SITA INCOMING

(A SBU of KUONI Travel India Limited)

HISTORY

The Beginning
New York 1933: a bicycle tour arranged by John C. Dengler set the pace for a small company called Students International Travel Association. The company soon became popularly known by its acronym – SITA – and launched itself into the orbit of world travel. After resounding success in the U.S.A., SITA looked beyond the Atlantic to Europe and Asia – India. In 1956 the first office was setup at New Delhi by the present Chairman Emeritus, Mr. Inder Sharma. Ever since, SITA has traversed a long way in the domain of travel & tourism to be known worldwide as a reliable and efficient agency with integrity and quality service.

The Early Years
What began with a staff of just three soon made remarkable progress. Foreseeing a policy of Indianisation, in 1963, SITA was converted into a private limited company under the guidelines of the Companies Act 1956 and came to be known as SITA World Travel (India) Pvt. Ltd. With the rapid growth of incoming tours business, SITA soon spread its wings to foreign lands and starting in 1972 with its first office in Paris, the extension continued to Milan, Frankfurt, London, New York, Stockholm, Barcelona and Lisbon. At the same time SITA extended its sphere of activity to the neighboring countries in 1982 in Sri Lanka and in 1984 in Nepal, where its offices make SITA the only agency with presence in three SAARC countries. Further in 1993, it became a fully owned Indian public limited company and came to be known as SITA World Travel (India) Ltd.

The Success Story
Between 1970 and 1994, the company achieved a spectacular growth rate of 3062%. The foreign exchange earnings showed another spectacular increase of 6041%. This remarkable progress was the result of adhering to well-defined business principles and goals over the years as well as providing services backed by experience, network and reputation. A team of nearly 900 trained travel professionals offered round the clock service, throughout a vast network of 28 branch offices located at important touristic destinations in India, with utmost dedication and commitment. Added to this was an overseas network of 8 marketing offices and an excellent rapport with the Government, International & Domestic Airlines and Hotels. In fact, being the biggest player in this industry helped SITA to enjoy very special rates with hotels all over India.

SITA Today
In 2000 Kuoni Travel Holding, a Multi National Travel Conglomerate based in Zurich, Switzerland, acquired a 100 percent stake in SITA World Travel (India) Ltd., and this merger resulted in the creation of India’s largest travel company known as Kuoni Travel India Ltd., with a turnover exceeding Rs. 500 crores. SITA World Travel-Inbound Division is a part of Kuoni Travel India Ltd. It is the Number One Destination Manager in India, SITA World Travel-Inbound Division has been handling incoming tourists to India from all over the world through a network of 26 offices in India, 8 marketing offices abroad, associate offices in Nepal and Sri Lanka and three Strategic Business Units namely: SITA Incoming Services, Kuoni Indian Trails and E-Holidays. Besides regular incoming services, SITA World Travel-Inbound Division also offers special services in Incentives, Conferences and adventure Tourism.

Awards and honours
For its remarkable performance in travel & tourism, SITA has been honoured with many awards including Govt. of India’s Tourism award since 1975, Voted the “Best Travel Agency” at Travel Awards-1998, Singapore and “Ethics is Good Business Award” constituted by PHD Chambers of Commerce, India. Very recently SITA won the National Tourism Award in the First Category, constituted by the Department of Tourism, Government of India, for earning the highest foreign exchange. For the second consecutive year, SITA has also won the Kerala State Award for Excellence in Tourism, 2000, constituted by the State Government of Kerala, for handling the maximum number of tourists in Kerala.

The legend goes on