AKBAR TRAVELS OF INDIA PVT. LTD.

, EDAPPAL

SUMMER INTERNSHIP REPORT

Submitted by

THASLEEMA. UK

Roll No:

MES16MBA52

in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree of

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

of Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University

MES COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, KUTTIPPURAM

JULY 2017

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 CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
As a part of partial fulfilment of the award of my MBA degree I did two months
(2nd May, 2017 to 30th June 2017) summer internship program in Edappal
branch office of Akbar Travels of India Pvt. Ltd.
Type of company
Akbar Travels of India Pvt. Ltd. is an unlisted private company, which is a
service organisation which comes under hospitality industry. This type of
business entity limits owner liability to their shares, limits the number of
shareholders to 50 and restricts shareholders from publicly trading shares. This
organisation focuses on fulfilling travel and tourism requirements of its clients.
It is a travel company which caters tours and travels of both international and
domestic ticketing agents for all airlines. It is a non-govt company
Nature of business
While talking about the nature of business in Akbar Travels of India Pvt. Ltd., it
is a service provider. Their products include domestic and international air
tickets, hajj-umrah service, visa assistance, car rental and bus service, group
incentive tours, travel insurance, forex, railway tickets, holiday packages, etc.
Reference to internship acceptance communication
Getting permission for doing internship in Akbar travels of India Pvt. Ltd. was
not that much easy. They are allowing people to work as trainees for a starting
salary with Rs. 7000. But they were a little dissatisfied with allowing for
internship. They were not interested in revealing documents with a student for
just two months. They said that they would be happy if I am working there in
order to get a job there or to become an employee of their organisation. So i had
to use someones recommendation to do internship there.

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Period of internship
As a part of the completion of my MBA degree, it was mandatory to do
internship for a period of two months. So I did two months internship in
Edappal branch of Akbar Travels of India Pvt. Ltd. While specifically saying,
the internship period was from 2nd May 2017 to 30th June 2017.
Number of interns doing internship at the same time
There are so many persons coming there to work as trainees in order to get job
there. But no one was there as interns during the time I was working there.
Currently there are four persons as trainees. When I joined there were two more
trainees and one left on the same day I joined.

1.1 OBJECTIVE OF THE INTERNSHIP

To work as an intern and to get familiarised in finance and HR functions
of the organisation. The branch office of Akbar Travels of India Pvt. Ltd.
in Edappal was chosen for doing internship

1.2 INDUSTRY ANALYSIS

HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY
The hospitality industry is a broad category of fields within service industry that
includes lodging, event planning, theme parks, transportation, cruise line, and
additional fields within the tourism industry. The hospitality industry is a
multibillion-dollar industry that depends on the availability of leisure time
and disposable income. A hospitality unit such as a restaurant, hotel, or an
amusement park consists of multiple groups such as facility maintenance and
direct operations (servers, housekeepers, porters, kitchen workers, bartenders,
management, marketing, and human resources etc.).
Travel and Tourism business encompasses transportation. This includes airlines,
trains, cruise ships and the staff for each. Travel and tourism requires
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knowledgeable employees in information technology, and they are also
considered a part of hospitality. India has moved up 13 positions to 52nd rank
from 65th in Tourism & Travel competitive index. Tourism Australia expects
Indian tourists arrivals in Australia to increase 12 per cent year-on-year to
reach 245,000 visitors during FY 2015-16, thus making India the eighth largest
source market for tourism in Australia.

