Eagle Turns 37

Eagle Corporation Pvt. Ltd., a professionally managed company with travels as their hub, and having ventured into petroleums and marketing, was established in the year 1978 at Rajkot city by the chairman Lt. Rasiklal Damjibhai Golwala. It began its journey with the travels division, and had only 2 buses to start the operations with. It successfully completes 37 years of operation today.

Eagle travels commenced its corporate journey under the leadership of Late Sh. Rasikbhai Damjibhai Bavaria(Golwala) in the year 1978. Our founder chairman was a man of vision & possessed exemplary quality who always thought beyond the horizons. He believed in being focused & sharp like an Eagle, which is the king of the birds & is known for its agility & precision. It was his passion to serve people & help them better facilities while travelling. He introduced “Comfort” to the travel industry. This attitude of his made his develop buses with entertainment facility way back in the year 1980 when television was also not introduced.

From the year 1978 with only 2 buses (travels division) till to date, along with the passing time and different experiences it gathered, it has been able to not only increase the fleet from 2 to 146, but also add new divisions like Marketing, Petroleum, Motors and Tourism & Forex to its credit. The latest inclusion is the worlds most elite and largest bus chassis manufacturing companies like Mercedes Benz, Volvo and Isuzu with their models like, single axile and multi-axile both in its fold.
Inspite of the fact that their was several private bus operators not only in Gujarat and in India but very few players who are such old, As most of the operators wind up in 5-7 years of time. Such long term sustainability in business is to be credited

Previous to our launch of bus services between Rajkot & Mumbai in the year 1978, Eagle travels was known as ‘Saurashtra Tourist Corporation’ & used to lease bus for corporate affairs & wedding functions. What began with a fleet of 2 buses having its services in just 2 cities with one departure in a day has today reached a fleet size of over 200 buses covering over 30 cities in 6 states of India with over 75 departures in a day.

As the price of a bus varies from 30 lakh to Rs 1.2 cr & all the buses are operational on Indian roads,While travelling on the road a bus is under constant chances of damage from traffic,bad roads etc. To manage a fleet size of such proportion is a challenge. People start a manufacturing business and the machines are kept inside a constructed building,A farmer can fence his farm land but a bus operator has to keep his expensive buses running on the road to earn his daily bread. With such difficult conditions maintaining  the high  serve standards and to keep the show running over several years takes huge amount of efforts from the operator.

Eagle has a history of always bringing new innovations in the industry. It has several firsts to its credit. From introducing bottled water free of charge to each passenger to brining WIFI in buses to keep the customer connected during their travel. It is under Eagle Travels became the first travel operator in the country to introduce computerized tickets .

Eagle has also launched its signature service : “CLUB ONE” that proves to be Gujarat’s first luxury road transport . The luxury coaches are an amalgam of travel with luxury. The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams and “CLUB ONE” is what bears the future within. It affirms to be the product that has been never brought on route before. It is always good to have an end to our journey, wherein “CLUB ONE” avails you with the quality of journey that matters in the end.

Swachh Bharat

Maintaining personal hygiene is necessary for many reasons; personal, social, health, psychological or simply as a way of life. Keeping a good standard of hygiene helps to prevent the development and spread of infections, illnesses.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Swachh Bharat Abhiyan from Valmiki Basti in New Delhi on 2nd October 2014, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. The Prime Minister asked citizens to change their mindsets as cleaning is not only the responsibility of safai karamcharis. The ambitious drive includes sweeping, removal of garbage, debris and unauthorised encroachments from the roads, markets and residential places. The campaign is aimed at making India a clean country by 2019, the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

A clean environment ensures the continual existence and survival of all life on Earth. Cleaning the environment reduces pollution, protects unique ecosystems, prevents the extinction of endangered species and conserves resources, such as water, land and air. A clean environment ensures the protection of biodiversity and ecosystems upon which human life and all other life on Earth depends.

If you look around, trash and litter is everywhere. Nobody seems to care about the waste, and how we discard it. If anything, we add to the garbage that is already abundant in the open and is everywhere. Littering a plastic cup on the road-side, after we done using it, is the norm. No one realize anything wrong with it. Throwing our waste on the street, and right outside our own house is a part of the daily routines. That’s how we are, that’s what we think is normal. Having waste and garbage scattered around everywhere does not bother us. We are content within ourselves as long as our house is polished clean up to the front doorstep. When it comes to surroundings, that’s where our responsibilities seem to end. That’s where we tend to stop – our doorsteps.

