Rayna Tours and Travels is one of the pioneers in the destination management services in the UAE. With its offices and branches across the world, it is currently the number one name for all-inclusive holidays, international visa packages, and MICE and transfer solutions in the industry. But, did you know Rayna Tours wasborn out of a single small outlet alittle over a decade before? And yes, it waded through several challenges before it turned out into a sought-after travel brand. If you plan to step your foot into the entrepreneurship or just need an inspiration to take your business forward in today’s competitive environment, the success story of Rayna Tours and Travels is definite to lift your mood.
Humble Start of Rayna Tours and Travels
This happened in 2006 when Rayna Tours’ founder and current CEO, Manoj Tulsani, decided to call it quits to his seven-year-long successful career as a marketing professional in the trading industry. Coming from a modest family in Ajmer (Rajasthan), India, he traveled to Dubai in 1999 upon receiving his graduation in commerce (from the University of Mumbai).He worked initially at Dubai’s Safeer Group of Companies and then at Time Machine Group of Companies.
“I was somewhat at the pinnacle of my career when I took this daring yet life-altering decision. I was promoted to the position of Marketing Head and then I decided to start Rayna Tours,” says Manoj about the start of the company.“There was intense competition (as always) in the industry and more than that, a lot of criticisms and negativities from all corners. And to make things worse, we were complete new comers with zero background and experience in the service sector.”In fact, it was a rough sail when he opened Rayna Tours and Travels as a travel boutique inside Flora Grand Hotel in Dubai, together with his friend, Kamlesh Ramchandani.
But, over the time, the company has become the region’s number one destination management company. It has some of the most creative and extraordinary people in its managerial team, thus contributing to its commendable success. Besides Manoj Tulsani as its CEO, Rayna Tours has the incredibly experienced Yasser Noman as its Executive Chairman and the IIT graduate Himanshu Laul as the Managerial Director.
Expansion and Establishment
Despite the absence of an experienced team and other challenges such as fund insufficiency and lack of industry knowledge, they took care to do things distinctly right from the start. Instead of doing many things at a time, they started small and mainly focused on making available activities and tours like sightseeing, desert safaris etc, for the hotel guests. This concept got unanimous praise and recognition as it was something almost overlooked back then.
Rayna Tours’ journey has always been rooted in its core values and mission, i.e. to place customers’ unique requirements at the forefront of their services. In other words, they havealways managed to craft packages and experiences that resonate with the travelers’holiday or travel expectations. This simple yet powerful thought has always helped them to seize the rightopportunities at the right time.
It,therefore, is out of question that how they expanded their outlets to over 15 locations at Dubai’s top hotels and resorts within two years (by 2008) of their launch (in 2006). The next big move came when they began to function as a full-fledged Destination Management Company in less than a year in 2009, with their main office in Abu Hail, Old Labour Office Building. Since then, there was no looking back as they continue to dominate the market for more than a decade or so.
More Opportunities with Sleeves Rolled Up!
Rayna Tours and Travels’ future began to take shape as Manoj realized the potentials of revamping and upgrading the company’s product and service portfolio. As a result, they added brand-new products and services while investing in their own desert camp as well as an extensive lineup of coaches, luxury vehicles, and cruise inventories.
That’s how Rayna Tours primarily gained strong foothold in the industry as they eliminated the middlemen and directly organized activities and tours for their guests. This eventually has been greatly instrumental in changing the way people have traveled, with incredible benefits and savings for guests, agents and partners alike.
Rayna Tours has also been successful in digitally reinventing the market through its two main web portals: www.raynatours.com and www.raynab2b.com. This is apart from a wide spectrum of apps and travel deals programs. The company even launched an exclusive technical entity, namely, Technoheaven Consultancy, to ensure the accuracy and competency of Rayna Tours’ offerings on web.
Alongside, the company achieved some key certification that ensured the quality of their services and packages, mainly two ISO certifications such as ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 14001:2004. The company overall has come a long way and they have now relocated their business to a larger facility with a more strategic location at ACICO Business Park Building, Port Saaed Road, Deira.
That apart, Rayna Tours and Travels now has its location in different parts of the world and they are one of the leaders in the travel market in the countries like India, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Israel to name a few.
Rayna Tours and Key Accolades
Rayna Tours launched its business with an investment of AED ½ million, but it is now a multi-million dollar with a turnover of over 100 million USD per year. According to Manoj, “We attribute the success of our business mainly to our customers / patrons who have placed their trust on our services and of course our expert team who has helped us to set a benchmark for quality services in the industry.” One of the tributes to this fact is the awards and recognitions that they have received over the time. Particular standouts among them are Arabian Travel Awards for Best Destination Management Company and Best B2B Portal, and TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice Award (in 2020 and 2021.)
Take Away
Rayna Tours and Travels’ success story is an amazing example of determination and how you can make it big with dedication and hard work. As Manoj says, “Success and failure are two sides of the same coin and you can’t expectto run a business without tackling ongoing obstacles. While this is unavoidable, the real success lies in knowing your weaknesses, learning from mistakes, and of course, getting back stronger and wiser every time.”