Tourism in India is economically important and is growing rapidly. The World

Travel & Tourism Council calculated that tourism generated 14.02 lakh
crore (US$220 billion) or 9.6% of the nation's GDP in 2016 and
supported 40.343 million jobs, 9.3% of its total employment. The sector is
predicted to grow at an annual rate of 6.8% to 28.49 lakh
crore (US$440 billion) by 2027 (10% of GDP). In October 2015, India's
medical tourism sector was estimated to be worth US$3 billion. It is projected to
grow to $78 billion by 2020. In 2014, 184,298 foreign patients travelled to
India to seek medical treatment.
About 88.90 lakh (8.89 million) foreign tourists arrived in India in 2016
compared to 80.27 lakh (8.027 million) in 2015, recording a growth of
10.7%. Domestic tourist visits to all states and Union Territories numbered
1,036.35 million in 2012, an increase of 16.5% from 2011. In 2014, Tamil
Nadu, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh were the most popular states for
tourists. Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Agra and Jaipur have been the five most
visited cities of India by foreign tourists during the year 2015. Worldwide,
Delhi is ranked at 28 by the number of foreign tourist arrivals, while Mumbai is
ranked at 30, Chennai at 43, Agra at 45, Jaipur at 52 and Kolkata at 90.
The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2017 ranks India 40th out of
136 countries overall. The report ranks the price competitiveness of India's
tourism sector 10th out of 136 countries. It mentions that India has quite good
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air transport (ranked 32nd), particularly given the countrys stage of
development, and reasonable ground transport infrastructure (ranked 29th). The
country also scores high on natural and cultural resources (ranked 9th). Some
other aspects of its tourism infrastructure remain somewhat underdeveloped
however. The nation has very few hotel rooms per capita by international
comparison and low ATM penetration. The World Tourism
Organization reported that India's receipts from tourism during 2012 ranked
16th in the world and 7th among Asian and Pacific countries.
The Ministry of Tourism designs national policies for the development and
promotion of tourism. In the process, the Ministry consults and collaborates
with other stakeholders in the sector including various Central
Ministries/agencies, state governments, Union Territories and the
representatives of the private sector. Concerted efforts are being made to
promote new forms of tourism such as rural, cruise, medical and eco-
tourism. The Ministry also maintains the Incredible India campaign.
Despite the rich cultural and natural heritage which India possesses, the security
issues and crime especially against female visitors, form a persisting trouble
that has plagued the Indian tourism industry.
India requires citizens of most countries to have a valid passport and apply for a
visa at their local Indian embassy or consulate, before they travel. They can
apply directly by mail or in person, or through their local travel services
company. India has recently implemented an online method for citizens of 40
countries to apply and receive an e-Tourist Visa. Nationals
of Bhutan, Maldives and Nepal do not require a visa. Citizens of Afghanistan,
Argentina, Bangladesh, DPR Korea, Jamaica, Maldives, Mauritius, Mongolia,
Nepal, South Africa and Uruguay are not required to pay a fee when obtaining
Indian visa.

