A seasoned travel professional with over four decades’ industry experience, Balaji Krishnamurthy has a proven track record of success in the industry. Throughout his illustrious career, Balaji has transformed ideas into thriving businesses in the field, blending innovation with simplicity and ethical business practices. With a vision to empower and inspire people, he has been scaling businesses throughout his journey. As someone who has lived through and been passionate about the evolution of the travel industry, Balaji Krishnamurthy continues to play an instrumental role in thriving the travel ecosystem.
Spark Behind the Journey
We started the session by asking, “What first inspired you to pursue your current industry or professional path? Was there a defining moment or influence that shaped your direction?”
Balaji Krishnamurthy shared, “When I was in a dilemma to choose my career at the age of 24, I was given 2 options by my cousin cum mentor to choose between a desk job (within closed doors) or an outdoor job where I would be able to engage in meeting people across communities and continents, and he mentioned about travel industry which inspired me. He also mentioned that the travel industry may not pay well and I may get a 4-figure salary only after 3 to 4 years of experience. Without hesitation, I chose my personality as my future and commenced my passionate journey in the travel industry in February 1984, which has become my DNA and Character.
Navigating through Challenging Phases
Challenges are an inevitable part of every professional journey’s growth. To learn more, we asked, “Can you describe one significant challenge you’ve faced in your career or business, and how you successfully overcame it?”
Balaji Krishnamurthy explained, there is no success without challenges. Here you have 2 choices 1) “accept challenges boldly and convert into opportunities 2) Avoid the challenges and get into an unexpected trap.
I have faced two major setbacks so far which many of us would have faced. the 2008 global recession and the COVID-19 pandemic — both of which deeply affected the travel industry.
The global recession in 2008 was a nightmare, where I witnessed everything failing and the situation was critical. I was depressed as everyone was talking negatively and I barely had money in my hand. When I decided to move to India for good by 2009, I was informed that I should get familiar with the online travel business as the traditional offline business is fading. The online travel was like Ghost to me as I did not have any clue. Here I took a plunge into online travel with the mind-set ‘bend with the wind’ instead of ‘breaking with the wind.’ I learned key aspects of online travel and few important online travel tech vocabularies for a week and took the challenge of establishing TBO MEA in Dubai in January 2010 followed by setting up JLT FZ entity in 2011. I am grateful to Ankush Nijhawan and Gaurav Bhatnagar for the Trust and Confidence in me.
During recession and Covid 19, my Art of Living practices such as breathing techniques, yoga, meditation, knowledge courses etc. helped me immensely to overcome depression and stress. AOL taught me strong lessons like ‘Never give-up, Break the barriers, Opportunities born out of challenges, have faith in Divine and be patient, Good is bound to happen after bad times, keep moving and dream Big.’
It has not only changed me as a better person, but has helped me assist my colleagues and friends who faced similar situations, particularly during Covid, where I conducted online stress-busting workshops for Travel Agent colleagues across MEA.
Potential Trends of the Future
Interested in gaining more industry insights, we asked Balaji Krishnamurthy to share the key trends or changes he believes will shape the future of his industry over the next 3–5 years.
“The world has gone borderless through the Internet and online more, especially in the travel industry where you connect the world and its communities beautifully & automatically. The travel business is getting simplified where You have multiple options (a) for booking your travel (b) mode of transportation (c) currency and payment (d) several options for budget travellers (e) for multilingual communications (f) to easily adapt to cultural differences, to name a few, as these things are simplified through technology and user friendly mobile apps
AI is going to simplify travel even for first-time travellers and make it more easy for budget travellers to explore destinations across the globe. I believe travel will become a common habit across communities and geographies,” Balaji comments.
Uncertainties in the Travel Landscape
We further asked, “What are the key challenges faced by your Industry?”
“The travel industry is filled with challenges such as unexpected regional and political disturbances, economic and climate change, tourism overcrowding, Currency fluctuations. Moreover, issues like border crossing and delays in issuance of visa, health and hygiene, safety and security at destinations, inadequate tourism infrastructures, among others,” explained Balaji.
Plans for the Career Path
To learn more about the plans Balaji Krishnamurthy has for his career path, we asked, “What are your long-term aspirations for your company or role you would like to play in the Travel & Tourism Industry, and what strategies are you implementing to reach them?”
Balaji Krishnamurthy shared, “Travel and Tourism being my DNA, I would like to contribute to this Industry in some form or the other. Having said that, I would like to focus on empowering Travel Agents and their bookers to learn and earn more, educate TA’S to serve their clients with care and empathy to gain their trust and confidence, help to promote destinations that have a social and economic impact and do my best to Simplify travel. Moreover, I would like to help/guide young generations and those interested to opt travel as their career. I am also keen to help those Travel Agents/ TMC which has negative business impact and mentor leaders who could not achieve their dreams.”
AI for Better Travel Experience
AI is redefining the way businesses operate. So, we asked, “How do you see artificial intelligence and emerging technologies influencing your industry or business model?”
“Travel will be more simplified. It should help optimize operations and related costs, improve customer experience and lead to borderless travel,” he added.
Values Guiding Balaji Krishnamurthy Forward
Intrigued to understand the core values or guiding principles that influence Balaji Krishnamurthy’s decisions and helped organizations he worked for, we asked him to share the same.
“I can list a lot of such core values as every such value has helped me and my Organization in some situation or the other throughout my career for over four decades. To make a few, adaptability and innovation, customer-centricity, ethics and integrity, employee engagement and talent retention, agility, compassion and care, financial discipline, and accountability guide me forward in my journey,” he commented.
Embracing Innovative Practices
We also asked, “Can you share an innovative strategy or approach that helped your company stand out or achieve a breakthrough?”
Balaji Krishnamurthy replied, “Small is big, retail focus, education empowerment of SME segments, emotional equations, breaking the myths that are outdated are a few examples.”
Evolution as a Leader
Lastly, we asked, “How has your leadership style evolved throughout your journey, and what lessons have shaped your approach to leading teams or businesses?”
“Strong relationships beyond business with both internal and external members in trade are very important. Trust and confidence happen through emotional and psychological connections, which play a significant role in the travel business. I believe in bringing the best of extraordinary efforts out of ordinary people, as God has been kind enough to entrust some talents with every human being, where many ignore their own talents.
I strongly believe business should be handled through the Mind and relationships through the heart, where many get confused and fail. I always used to tell my Sales team to work like a Bakala – a small grocery market in the GCC region, where every client, every transaction, every day, and selling every product is important to achieve your given objective. As business is mutually inclusive, I always insist on my sales team/ Front runners to grow on our own Unique strengths/ Value propositions instead of badmouthing competition.” Balaji shared.
To gain deep industry insight, connect with Balaji Krishnamurthy on LinkedIn.
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