Taking context of travel & transportation: Throwing waste everywhere makes it difficult for other passengers during the journey and for the next passenger coming in. It takes 2 hours to clean the bus thoroughly from inside and outside after a journey. After a journey bus is filled with empty wafers packets, Biscuits, Bottles etc. this leftovers can be easily carried by the respected passengers but it is generally ignored. Due to this ignorance, Wash room in our bus Club One got choked several times because customers used to litter in the toilet

Sooner or later we have to realize this problem. We need to change our mentality on how we treat our neighborhood and surroundings. Littering is socially accepted in India – nobody minds, no one cares! We can make all the progress, we can make all the economic strides alongside the rich nations, but we can only go so far if we are surrounded by the smelly dirt piles and garbage. Financial and economic breakthroughs are good. However, along the way, what we really need is a change in our mentality to care for our environment, to care for our own surroundings. And, we need to realize this at personal level, sooner than later.

Online Bus Travel Industry in India

The bus travel industry in India is unorganized and highly fragmented. It is a 120 billion annual turnover industry with a growth rate of 25% per year. This industry is growing phenomenally in India, being one of the most preferred modes of transport for millions of Indians. There are around 2000 private bus operators which function with almost 20000 buses on point to point routes. In the Indian bus travel industry, most of the private players were regional players and did not have a pan India presence and therefore there was a lack of a centralized platform for organized scale of operations.

Despite of growth of online ticket reservations in India through renowned players like makemytrip.com (airline) and IRCTC.com (train), there was a reasonably slow growth when it came to online bus reservations. The role of IT in revenue management is prominently discussed by many researchers. The reasons for this slow growth could be attributed to several reasons like the unwillingness of the majority of the Indian population to book their bus tickets online, low internet penetration and more than that, the unavailability of a proper online platform to book their bus tickets.

The major challenge with the Indian bus ticketing industry is that despite of being used by millions of people it took a long period to witness some innovations in this sector. Moreover, within the travel industry it is noticed that the train and flight ticketing had centralized booking and reservation process implemented much earlier than bus travel industry. The bus operators are scattered across the country largely supported by conventional travel agents. There was an absolute need for transparency within the industry so that consumers can avail the services of a centralized system where they could be acquainted with the information regarding the total number of bus routes in operation, prices, availability, seat preferences, cancellations, refunds and feedback options.

E-ticketing or electronic ticketing in India is changing the landscape, especially air travel and railways ticketing coming a long way ahead. There are research studies which have discussed that service providers could increase their transactional efficiencies and expand their services by adopting modern IT in revenue management.

Growth Drivers of online travel industry in India:

 (i) Growth of Internet, (ii) Growth in Low-cost transportation option (iii) Secure payment mechanisms

Main Challenges:

 (i) Low margins and high operating costs (ii) Poor internet and credit card penetration

There are several players in this domain Redbus being the market leader, other players are Abhi bus, Simply Bus, Yatra.com and Bus Safar.com. With the redbus revolution, the potential in this arena is not out of sight. The competition in this business comes from basically travel agents and ticketing companies who have presence locally, nationally and few of those who even have an international presence. redbus over the years has adopted a business model which is quite difficult for the competitors to replicate due to which redbus is ahead in the contest.

Indian Bus Industry - An Overview Part 1.

Bus industry is one of the vital integral segments of Indian automobile industry. It is a common widespread public transport in India. The industry comprises of buses that are categorized into school buses, mini buses, tourist buses, deluxe buses, commuter buses and others depending on the use. Owing to the development of infrastructure and roads, connecting to remote places has become easier due to which more and more people are availing bus services. This has greatly contributed to the growth of bus industry. Proliferation of internet, rising income, online bus ticket search and booking, growth in low cost carriers, have further added to the growth of travel market in India

The first motor bus route started on July 15, 1926, and ran between Afghan Church and Crawford Market, Mumbai. The bus fare for the same journey was four annas, i.e 25 paise. Indian bus travel industry is a 15000 crores industry and growing annually at 25 %, with over 3,00,000 tickets sold daily, roughly making it an inventory worth $3bn.Indian bus market which was previously and at times still considered a very unorganized, fragmented and unregulated. However, now the market is slowing moving towards some uniformity and consolidation. Today, India has 5,000 private bus operators with a fleet size ranging from 5 to 500 buses.Indian bus market has revolutionized in the last 10-12 years,lot of changes have taken place in the functioning of the sector which is adding more convenience and comfort to the passengers. Indian bus market is divided into 4 broad categories

·         Mass market with bus ranging from Rs.22 lakh to 30 lakh. This market has the largest market share of over 60 %.  Rs. 22 lakh is for the non AC bus while an AC bus costs around Rs.30 lakh.

