javascript
Sign in to follow 's advice will appear in your account when you log in. Follow specific Community Members and never miss out on their views and insights. Build a group of Members who you want to listen to.
Email:       Password:  
Don't have SiliconIndia account? Sign up    Forgot your password? Reset
Close
Ask Subhash Motwani for Advice
If your advice request is relevant to other Community members, our Editorial team may choose to send this request to all Experts to attract a wider range of answers and share them with the Community. Rest Assured, we will protect your privacy (unless you recommend otherwise).
Advice Request
Subhash Motwani
Subhash Motwani

Subhash Motwani

Founder - Namaste Tourism

COMPACT TRAVELS PVT LTD

twitter
facebook

Subhash Motwani is a member of:

Brief description about me
Started my career as IATA certified instructor in 1988, by the year 2000 I was the first certified instructor in the world to offer 7 IATA qualifications for Travel, Tourism & Air Cargo Industries. In 2004, I started Compact Travels as the first customized holiday travel company for the Indian outbound traveller to niche destinations. In 2009, the first destination specific website Namaste Turkey was launched to offer holiday ideas for the Indian outbound traveller. By 2013, we had 7 destination specific websites and we created the main brand as Namaste Tourism and we offer customized holidays, experiential travel and premium incentives to Argentina, Turkey, Germany, South Africa, New Zealand, Egypt and Poland . Soon launching Luxury Vignettes - a website for luxury accommodation, signature tours and experiential travel. I speak 4 foreign languages & have completed 3 Full Marathons since October 2012 in Amsterdam, Mumbai & Basel. The focus for 2014 - Active vacations & adventure tours
My family background
From a teacher's family, my father is founder director of leading vocational institute Radio Bhuvan, now known as RBCS group, est. in 1954. My mother pioneered beauty and hairdressing courses for ladies in Mumbai which is now run by my sister Sunita as SCHNELL HANS International. My wife who was an IATA certified trainer as well now is a full time home maker. My son , 11 years studies in Class VI and is an avid footballer representing his school in inter-school tournaments and my 15 year old daughter is in Class IX and wants to be a lawyer and has represented her school in Chess and she is good in Tennis as well. Being from a family of teachers, I started my career in teaching and have reinvented myself by pursuing my passion in tourism by starting a tour company . The long term plan is to create entrepreneurs who can work flexi hours from home as Home Based Customized Holiday Planners
Important lesson learned
The important lesson in life is to strive towards perfection and prosperity or success will be the outcome. It is essential to strike a balance between yourself, your work and your family. It is critical to keep yourself healthy first so that you are equipped for challenges in your personal and professional life. This could be thru any form of fitness or exercise - whether yoga, running, walking, cycling or anything. Spend one hour on your own self . Once you are actively fit, ensure that you do not burn candles at both ends by stretching your social and work life. Strike a balance, as the next important persons in your life is your family, you work to see them happy and enjoy your work, which is important. Pursue your passion and if you prepare well and work hard with focus and vision, success is inevitable.
My strongest skill
I am a solution oriented person and being a trainer has helped me to find solutions easily to problems. That is one of the reasons, I preferred starting a customized holiday company as I believe that planning a memorable holiday experience is imparting happiness to individuals and understanding clients' needs and matching the right product or itinerary for their requirement will ensure that they get best out of their holiday. I also am an active listener and that helps me to think ahead and anticipate corrective solutions. Thinking out of the box and taking challenges of being pro-active has enabled me to be a pioneer in various facets in the field of tourism.
Ensuring success
Change is constant and this adage is very much applicable to the travel industry. To grow and develop, it is essential to meet the needs of the customers - both internal customers and external customers. With the internet a major threat in the tourism industry, it is important to embrace the web in a way that can complement your business and I have taken the initiative to venture out into creating destination specific websites and showcasing expertise thru content creation with a thrust towards experiential travel. This eliminates the possibility of using pricing as the only tool for having an edge in a competitive market. At the same time, I have maintained my work-life-self balance which is so critical in today's day and age. You need to ensure that ample time is devoted in the work place not just to handle the day-to-day operations but have a vision to think ahead and work in that direction. On the home front, it is important to share quality time with your near and dear ones
More about myself
There are 3 schools of thoughts - give and grab which is rampant in the Corporate World, give and take which means I will do something for you only if I get something in return and give and get which is the ideal approach. If you share knowledge, expertise and mentor individuals your goodness comes back to you and having pursued this philosophy without comprising on ethics and value has ensured that I am contented and by sharing this philosophy with others, I ensure that those who are associated with us also reach a level of contentment and this flow of positive energy helps in facing any challenges and adversities and help us in forging ahead in life.
Qualities needed to become a successful leader
To be a succcessful leader one needs to follow a system which is neither top -down or bottom-up but a collaborative way of working. It is better to be a team leader rather than a leader. A leader can show the direction but if you are able to help each individual in the team to think the way you do you are shaping leaders of tomorrow and help them grow and your pursuit in encouraging and mentoring individuals can ensure that thru your leadership, you are making individuals self reliant and the trust and belief bestowed upon them will motivate them to give their best . Your team members will have a purpose to be associated with you and look up to you for their growth and success.
Couple of years from now
