SM E-21

Dream Vacation
Ashmita and her husband Sushant both passed out from TA Pai Management Institute in 2010 and after
working in IT and consulting for about 10 years, decided to start their own Travel Advisory to design and
deliver dream vacation.

In the first program that was an All Europe tour, they met with several interesting customers/families. The
tour was a rocking success though there were several arguments and murmuring within the group.
Ashmita felt that some bickering is to be expected as everyone is not the same. She wanted to know more
from the group and set up a conversation with each one. Here is a snapshot of the conversation that
Ashmita had with each family on the last day

1) Govindan and his wife Shyamala: They travelled once every year on an International vacation with
their kids. They were frugal in terms of spending money on food or gifts but wanted to explore as
much of the locations as possible.
At the end of the tour they told Ashmita “We loved it but because of some members in the group
we started late or reached early. You know we could have actually stayed in smaller 3 star hotels
and may be saved on the total package cost. When we are staying in the room for just 7 hours how
does it matter what star it is”.
“Ha! Budget travellers” Ashmita recorded
2) Newly married Sudhir and Nirmala
Sudhir complimented Ashmita at the end of the tour “We had a great Ashmita. Nirmala loved it. But
if you ask me personally, this tour was too hectic. We are supposed to enjoy ourselves on the tour
and not punish ourselves. Also, I wish we had more time for shopping and relaxation in the evening
I would have readily agreed to pay more for better standard hotel”
Mm! the convenience seeker, thought Ashmita
3) Rajasthan family Arpit with his wife, uncle, aunt and cousins and children
Arpit and his family of 12 people were the most vociferous during the trip and the most demanding
in terms of the food they wanted, the places they wanted to visit and generally were always late
and impatient.
They also contributed to fun and variety and eventually everyone started liking them.
Arpit had the following complaint “6 members in my family were less than 10 years old and they
hardly ate any food and yet you charged everyone at adult rate. That’s true for room sharing also”
“ Large family value seeker” recognised Ashmita

Case Prepared by Prof. Surya Mahadevan

 4) The Senior Tourist
Shantaram and his wife both senior citizens enjoyed the experience but were often staying back in
the bus while others went out. They preferred relaxing at a serene location with the opportunity to
enjoy the company of others. Shantaram had this to day “ Ashmita, I am happy I chose your group
for my travel. I felt safe and secure and you were considerate to take care of our medical needs .It
was a hectic itinerary but we could catch our breath by skipping some locations and we were fine

Sushant looked at the feedback and asked

“Ash, these people belong to different segments, don’t they? What is the segmentation variable for each of
the segment? And what does this exercise tell you?

Case Prepared by Prof. Surya Mahadevan