·         Value market with cost of the bus ranging from Rs.40 lakh to Rs.60 lakhs. Buses like ISUZU,Swaraj Mazda, MAN etc. occupy this segment and this segment has only 2 % market share.

·         Premium bus market is the market where bus range from Rs.80 lakh to a 1.2 crores. Volvo, Mercedes, Scania are the key players in this segment. This segment has a market share of around 25 % and it is this segment which is bringing about the changes in the industry.

·         Super premium bus market with cost of the bus from Rs.1.5 crores upwards. CLUB ONE, Olivia, SVLL connect form part of this segment and it occupies a niche market share of 1 %. The target group for this segment is the affluent class and people with deep pockets. Customers who prefer to travel in luxury.

The coming years will bring in consolidation, Lots of improvement and growth. The seeds of the future plants are being sown and good times lie ahead.

A true leader

A 12 year old takes an overnight journey in  a run down state transport bus from the town of Rajkot to Udaipur. He is taking this journey to over see the bus body building for the bus owned by his father’s travel agency.  How many of us will undertake such journeys and showcase levels of commitment and dedication at this age .Most of us are all occupied with our play and studies during that age.Taking up such strenuous journeys requires a strong will power and determination.

This relentless commitment towards work has made him to lead Gujarat’s one of the largest and most trusted private bus service operator. What  commenced with only 2 buses in the year 1978 has spread its wings to over 200 buses in a span of glorious 36 years.

His staff members ranging from drivers, Booking agents, Managers all consider him to be part of their family. He is always there with them in their hour of need. His ability to support, encourage and motivate his staff has made them stick to the company for the last 25-30 years in an industry where the transition rate is very high.

In today’s era of ever changing world, He has been setting new bench marks with regards to the service imparted to the customers. Giving a Comfortable ride to its passengers is his first and foremost priority. He has been continuously doing it which has made 3 generations of customers travel with his company .

A foresighted approach to do something better is reflected in their tagline “A step  ahead always”.

On his 50^th Birthday today, Wishing him lots of good health,happiness, Success and prosperity in all his endeavors.  Many many happy returns of the day Jayubhai.

Customer Devo Bhava

 આજના આ સ્પર્ધાત્મક યુગમાં સૌથી મહત્વપૂર્ણ બાબત કોઈપણ કંપની (પછી તે મેન્યુફેક્ચરિંગ ક્ષેત્રે હોય  કે સર્વિસ ક્ષેત્રે ) માટે પોતાનાં ગ્રાહકોને સમજવાનું છે.જે કંપની પોતાનાં ગ્રાહકોને સમજી શકે છે,તે પોતાની પ્રોડક્ટ કે સર્વિસથી ગ્રાહકોની નિકટ આવી શકે છે.

ગ્રાહકોને સમજવું  એટલે શું ? ગ્રાહકને સમજવું એટલે ગ્રાહકના ગમાં-અણગમાંનો ક્યાસ કાઢવો. અહી ગ્રાહક એટલે એવી વ્યક્તિ કે જેણે કંપનીની પ્રોડક્ટ કે સર્વિસનો ઉપભોગ કર્યો હોય અને પોતાનાં સારાં - નરસાં અનુભવો કે ગમાં - અણગમાને નિષ્પક્ષ રીતે રજૂ કરી પોતાનાં અમૂલ્ય સૂચનો આપી શકે.  આ સૂચનોનો અમલ એટલે વર્તમાન ગ્રાહકોનો ભરોસો જીતવો અને બીજી રીતે કહીએ તો ભવિષ્યના નવા ગ્રાહકો એકત્રિત કરવાનો સીધો સાદો અને સિદ્ધ ઉપાય કારણકે એક સંતુષ્ઠ ગ્રાહક એ કંપનીનો એક એવો  પ્રતિનિધિ છે કે જે પોતાનાં સારાં અનુભવોને પોતાના મિત્ર મંડળ કે વ્યવસાયિક વર્તુળમાં ફેલાવીને નવા ગ્રાહકો લાવવાનું કામ કરી આપે. દરેક કંપની માટે આવો એક સંતુષ્ઠ ગ્રાહક જરૂરી છે. સરળ ભાષામાં કહીએ તો ગ્રાહક સંતુષ્ઠી એટલે ગ્રાહકના ગમાં-અણગમા નો ખ્યાલ રાખવો-ગમાને દઢ બનાવવો અને અણગમાને દૂર કરવો.  આજે આ લખતાં એક ઢાબામાં વાંચેલું વાક્ય 'ન ભાવે તો અમને કહેજો,ભાવે તો સૌને કહેજો' ની સાર્થકતાનો અર્થ સમજાય છે.

