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Tatas consolidating travel agency business

Reeba Zachariah

The Tata group is consolidating its travel agency business. Taj Services Ltd, part of the Taj group of hotels, is planning to merge Stallion Agency with itself. At Stallion Agency, Mohini Dutta and family holds 80 per cent stake while the balance 20 per cent is held by Tata Industries.

Karin Dutta, executive director of Stallion Agency, confirmed the development while refusing to divulge further details.

A senior Indian Hotels official said Stallion Agency was going to be a part of Taj Services and the details for the possible merger are being discussed.

The earlier gameplan was to bring Taj Services, Stallion Agency and Forvol International Services, part of Forbes Gokak (when it was part of the Tata group) under the Tata Finance umbrella.

"The move was designed to have a bigger and larger entity in terms of turnover, and a larger clientele. It would have been mutually beneficial to all the three parties," sources in Forbes Gokak said.

With Tata Finance running into problems and the Tatas exiting Forbes Gokak, the proposal did not materialise.

"There was no progress on the earlier gameplan," Forbes Gokak sources added. Forvol International will continue as a separate entity within the Forbes group, they explained.

The Rs 250-million Stallion Agency is an IATA-approved travel agency with offices in Mumbai and Bangalore. Apart from the Dutta family, the Tata group has Noshir Driver and Farokh Subedar as nominees on the board. Taj Services provides ticketing, rent-a-car and air charter services.

Forvol International Services, is in the business of travel agency and freight forwarding.

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