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A Protected Area Permit (PAP) is required to enter the states
of Nagaland and Sikkim and some parts of the states of Arunachal
Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and
Kashmir, Manipur, Mizoram, Rajasthan and Uttaranchal. A Restricted Area
Permit (RAP) is required to enter the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and parts
of Sikkim. Special permits are needed to enter Lakshadweep Islands.
In order to boost tourism numbers, the Indian Government decided to
implement a new visa policy, allowing visitors to obtain a visa on arrival at 16
designated international airports by obtaining an Electronic Travel
Authorisation online before arrival without the need to visit an Indian consulate
or visa centre. As a result of this, 56,477 tourist arrived on e-Tourist Visa during
the month of October 2015, as compared to 2,705 during the month of October
2014 marking to a growth of 1987.9%. During JanuaryOctober 2015 a total of
2,58,182 tourist arrived on e-Tourist Visa as compared to 21,995 during
JanuaryOctober 2014 registering a growth of 1073.8%.
The facility will be made available to citizens of about 180 countries in several
phases. On 27 November 2014, India introduced its visa on arrival enabled by
ETA facility for tourists and business visitors, to citizens of following
countries Australia, Brazil, Cambodia, Cook
Islands, Djibouti, Fiji, Finland, Germany, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Keny
a, Kiribati, Laos, Luxembourg, Marshall
Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Myanmar, Nauru, New
Zealand, Niue, Norway, Oman, Palau, Palestine, Papua New
Guinea, Philippines, Russia, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South
Korea, Thailand, Tonga, Tuvalu, UAE, Ukraine, USA, Vanuatu and Vietnam. T
he facility was extended to China, Macau and Hong Kong on 30 July 2015. The
facility was further extended to citizens of Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba,
Belgium, Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, East Timor, Guatemala, Hungary, Ireland,
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Jamaica, Malta, Malaysia, Mongolia, Monaco, Mozambique, the Netherlands,
Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Seychelles, Slovenia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Saint
Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Surinam, Sweden, Taiwan, Tanzania,
Turks and Caicos Islands, the United Kingdom, Uruguay and Venezuela on 15
August 2015.
The visa on arrival requires a tourist to apply online on a secure Government of
India website, at least 4 to 30 days before the date of travel. If approved, the
passenger must print and carry the approved visa with the travel documents.
The visa allows holders of Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) to enter and
stay anywhere in India for 30 days. The ETA can be obtained twice in a single
calendar year. The visa on arrival facility is expected to be expanded to about
180 countries over time. In April 2015 the scheme was renamed to e-Tourist
Visa in order to avoid confusion.
Security issues and crime, especially against women, remain a major challenge
that stained the reputation of Indian tourism industry in recent years. It is widely
considered to be dangerous for a woman to travel alone in India, as they are
prone for harassment, rape or being murdered. Several cases of foreign women
visitors being harassed, raped and even murdered have caught international
attention, such as the case of British teenager Scarlett Keeling who was raped
and murdered in the Indian state of Goa in 2008. In 2015, China and Japan have
issued travel warnings for female travellers not to travel to India, even as a
group, unless it is absolutely necessary.
As a reaction to the poor security for women, India's tourism minister, Mahesh
Sharma, has advised foreign women not to wear skirts in public or walk alone at
night in the country's small towns and cities. This statement garnered criticism,
with Ira Trivedi writing in an open letter to the minister that not all parts of
India are unsafe and that the government should be working to ensure women's
safety instead of victim blaming.
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The travel and tourism industry has emerged as one of the largest and fastest
growing economic sectors globally.
The growth in the Indian travel and tourism industry is driven by a combination
of rising income levels and changing lifestyles, development of diverse tourism
offerings, and policy and regulatory support by the government authorities.
Over the past year, this growth has reflected over all segments of tourism. The
sluggish economy and poor sentiments did not have any adverse impact on the
Indian outbound tourism market. India is one of the fastest-growing outbound
travel markets in the world. Despite drastic fluctuations in rupee value recently,
numbers of tourist's departures from India did not take a hit. India has emerged
as the world's fastest-growing outbound market and in absolute numbers it is
second only to China.
With more than 1.1 billion inhabitants and GDP increasing by more than seven
percent every year, India offers enormous potential for future growth in
outbound travel. Whether it is to meet a relative settled abroad, a shopping trip,
a global sport event or just for leisure, Indians are increasingly travelling
abroad. Personal and Official Travel for holiday/ leisure, business and MICE
tourism are the most significant contributors for growing outbound travel.
The foreign tourism boards are gearing up to meet the growing number of
Indians who are travelling abroad and splurging. While many of the National
Tourism Organizations also have established their own offices in the country,
others are making use of representations or their embassies/ cultural desks to
test the waters, before taking the plunge.
The UNWTO predicts that India will account for 50 million outbound tourists
by 2020. While business travel, holiday and VFR trips dominates outbound
volumes, people are also opting for niche products like sports tourism, luxury
travels, MICE, honeymoon packages and cruises.
Thailand, Singapore, United States, and Malaysia are some of the most
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preferred tourist destination for Indian travelers. Indian tourists have now
started exploring new destinations as well. Among the emerging countries, Sri
Lanka, Nepal, China, Japan and South Africa are becoming the destination of
choice for Indian tourists. Japan is also focusing on plans to triple the number of
tourists travelling from India to the country by 2020 from the 2013 level.
Countries like Indonesia, Philippines, Mauritius and Egypt are also seeing an
increase in influx of Indian tourists. Increased promotional activities by travel
agents will further drive outbound departures to many new destinations in the
years to come.
Factors that are driving tourists to go out of country:
Much of India's outbound growth may be attributed to increasing disposable
income, decreasing cost of international airfare and availability of affordable
travel packages. In particular, the rise of low cost carriers (LCCs) in India has
impacted the way Indians travel as they now have more alternatives, beyond
domestic travel, when planning for short holidays.
The proliferation of the internet has also significantly changed the way Indian
travelers now plan and book their trips. The availability of information on the
internet has instilled greater confidence among Indian travelers to look farther
when planning their travels. With information readily available at the click of a
mouse, consumers are no longer dependent on traditional travel agents.
However, feedback and recommendation from travel agents is still held in high
regard.
The Indian film industry, termed as Bollywood has significantly influenced
Indian culture. According to an estimate, almost 14 million people in India
enjoy Bollywood movies on a daily basis. Bollywood has always been
recognized as having the strongest influence for potential Indian travelers. For
example, Bollywood films such as Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Kabhi Khushi
Khabhie Gham and Mujhse Dosti Karogi have all presented Switzerland in a
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new light to Indian tourists. Another example being that with the popularity of
Bollywood blockbuster Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (ZNMD), Spain witnessed a
surge in the number of India tourist arrivals in 2012 and 2013.
However, there are many challenges in outbound travel. In India, companies
tend to specialize in either inbound or outbound, few do both successfully. The
skill sets and experience needed for both segments are unique and not
complementary. The average Indian travel agent deals with customers who are
extremely price sensitive and are inherent shoppers. Bargaining is a cultural
trait.
There is basically a feeling that agents have no right to make money. In general,
agencies in India are not equipped or trained in charging fees. Another hurdle
for Indian outbound tourism market is the rupee depreciation that has become a
very big hurdle for Indian outbound tourism. Destinations such as United States,
Canada, London, France, Italy and Switzerland have seen a dip in bookings due
to rupee depreciation.

