Majid Al Mulla, newly-elected head of the Dubai Travel and Tour Agents Group (DTTAG) speaks exclusively to ATN about his plans to drive the association forward
One of the biggest problems facing Dubai’s travel trade is its lack of unity, says Majid Al Mulla. The newly-elected president of the Dubai Travel and Tour Agents Group (DTTAG) is the first to admit that the trade is suffering due to the absence of a strong industry body to give agents a much-needed voice against other forces in the market.
But why has DTTAG struggled so hard to unite the travel agents of Dubai? “It has been a challenge because it’s not mandatory for travel agencies to have membership of DTTAG,” explains Al Mulla. “Some agencies are not as professional as others and they need guidance to understand how DTTAG can benefit them.”
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With the departure of previous DTTAG president Iain Andrew; Majid Al Mulla has stepped into his shoes on a renewed mission to galvanise the trade. “The main objective is to get more members. I would like to see all licensed operators, TMCs and travel agencies being a member of DTTAG. But we are working towards getting at least one-third extra. So this time next year we should have 100 members,” he states.
Getting the owners on board
But how is he going to do it? Al Mulla believes any real change in the travel sector will not come about until the real decision makers, the people at the top holding the purse strings — or in other words the travel agency owners — are brought on board.
He says the owners need to be brought up to date with the changing nature of the travel sector, so they are more inclined to make investments needed to grow the industry in the right direction.
Al Mulla’s plan is to create an “‘Owners Club” — “where we can gather the agency owners in order that we can have them understand where this industry is going” and how to move away from the “old practices” of the past which are stagnating the industry.
“The old model of business of opening a travel shop and executing business — that will vanish. It has vanished in so many places around the world, and with the advancement of technology and services, the same thing might happen in Dubai.
“The owners here might be involved in the profit and loss; but they are not involved in profit enhancement, the deliverable changes, service enhancement; educating team members, or bringing standards up in terms of training. If these issues can be driven up to the business owners, I think they will definitely see the value in them.”
Al Mulla admits there’s another reason he wants the top brass of travel companies to get behind DTTAG — and that’s influence.
“Bringing the owners on board will give more value to DTTAG as an association. Our objective is to get our voices raised and bring them to the attention of IATA, the government bodies, and the airlines. That is crucial, and to have an owner — a level higher — on top of that, the communication level is different. You are going to get a lot more positive feedback from an owner than a general manger.
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