In a couple of years from now it is my endeavor to combine the experiences of the last 25 years - of writing, teaching and tourism and integrating to find a solution where I can create a unique model of grooming entrepreneurs who are in the business of sharing happiness thru planning of holidays for people from segments of all society - housewives, students, senior citizens, special interest groups. We plan taking Namaste Tourism to all Indian and NRIs across the world to encourage Indians to explore new places with the backing and comfort of Indian hospitality.
Important decision
The world is a book and if you have not travelled you have only read a page. One of the most important decisions of my life that i had taken was to travel and holiday with a purpose and that has helped me to broaden my horizons, experience cultures and have exposure to understand how people think and how people address challenges. Never give up learning. During my travels I learnt languages whilst on holiday , enrolling for short summer courses and picked up 4 European languages which has helped in my career. Share your experiences - tell people where you have been to , what you have done. This has helped to receive feedback - both positive and constructive and help me move ahead. Never compromise on ethics and principles to achieve short cuts to success. This has helped to ensure that we continue to enjoy and earn respect in whichever area of tourism we have ventured. Honesty and transparency without compromising on quality is a key factor to ensure success in the long run.
My achievements
Having completed 20 IATA qualifications and the excellence achieved in creating success stories of individuals who wanted to make a career in the tourism industry, I got an invitation by IATA in 1999 as one of the four experts from Asia for the Pilot Testing of the new 4 level of the IATA Travel programme in Geneva, Switzerland. Thereafter, I was the first certified trainer in the world as an individual and my training company the first in the world to offer 7 IATA qualifications. Within less than 10 years of starting a Tour company, we are the only company in India to have 7 destination specific websites for the Indian outbound traveller. In 2010, I was commissioned by the Argentina Consulate to prepare a special publication on Argentina during the Presidential visit of Argentina along with her trade delegation to India to enter in tourism and trade exchanges between Argentina and India. Thereafter I also was invited to do a photo exhibition of Argentina in India.
Degree that I recommend
For the field of tourism, a Diploma course in Travel and tourism should suffice and knowledge of world geography, places to visit profiled as per experiences would be of great help. Effective communication skills is key to success in any field, more so in the field of tourism. Understanding customer needs and requirements is also a critical component in planning customized holidays. Travel and write about your experiences and by sharing and telling people where you have been to and what you have done will help you to have command over product knowledge. A graduation degree in Commerce, IATA qualification and destination specialist training programmes can always be useful .
My role model
If I think of a role model - in personal life , it is my father who has taught me the philosophy of contentment and striking the work-life-personal balance. In the professional life, I look up to Richard Branson who inspite of all odds, has achieved success and continues to take strides ahead as he has a vision to think beyond the ordinary and he has always strived to achieve and move ahead inspite of challenges and adversities.
Initiative to develop a country
Active participation in not just your professional life and personal life but also in ensuring that the home, the area and the country you are living in , you should be actively involved. When I was full time into education, I came across several institutes adopting unethical practices. I started a department called Crusaders to expose institutes thru Advertising Standards Council of India and other bodies about mal practices in Education. Today, the infrastructure of city is under stress and I have volunteered to take out time to be part of ALM as a responsible citizen. Each individual should take initiative in contributing to society, the district and the city you live in to bring corrective changes and if each of us take small steps, these small steps will make the big difference in the long run. Contribute - participate- act not just for self but for others too.
Thoughts on Education system of our country
The education system is unfortunately on the decline and the commercialization of education should stop. Education unfortunately is no longer a profession but a business. All hype no substance is how education is being offered in most of the organizations. Regulatory bodies should be established to monitor quality. Students go to an educational establishment, to learn , to shape their careers and if the ignorant students are misguided, they will in turn misguide individuals who interact with them. Intellectuals should be invited to be part of a forum which can devise systems of ensuring that what is promised is being delivered and quality checks should be carried out and remedial action should be taken promptly. Learning outcome should be identified and students should be trained in a way so that they are not merely educated but employable or capable of becoming entrepreneurs. Focus of education should be in areas where there are employable opportunities & not on degrees with 0 value.
Influenced by
When I was learning French in Mumbai, it was one of my French professors who told me that in order to broaden my horizons, it would be indeed a great idea to travel and enhance my language learning skills. This was way back in 1992. That is when I made a point to travel exclusively to learn a language and when opportunity knocks, a key to one door leads to another. Whilst learning French, I met someone who thought my Spanish was good and I should pursue Spanish in Spain for a short while. I was already a travel and tourism instructor by then, but by combining learning of languages along with my travels, it did help me in my resolve of pursuing tourism as a career and I feel it is the most exciting industry to be in. At times, there are some simple thoughts which appear complex and when you follow an uncommon path with belief and passion, one thing leads to another.
Most viewed stories - Don't Miss (1-5 of 15)
Research Associate
Fraunhofer LBF
Zonal Manager
Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Private Limited
Assistant General Manager
Oriental Bank of Commerce
Assistant General Manager Sales
SCHENCK RoTec India Limited
graphic designer
NID