-know

Software for travel agent

With the rapid growth of travel industry and tourism, it is known that an average person travels at least once a year. Today the travelers already have some knowledge of the destinations that they travel to- thanks to the internet.

With variety of information and options, their expectations leap beyond the age old traditional methods used by the travel agents. Also due to digitalization, the traveler wants fast and easy yet reliable methods of communication when it comes to creating a travel plan. Every traveler has high expectation these days and if one travel agent fails to do their job well, the traveler goes to another. Digitalization is extremely important for all travel agents today.

So how do these agents move to the digital platform? A good software for travel agents can help do so. All that they need is reliable, user friendly plus budget friendly software to help them do their jobs well.

TourGenie Travel Management System is the best software that would help the travel agents to move to a digital platform that could be of a huge advantage to stand out from the rest in the travel industry. This software for travel agents is cloud based CRM software. It helps to – Create, Customize, Save and Share a travel itinerary. Through this software, travel agents can create and quickly customize an itinerary while in constant touch with their customers anytime and from anywhere. It is a SAAS – Software as a Service based. The UI of this Travel management Software/ System is extremely simple and prior knowledge on using a software of any kind is not needed.

Since it is SAAS based, it helps to reduce the cost involved in setting up hardware and maintenance. It also provides benefits like flexible payments, scalable usage, automatic updates and accessibility.

The CRM software provided by TourGenie has various plans. You can view the plans for this software as a service here by clicking here. This system will definitely help travel agents of all kinds.

Read full article at: https://www.tourgenie.com/travel-diaries/travel-blogs/software-for-travel-agent

What makes a Good Travel Agency Software

Regardless of whether you want to be an independent travel consultant or start your own big travel company or a small travel startup, it’s simply easier than ever to sell your products and services worldwide. If you are going to run your own travel agency, you need to have good travel agency software to meet the needs of your travel business.

Travel management software, can help you automate redundant and time-consuming steps to achieve better outcomes for the company. Useful software for travel agent should be a solution to all challenges faced by travel agents like controlling misplacement of enquiries taken manually, tracking of ongoing queries and keeping customer data at their fingertips. It is also a single, one-stop source for planning, booking, and itinerary management. Customizing itineraries becomes a breeze and handling customer interactions becomes a piece of cake with good software for travel agent. Since the travel industry is seasonal, the longevity of an employee can also be short and often seasonal in nature too. To hire new employees every season and train them takes a lot of effort and money too. Plus the ill-health of employees at times can create gaps. But useful travel agent software can keep the history of all customer interactions; no training is needed and knows exactly what it should do. Hence it saves lot of money and time plus makes the business independent.

The big travel companies use travel management software but many small and mid-size companies still rely on old way of working. A successful travel solution is vital for any travel agency’s future. Investing in travel management software can improve your entire travel experience, functionally and financially that serves both travelers and travel agents well.

Read full article at: https://www.tourgenie.com/travel-diaries/travel-blogs/what-makes-a-good-travel-agency-software

Things to do in Gangtok

There are many places on earth that can keep you bombed for a long time with its spectacular views, and Gangtok in Sikkim is one such place that sits pretty in the lap of the Himalayas and offers surreal sceneries that none can refuse. There are so many things to do in the beautiful small town of Gangtok in Sikkim from chilling at gorgeous hilltops and sitting by the serene and gushing waterfalls sipping coffee to meditating inside the holy monasteries.

One of the top things to do in Gangtok is to stroll around the heart of the town at M G Marg and go for shopping and eat at the best local restaurants and cafes there. You can also ride cable cars in Gangtok and if you love adventures you can try paragliding, helicopter riding and river rafting, trekking or go for camping. Visit some of the famous places like Tashi View Point, Ganesh Tok, Hanuman Tok, Himalayan Zoological Park and more. When you are exploring Gangtok you cannot miss out visiting Rumtek Monastery in Gangtok.

You will also find people selling street foods near the Khangchendzonga Shopping complex or the “Lal Bazar. Try these yummy foods and go for shopping at Lal Bazar. About 36.9km from Gangtok is the popular Changu Lake of Sikkim and visiting the lake is one of the things to do in Gangtok. Yak safari is really popular in Changu Lake and tourists often enjoy this activity. There are so many things you can do in Gangtok and these are just a few of them. The city is wrapped with nature’s wonders and is characterized by a laid back culture. If you wish to enjoy a wholesome vacation with wonderful sights and thrills then head to Gangtok.

Read full article at: https://www.tourgenie.com/travel-diaries/travel-blogs/things-to-do-in-gangtok

10 places you absolutely must visit in Sikkim

When you are planning to visit Sikkim there are so many places to chose from! Some of the 10 best places to visit in Sikkim are the famous Changu Lake, Pelling, Namchi, Ravangla, Temi Tea Garden, Yuksom, Dentam, Sombaria, Lachen and Lachung.

Changu Lake is one place in Sikkim that will always show up on Google images whenever you search for places to visit in Sikkim. If you visit Changu Lake in winter, you will witness a thick layer of snow covering the landscape and a frozen lake. During other seasons, the lake is not frozen but the views are still mesmerizing. However if you want to catch an excellent view of Mt. Khangchendzonga then Pelling is the place you must visit in Sikkim. Pelling is home to India’s first glass Skywalk and is 200ft long and 55ft tall. Namchi is another great place to visit in Sikkim with many places of attractions in Namchi the tourism has drastically increased in this part of the state. Some of the places to visit in Namchi are Chardham, Samdruptse, Namchi ropeway, Shirdi Baba Mandir etc. Not very far from Namchi is Ravangla in South Sikkim. Buddha Park is the famous place you can visit in Ravangla and also see the view of Mt Khangchendzonga from Ravangla. Temi Tea garden is located in South Sikkim and it is a stunning area to drive through. You can also pluck tea leaves, visit tea factory and taste the tea. If you love trekking then Yuksom is a place you must visit. It is also the oldest village in Sikkim and base camp for Khangchendzonga trek or the Dzongri Goechela trek.

Some of other places to visit in Sikkim are Dentam, Sombaria, Lachen and Lachung. Whether you come to Sikkim for peaceful holidays or for adventures these are the places you cannot avoid visiting.

Read full article at: https://www.tourgenie.com/travel-diaries/travel-blogs/10-places-you-absolutely-must-visit-in-sikkim