Skymark Travels celebrates fifth year in operation

By Rashika Fazali

With the rapid rise of tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka, businesses are becoming more competitive and innovative. Amidst this competition, which is healthy for any travel business, Skymark Travels marked its fifth successive year of survival in this tough industry.

However, growth is time consuming and hard. Skymark Travels Managing Partner Rimzi Nazeer spoke to the Daily FT on his five year journey to bring his company up to a strong position. “It was a challenging one. To be honest, there were a lot of downs than ups in the first couple of years, but I never got frustrated. It was a challenge for me. I told myself that I was going to make the negative part a positive thing,” asserted Nazeer.

Established in 2008, Skymark Travels’ main focus then was providing outbound tours. Over the years, Skymark moved into inbound tours and today is a fully serviced travel agency that handles everything from airline tickets, booking accommodation to travel tours.

Speaking about the company’s growth over the last three years, he revealed: “We have grown by 30% to 40%. It’s a big leap because now people do speak of Skymark Travels. We are also known to the top corporates now. We provide services after hours as well. Since 2008, I have created a good rapport with the embassies and the airlines.”

60% of their services are used by top companies while the rest is used by individuals, walk-ins and families. However, their overseas market consists of around 40% to 50% from the Middle East, 20% to 30% from the Far East and the balance from Europe. He added: “We mostly concentrate on the Middle East, especially Oman and Dubai.”

It is expected that the Middle Eastern sector will gradually increase to 60% over the next couple of months as most Omani and Dubai nationals visit Sri Lanka to see the greener side of the country. He stated: “There is very little interest in beaches. Most tourists want the drive to cities to consist of greenery. This is a good concept to sell Sri Lanka.”

Nazeer firmly believes that providing a good service to tourists is their key to success. Comparing Skymark to other travel companies, he said: “I think I am the best. I don’t compare my business to other travel companies because at the end of the day what I provide to my clients is a service. We are definitely price conscious like everyone today but the most important thing is service.” In this case, their service ensures that tourists are welcomed and treated well by the drivers, guides and the hotel.

With experience of over 25 years in the travel trade, Nazeer revealed that it had been his goal to start up his own travel company someday. He added: “Travel is in my blood now. There is nothing I can do beyond travel. My passion is meeting people, identifying their problems and sorting out those problems.”

Skymark Travels started off with only three employees and has grown to 11 today. It is also an approved travel agent in Bombay. Currently, the travel company is targeting holidaymakers who are looking for full packages including accommodation, travel fees, etc. As of their future plans, Nazeer stated that he wants to help increase the GDP by gaining more inbound tourists thus promoting Sri Lanka.

“We can offer a lot, but Colombo is more expensive than outstation locations, so it’s better to market areas outside Colombo because in particular the Middle East nationals prefer to visit Sri Lanka than the US due to terrorist issues,” he noted.

He also acknowledged that the country has gained a lot of praise and love from tourists. Most tourists visit Sri Lanka for the hospitality first and then the country. However, Nazeer expressed that Sri Lanka needs to move on from the 30 year long war in order to garner more tourists into the country. He is of the opinion that the country should be promoted as a seasonal country as we have hot, cold and mild weather in different locations.