First established in 1972 as a tour and travel company, the Panorama Group has become the most integrated group in the domestic tourism industry, running 27 corporate brands that cover travel, transportation, hospitality, and conventions and exhibitions. To get an insight into the company’s vast business empire and to discuss its future plans, The Jakarta Post’s Nurfika Osman recently talked to the Group’s chief executive officer Budi Tirtawisata. Below are excerpts from the interview.
Question: Panorama has become a formidable empire in the tourism industry. Can you give us an overview on your strategy for success?
Answer: In the tourism business, we have to be creative, innovative and competitive in order to become a company that is one step ahead of others. We do not want to monopolize the market, but transportation, hotels and exhibitions are strongly related to tourism. After tourists arrive in Indonesia, they will surely need transportation such as buses to travel to the sites they want to visit, and a hotel to stay. Entering these sectors allows us to arrange tour packages. We are simply like a one stop shopping supermarket because we provide all facilities and give experiences to our customers to make them happy. Thus, we envision our future through a tagline, “Bringing Smiles to Millions”.
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Who are your global partners and how crucial are they to your business?
Collaboration is very important to help expand our network as well as to accelerate our aim to be a global company in the future. We have been collaborating with the largest travel agent in the world, Carlson Wagonlit Travel for 12 years, which dedicates itself to helping multi-national companies of all sizes, as well as government institutions and NGOs, to optimize their travel programs and provide the best services to travelers. If a multi-national company uses travel agent A for their travel programs, their branches worldwide tend to use the same travel agent. It benefits Panorama a lot because we are able to manage those multi-national companies when they want to hold an event here or abroad.
We also work together with the Chan Brothers, the largest and most established travel agency in Singapore, through establishing Chan Brothers Travel Indonesia, leveraging the brand to cater for the Indonesian Chinese niche market for outbound leisure tour series and for corporate incentive tours.
In addition, we have Europcar Indonesia, a franchise business that operates limousine and car rental services with various types of vehicles to suit both short-term and long-term usage. Europcar had entered Indonesia years ago but then the business stopped for a while. They were looking for partners to penetrate the Indonesian market and we decided to team up with them.
We never reject collaboration because we believe that second chances are rare. If we did not take their offer, they would work with other companies and would become our competitor. If that happens, our work will become harder.
As you continue to expand your business reach, do you have a plan to enter the aviation industry?
We intended to enter the aviation sector 10 years ago. But we decided to bury the plan because we thought we had to stay focused on the land transportation sector. Every business has its potential, yet it also has risks, and it is not easy to run an aviation business. Just take a look at the national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, it is both capital and labor intensive business that is not easy to run. In addition, we have seen operators that have been through ups and downs in running the aviation business. So, we just let existing operators play in to this business.
What is the biggest challenge in running tourism businesses in Indonesia?
The first is the infrastructure, the second is connectivity and the third challenge is human resources. Let us take an example, Raja Ampat is very famous for its pristine beauty and many people want to go there. For foreign travelers, they have to fly to Jakarta or Bali first to reach Jayapura, and they have to continue their travel onto Raja Ampat. It’s a long journey. That’s the problem in connectivity and infrastructure.
Have you felt the impact of European crisis, and how far it has impacted on your business?
With 40 years of experience in the tourism business, we have been through many ups and downs. I think that the European market will grow again, but we have to anticipate it. We should expand the Middle East market and especially China, the region’s largest market. We plan to set up a marketing sales office in Beijing this year. The domestic market is also our target because the potential is huge.
But if Europeans can afford traveling, the crisis will not prevent them from doing it. European pensioners will spend their money traveling the world. According to recent data from the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the European tourism market would’ve grown by 4 percent if the crisis hadn’t have hit it.
This article was sources at : Euro crisis won’t stop European travel : http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/07/02/executive-column-euro-crisis-won-t-stop-european-travel.html
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