Dunston Withana Arachchi – General Manager, CypreaAir & Holidays


Maldives
Interviews
Dunston Withana Arachchi – General Manager, CypreaAir & Holidays
PUBLISHED January 01, 2019

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Dunston Withina Arachchi was born to be a guru of the travel and the airline industry. From his childhood inspiration to his enthusiasm and wealth of experience working for international brands such as SriLankan Airlines, Kuwait Airways, British Airways and Qatar Airways, Dunston is truly an inspiring figure. The island chief explores how he Brings his wealth and knowledge to CypreaAir &amp; Holidays as we learn more about him, the company and pinnacle trends within the evolving Global Travel Industry.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Tell us about your &ldquo;journey to GM&rdquo; How did you break into the travel industry?</strong></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Ever since I was a kid I liked flights. My father used to take me to the airport to watch the aircrafts and bought me a lot of model aircrafts. As such there was always a lightning spark of interest harboured into me where aircrafts were concerned.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">After I left school, I got my first job at Sri Lankan airlines as a ticketing agent servicing customers in the main ticket office, agents counter and also at the Colombo Airport. Before long I found myself with a growing interest towards the sales field as well. I went to the manager and said that I would like to join sales and one fine day had an opportunity to join Sri Lankan Airlines sales. That was the point where everything changed. The door was open for me to come across a lot of opportunities and meet lot of travel trade pioneers.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">There was no stopping from that point and after Srilankan Airline I ended up working for many airlines and INT travel companies. Namely All Nippon/ Kuwait Airways /KANOO group /British Airways / Qatar Airways, worked at many overseas branches mostly Middle East. At one point I was working with Uzbekistan Airways and had an office in Male. They used to fly Male to Tashkent.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><strong>How long have you been the GM of the company?</strong></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">I have been the GM of CypreaAir &amp; Holidays for 2 years and three months but I first came to work in Maldives via Qatar Airways looking after the commercial operations in the country. I have been in the Maldives for over four years now.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Tell us little bit about CypreaAir &amp;Holidays</strong></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">CypreaAir &amp; Holidays is the new &ldquo;cool&rdquo; brand name of Cyprea Hotels &amp; Travel Pvt Ltd an IATA accredited company Established in 1978 and Go Maldives Pvt Ltd also and IATA accredited company established in 1995. It is a leading travel firm in Maldives that provides all travel services under one roof. We handle all Airlines, Hotel bookings, Holiday packagers and travel insurance and visa services. We are the appointed agents in Maldives to handle Umrah visa.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><strong>How does a typical day at the office look like? What sort of responsibilities do you oversee at your position?</strong></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Our office is located at a very prime location, In the Cyprea building 5th Floor, Every day is actively a busy day. 40% of our business consists of direct clients, handling Air tickets, Holiday packagers plus other travel related services while the remaining 60% is pure corporate business.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">We do handle most of the major resort chains. I oversee overall sales and operations. After all, this is the travel trade, and every day is a satisfying day, after all making someone happy by helping them have an unforgettable experience in their life is truly a priceless aspect of my work.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Is there a luxury travel trend you think will be particularly surprising in the coming five years?</strong></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Mark my words, in another 05 years luxury travel will go beyond our imaginations. Right now we are witnessing these changers in Maldives as well. First under water restaurants and rooms. On the other hand in the Airline industry Qatar Airways and Singapore Airlines upgrading their on board services in way that make travel experience as never before. Travellers has started reserving commercial tickets to the space in the very near future. So yes let us sit and enjoy the ride</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><strong>How has the rise of the Millennial traveler affected the agent industry?</strong></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">This is very important fact, we have been working not only to understand this next generation of travellers, but also to tailor our products and offerings for them.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">We have actually undergone a total rebranding to better suit the needs of the millennial traveler. In My opinion the Millennial traveler experiences a world much smaller and more connected than for the normal traveler. I think it is a common misconception about millennial travelers that they are budget conscious I think they are value conscious.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">They don&rsquo;t use travel agents in a normal sense, instead, they seek expertise and support to find authentic, original, and personalized experiences. So that is one of the main reasons why we have shifted our focus towards operating a total travel management company.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><strong>How can advisors build loyalty among their clients in today&rsquo;s travel sales environment?</strong></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">I believe in five things which I always tell my employees all the time, the &ldquo;five finger tips&rdquo;.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">1- There has to always be excellent and personalised customer services for our clients and we have to provide the relevant product</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">2- Acknowledge loyal customers. When they come back leave a personal touch; when they come back frontier trip, give them a call, ask them how there flight was, how the service and the experience was and this acknowledgement goes a long way.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">3- Share tips and advice; the weather, the currency, where can they can go, where can they buy thing that they want. All ways share tips and advice, you can do that on social media as well or on your website. Which brings me to the next finger</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">4- Use Social Media Channels- It really connects to clients on their personal space and it reaches a wide market.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Finally no 5 - The most important thing which we are also trying to do is to introduce a loyalty programme for these customers, so we are working on that now on our online Platforms where we will start a loyalty program to really reward these customers.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><strong>How strong is the inbound market by comparison to the outbound market?</strong></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Given the popularity and with the continuously developing tourism infrastructure, the inbound market is stronger for Maldives than the outbound market.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">I can relate with something I have personally experienced. Since I am an airliner when I came to the Maldives, Qatar airways had two flights daily but within two years, now there are TRIPLE DAILY flights coming to male&rsquo;, Two A350s, The latest airbus series and A330 with a total capacity of over 700 passengers per day.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">The reason for this is undoubtedly the increase of demand for the inbound travelers to Maldives. So the number of inbound travelers is increasing day by day and it is measurably larger than the outbound market.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><strong>What&rsquo;s the latest news at CypreaAir &amp; Holidays?</strong></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">We have partnered up with Local and Global best Airlines and hotel brands and booking engines to provide the best in bound and out bound deals and also with leading international tour operators to improve the inbound markets. As a result we are surfing on a sea of opportunities at present</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Share with us some of the companies&rsquo; upcoming plans for the future?</strong></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">As we were talking about the new millennial traveller, and new trends and demands in the market, we are pleased to announce that we will be launching our total travel solution OTA in 2019.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">We are hoping that this will be a major breakthrough in the Maldives travel industry. This will provide all services to the traveller at their fingertips from Airlines services. Hotel bookings, Holiday packagers, travel insurance and many more.</p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Living in Maldives must have its share of problems but also of perks! What is your favourite thing about working in the city?</strong></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">I Love the Maldives and the people here are amazing. There is a Mountain of opportunities to be had here. A special appreciation and gratitude is always extended from me towards our board of directors and the management for their support and guidance in every decision we make.</p>
Comments

Please login to Comment


NEWS ARCHIVE