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 CHAPTER 2

ORGANISATIONAL ANALYSIS

AKBAR TRAVELS OF INDIA LIMITED

Akbar Travels of India is the largest Travel Company in India in terms of

number of IATA approved Branches, staff strength and business turnover.
Flight bookings have been made simpler than ever after Akbar Travels launched
its Travel Portal, Akbar travels online.com, in 2007. IRCTC e-train tickets are
now open for booking and a number of travel agents who have signed up as
partners are taking advantage of this feature.

For the benefit of passengers who make last minute bookings or changes in their
travel plans, Akbar Travels have opened Airport Ticketing counters at three of
the leading Airports in India Chennai, Mumbai and New Delhi.Akbar Travels
is one of the pioneers among the IATA approved Travel Agents in India to
operate car rental service from the domestic and international airports in India.
Being a top producing agent for almost all the airlines operating in India, Akbar
Travels have been the recipients of various awards and recognitions from the
airlines and other suppliers.

Akbar Travels of India was established in 1978 by Abdul Nazar in a 350 square
feet office in Janjikar Street, Near Crawford Market, Mumbai, one of the busiest
market places for handling ticketing, mainly to the Middle East. In a short time,
the Company grew as a banyan tree with 56 IATA approved branches and 30
satellite offices employing over 3000 travel professionals. Since the year 2000,
Akbar Travels of India has attained the pinnacle position in Travel market with
mammoth all-round growth to become the No.1 Travel Agent with an annual
turnover exceeding Rs.4000 crores. For more than a decade now, Akbar Travels

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is the largest revenue contributor for most airlines, winning many awards and
accolades.

Akbar Travels is the largest Air Ticket seller in South-East Asia. Its best seller
of almost all the airlines who operates from India and is equipped with more
than 3000 staffs in 55 IATA branches in India and 6 Overseas Branches.

2.1 Nature of the Organization and its business

Akbar Travels of India Pvt. Ltd. is a service organisation which offers various
services to its clients such as foreign exchange, international operations, air
ticketing services, etc. the office, in Edappal, in which I worked was only one of
the branches of Akbar Travels of India Pvt. Ltd. Its headquarters is Mumbai.
The main activities in the branch were accounts settling, answering client calls
and so on. Other marketing activities are dealt by the parent company.
Therefore the branchs main functional areas are finance and HR.