તાજેતરમાં જ ગુજરાતની એક અગ્રગણ્ય ટ્રાવેલ એજન્સીએ પોતાની 36 મી વર્ષગાંઠ 1 લી એપ્રિલે અનોખી રીતે ઉજવી. આ કંપનીએ ગ્રાહકને વધુ નિકટ લાવવાના હેતુસર એક સર્વેક્ષણ કરાવ્યો.  આ સર્વેક્ષણમાં મુસાફરોએ પોતાનાં અનુભવોને એક વિડીયો ઇન્ટરવ્યુંમાં કંડારિત કરવાનું હતું કે તેઓ શા માટે તે ટ્રાવેલ્સ દ્વારા મુસાફરી કરવાનું પસંદ કરે છે.  આ સર્વેક્ષણમાં સતત એક મહિના સુધી 120 મુસાફરોના વિડીયો ઈન્ટરવ્યું લેવામાં આવ્યા અને એટલું જ નહિ 120 માંથી 36 જેટલાં મુસાફરોને તેમના સૂચનો બદલ  વિનામૂલ્ય ટીકીટ દ્વારા સન્માનિત કરવામાં આવ્યા.

સર્વેક્ષણના તારણોમાં મહદઅંશે મુખ્ય 5 પરીબળો હતાં કે જે નિર્ણયાત્મક હતાં.

1.સંચાલકની સમય બધ્ધતા

2.આગમન અને પ્રસ્થાનના સમય

3.પીક અપ અને ડ્રોપ સ્થાન

4.બસની હાલત, આપવામાં આવતી સવલતો અને તકનીકી ખામીને કારણે જયારે બસ ખોટકાય ત્યારે સંચાલક દ્વારા કરવામાં આવતી પરીસહાયતા

5.સ્ટાફની વર્તણુક

તમને એ જાણીને અત્યંત આનંદ અને ગર્વ  થશે કે આ સર્વેક્ષણ ગુજરાતની નામાંકિત અને  વાંચનારા મોટાભાગનાંઓએ જેમની સેવાનો અનુભવ કરેલ હશે એવી 'ઈગલ ટ્રાવેલ્સ ' દ્વારા કરવામાં આવેલ છે.

આ પ્રકારના સર્વેક્ષણની  પહલ જ દર્શાવે છે કે ઇગલ ટ્રાવેલ્સ  કે જે વર્તમાન માં તો અગ્રેસર છે જ અને ભવિષ્યમાં પણ અગ્રેસર રહેવા કટિબદ્ધ છે. ખરેખર, એવું કહેવામાં જરા પણ અતિશયોક્તિ નહિ થાય કે ઈગલ ટ્રાવેલ્સે 'કસ્ટમર દેવો ભવ'નું સૂત્ર આત્મસાત કરેલ છે.

Advantages of Technology in Bus booking

સૌથી મોટા ફેરફાર પૈકીનો એક ટિકિટ બુકિંગની પદ્ધતિમાં થયો છે. અગાઉ યાત્રીઓને ટિકિટ બૂક કરાવવા માટે ઓપરેટર/ એજન્ટ્સની ઓફિસે જવું પડતું હતું અને યાત્રી રિટર્ન ટિકિટ બૂક કરાવી શકતા નહોતા. આજે બસની ટિકિટ નીચે જણાવેલ પદ્ધતિઓથી બુક કરી શકાય છે

• ·       ઓપરેટરના કોલ સેન્ટર્સ/ ટેલિફોનિક બૂકિંગ મારફત બુકિંગ
• ·         ઓપરેટરની વેબસાઇટ મારફત અથવા રેડબસ.ઇન, અભિબસ, ટ્રાવેલયારી, મેકમાયટ્રિપ સહિતના જેવા પોર્ટલ દ્વારા ઓનલાઇન બુકિંગ
• ·         ઓપરેટર્સની મોબાઇલ એપ્સ દ્વારા બુકિંગ

