When a shareholder asked Thomas Cook Managing Director Madhavan Menon about offering trips to the Himalayas at a recent AGM, Menon rejected the idea, saying such packages are “specialised”, and meant only for the niche segment.

But for travel start-ups such as WeNomads, adventure tourism packages — ranging from a drive to Leh to an Iceland road trip — are easily viable.

“We are version 2.0 of the travel industry, and can bridge the lacuna which traditional companies like Thomas Cook cannot fulfil. We can give travellers new experiences and help them maximise their vacations,” said Animesh Singh, co-founder and CEO of Delhi-based WeNomads.com.

“These are activity-based road trips which are not part of the packages offered by regular travel companies.”

Today, a slew of travel start-ups such as TripHobo, Thrillophillia, Tripoto, Trip Factory, iTraveller and WeNomads are venturing into segments that traditional travel companies keep off from. These could range from providing unique locations and budget holidays to experiential and activity-based packages.

Cash constraints Bangalore-based Trip Factory has introduced ‘Bogo Cards’ that seek to ensure a trip is within a specific budget. “Our goal is to address budget-sensitive travellers, as there is a gap in the market for ‘constrained’ travel solutions. With our Bogo Cards we fix a price for a holiday, which can be redeemed over a period, unlike the EMI-based holidays offered by regular travel companies,” said Trip Factory founder and CEO Amit Agarwal.

iTraveller banks on technology to customise holidays to the last mile.

“Even holiday majors like Thomas Cook cannot offer the same level of customisation like us since we are a discovery planning and booking platform without a physical interface.

“Customisation of holiday packages can range from local experiences like water sports in Kerala to paragliding in European destinations,” said Shiju Radhakrishnan, CEO and founder, iTraveller.com.

Corporate travel The specialised services are targeted at the corporate travel segment, too.

Some travel start-ups offer a “facilitation model”, whereby leaders and motivational speakers are brought in to add value to corporate travel packages.

“The old-school travel companies tend to give the good old locations while we look for offbeat destinations which are less crowded and appeal to corporate and urban travellers, with a facilitation model which includes guest speakers to drive team building and leadership,” said Sameer Gupta, founder of Camp Roxx.com.

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