2.2 Mission, Vision and Values

Vision

To be globally respected organisation that provides the best travel & tours
related services in India & throughout the world

Mission

To achieve our objectives in an environment of fairness, honesty and courtesy

towards our clients, employees, vendors and the world community at large

Values

Customer delight: a commitment to surpassing our customer expectations

Leadership by example: a commitment to set standards in our business &
transactions and be an exemplar for the industry and our own teams
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 Integrity and transparency in our dealings
Fairness: a commitment to be objective and transaction-oriented, thereby
earning trust and respect

2.3 Products / Services of the company

Corporate Services
Interstate Bus Service
Airport Ticketing Counters
Foreign Exchange
Car Rental Service
International Operations
Air Ticketing Services
Holidays Packages Services
Passport- Visa Assistance Services
Hotel Booking Services
Cruise Booking Services

2.4 Financials Market share, financial performance

For the period ended 31 March 2015, the company reported revenues of INR
167 cr and profit after tax of INR 20 cr. As on 31 March 2015, the net worth of
the company stood at INR 150 cr.

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 CHAPTER 3

POSITIONING OF THE INTERN & HIS/HER ROLE

3.1 Structure of the office to which the intern is attached

Since it was only a branch of the parent company, the office structure is simple.
The main role is of the manager. Then the chief accountant comes under the
manager. All the other employees come under him. There is no proper structure
actually. The employees can either report directly to the manager or to the chief
accountant.

3.2 Details about the role and the various duties and responsibilities
assigned within the organization.

(a) Duties & Responsibilities assigned to the intern

I was responsible to do all the work given by every employee in that office.
But the main works are given by the chief accountant Mr. Vijeesh. The phone
use in the office is strictly prohibited. It was must to deal politely with the
clients and their calls. There should keep silence and should not walk around
when it is not necessary. If the employees want to talk with each other or with
the manager, they should talk through the personal telephones assigned to them.

(b) Department allotted & reporting to whom

I was given a chair and system to do my work. There was no particular

department allotted to me. I was responsible for doing every works given by the
office staff. Mainly the accounts department was allotted to me and must report
to the chief accountant, Mr. Vijeesh directly.

(c) Brief detailing about the whole internship.

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The internship program was one in one of the branches of Akbar Travels of
India Pvt. Ltd., which is in Edappal. The main work given to me was settlement
of accounts. The whole internship program for a period of two months gave an
experience of working in an office which was completely different from
studying in a class room.

CHAPTER 4

DETAILS ABOUT INTERNSHIP

4.1 Weekly Activity / Progress Report

4.2 Contribution of the Intern to the Organization

Initiatives & Responsibilities taken by the intern

The responsibilities were:

To do all the works given to do

Not to use personal phone
Keep silence
Attend client calls
Deal politely with clients
Report to the chief accountant
Obtain permission before taking leave and before leaving the
office

Task Accomplishments made

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All the works assigned to me were accomplished by me on time. The
main tasks were accounts settling and matching documents.

New Ideas & concepts

There were no new ideas contributed by me. I was allowed only to do

the work assigned to me.

Involvement in major assignments

I was not involved in any of the major assignments. They were not
ready to reveal any of their important documents with an intern, who
is working there just for the academic purpose.

4.3 Learning from Internship

Overall knowledge gained from the internship.

An office work is completely different from the class room

studying
There are some manners which should be followed by every
employee working in an organisation
Internship helps us to increase our knowledge and skill in a
particular area
It helps us to increase our self confidence
There is a need to create a good rapport with the clients and
colleagues

Analysis of Achievements Vs Objectives

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The objective of doing this internship was to earn experience of
working in an organisation and understanding the organisational
working environment. The objective was accomplished successfully

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 CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSION

This internship programme was conducted to gain an organisational working

experience. For doing the summer internship programme of a period of two
months, the organisation I chose was Akbar Travels of India Pvt. Ltd., Edappal.
The manager of Edappal branch of Akbar Travels of India Pvt. Ltd. is Mr.
Sharafudheen. The internship period was from 2nd May 2017 to 30th June 2017.
The works assigned to me were mainly from finance areas and the works from
HR area were also given. The internship provided me with some level of
working experience in an organisation.

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 REFERENCES

en.wikipedia.org
economictimes.indiatimes.com
m.indiamart.com
www.emis.com
www.careratings.com
Companycheck.co.uk
Beta.companieshouse.gov.uk

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