આજે પાંચ ટકા ભારતીયોએ તેમની ટિકિટનું ઓનલાઇન બૂકિંગ કરાવવાનું શરૂ કર્યું છે અને આ વસતિ દરરોજ વધી રહી છે. અગાઉ રવાનગીના અમુક કલાકો/ મિનિટો પૂર્વે બસની ટિકિટોનું બુકિંગ થતુ હતું, જ્યારે આજે પરિસ્થિતિ એવી છે કે આશરે 32 ટકા લોકો યાત્રાના દિવસે બૂક કરાવે છે, જ્યારે 24 ટકા લોકો યાત્રાના એક દિવસ પહેલા ટિકિટ બૂક કરાવે છે અને તહેવારો કે રજાની સિઝન દરમિયાન ટિકિટનું બુકિંગ લગભગ 15-20 દિવસ પહેલા કરાવાય છે. 13 જાન્યુઆરી બાદથી ઓનલાઇન બસ બૂકિંગમાં 185 ટકાનો ભારે વૃદ્ધિદર નોંધાયો છે.

ભારતમાં આજે સમગ્ર દેશમાં 2,000 સંગઠિત ખાનગી બસ ઓપરેટર્સ છે, જેઓ 20,000 લક્ઝરી બસનો કાફલો ધરાવે છે, જે પૈકીની આશરે 20 ટકા બસ એસી. બસ કેટેગરીમાં આવે છે. કુલ ઓનલાઇન બૂકિંગ પૈકીનું 72 ટકા બૂકિંગ એ.સી. બસ માટે અને 28 ટકા બૂકિંગ એ.સી. સિવાયની બસ માટે થાય છે. આ 2,000 ખાનગી બસ ઓપરેટર્સ વ્યક્તિગતપણે ઓછામાં ઓછાં 10 શહેરને સેવા પૂરી પાડે છે તથા પ્રત્યેક શહેરમાં તેમની પોતાની ઓછામાં ઓછી ઓફિસનું નેટવર્કિંગ ધરાવે છે તથા કમ્પ્યૂટર આધારિત ટિકિટના લીધે વાસ્તવિક સમયના ધોરણે ઇન્વેન્ટરીનું મેનેજમેન્ટ થાય છે, આ રીતે બસમાં બેઠક પ્રાપ્તિનો દર વધી રહ્યો છે.

જીવનમાં એકમાત્ર સતત ચાલતું જો કોઇ તત્વ હોય તો તે પરિવર્તન છે અને તે માનવજાતિ તથા માણસાઈના ભલા માટે થતું રહે છે. તમે આ લેખમાં જાણશો કે હવે કેટલાક નવી નવીન પહેલ થઈ છે.

ઇગલ ટ્રાવેલ્સ એ ગુજરાત, મહારાષ્ટ્ર, રાજસ્થાન, દિલ્હી રાજ્યોમાં છેલ્લાં 35 વર્ષથી બસ સેવાનું સંચાલન કરે છે અને તે અમદાવાદ, રાજકોટ, જામનગર, પોરબંદર, ભુજ, ગાંધીધામ, અંજાર, બરોડા, સુરત, વાપી, ઉદયપુર, મુંબઈ, પુણે, જયપુર, દિલ્હી અને મુંદ્રા સહિતના સ્થળો વચ્ચે સેવા પૂરી પાડે છે. ઓફિસનું નેટવર્ક સ્થાપનારી અને કમ્પ્યૂટર આધારિત ટિકિટ આપનારી ઇગલ ટ્રાવેલ્સ સૌપ્રથમ ઓપરેટર હતી. ગુજરાતમાં વોલ્વો, મર્સિડિઝ અને મલ્ટિ એક્સેલ બસ લાવવાની પહેલ કરનારી કંપની ઇગલ ટ્રાવેલ્સ હતી. તાજેતરમાં જ ઇગલે પોતાના કાફલામાં ક્લબ વન બસનો ઉમેરો કર્યો છે જે સુપર લક્ઝરી બસના વર્ગમાં સર્વશ્રેષ્ઠ છે. આ કંપની ટેક્નોલોજી અને તેના વપરાશ તથા આધુનિકીકરણમાં વિશ્વાસ ધરાવે છે. કંપનીના 200  બસના કાફલામાં 50 વોલ્વો, મર્સિડિઝ બસનો સમાવેશ થાય છે. અમે તમને ‘હંમેશા... એક ડગલું આગળ’ રાખવાનો પ્રયાસ કરીએ છીએ.