Musafir travels to India; Tendulkar joins as Brand Ambassador

Musafir.com, the UAE’s travel website has announced its entry into the fast-growing Indian OTA (Online Travel Agent) market backed by the parent company, Universal Travels and Tourism LLC, which pioneered the e-commerce platform in the UAE with Musafir.com in 2007.

Musafir.com will offer complete travel solutions to Indian travelers with exceptional customer service and several product innovations lined up during the year. The brand aims to enhance the way people plan their holidays. The travel website offers flights to over 3,000 destinations around the world on over 270 airlines, domestic and international hotel deals at over 75,000 properties, and lots more. Shortly, the brand plans to launch unique tailored holiday packages for consumers while the main focus in the initial quarters will be flight bookings.

Founded in the UAE by Sachin Gadoya, Albert Dias and Mohammed Al Thani in August 2007, Musafir.com’s foray into India forms an integral part of the company’s global expansion strategy. Musafir.com India has an initial investment commitment of Rs 100 crore backed by parent company, Universal Travels & Tourism from the UAE 

To reiterate its commitment to the India market, the company has brought on board Indian cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar as its brand ambassador.  Commenting on the announcement, Managing Director, Sachin Gadoya said, “India’s online travel market is expected to cross 55,000 crore by 2015 and OTAs are expected to account for a 40% share of that market. Our aim is to leverage our expertise and experience to maximize opportunities in this burgeoning market by focusing on the B2C leisure travel segment and offering Indian travellers a suite of exciting products, no-nonsense convenience and a premium experience.”

“We are extremely excited to have Sachin Tendulkar on board as our brand ambassador. His consistent and superlative performance in the sport, huge fan-following, credibility and love for travel make him the perfect ambassador to encourage more Indians to travel across the globe. Through this association, Musafir.com aims to strengthen brand recall to meet the company's ambitious growth plans in India. Sachin Tendulkar personifies expertise, reliability, consistency and integrity. Musafir.com’s synergy with these values coupled with Sachin’s tremendous appeal that cuts across masses and classes make him the ambassador of choice” added Sachin Gadoya.

At the launch, Brand Ambassador Sachin Tendulkar said, “Musafir.com understands the business of travel and has been successfully catering to the emerging needs of travelers. I look forward to this exciting association as we encourage India to plan their travel with Musafir.com”

The partnership with Sachin Tendulkar covers a major global marketing campaign that includes radio, television and outdoor media, in which Tendulkar is seen showing the travelers ‘a new way to go ghoomne’ wherein Musafir.com is a new enabler encouraging ‘people to stop dreaming and start travelling’. As part of the launch campaign and also to encourage the customers to try out the new website, Musafir also announced zero convenience fee, which is now a standard charge by all OTAs, for an initial period of 30 days.