Travel Cue Management and Prime Travel announced merger

Shareholders cheers at the Travel Cue inaugural party held in Athens, Greece.
(Left to Right) : Nagender Chilkuri, Joanna Kaunang, Vaggelis Theodossiou, Rahul Pereira

Travel Cue Management, operating under parent organisation Connect Group, and Prime Travel have announced the merger of their businesses in October 2019. Connect group will own a 100% of Prime Travel with the merged business operating under Travel Cue brand.

Travel Cue, established in 2012, is a multinational company with a focus towards delivering service excellence coupled with a high level of expertise in managing the complexities of people mobility within each industry vertical including corporate travel. Simply put, it is a ‘Delivery of a Promise’.

Travel Cue has presence in key strategic locations, with the current network comprising of a fully integrated operational centers in Australia, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, and Vietnam.

With the addition of Greece within the Travel Cue network, under its core philosophy of operating in a unified ‘One Company’ approach, customers will benefit from an expanded servicing capability along with a truly differentiated procurement model.

“The merged entity offers an extended mobility management capability, with both customers and employees benefiting through the collaborative framework of the group”, explains Mr. Chilkuri, Managing Director at Travel Cue. “With a growing portfolio of high profile clients, the acquisition of Prime Travel supports Travel Cue’s approach of continuing to innovate towards meeting future requirements of the market as a unified provider of bespoke solutions. The merged entity will formally conclude its transition steps by end of 2019 and all staff, supplier & customer contracts will be transferred to the newly merged entity“.

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Vaggelis Theodosiou

Shareholder and Advisor

"Cyborg"

A veteran in the travel management industry for over 35 years, Vaggelis has been an experienced operator for marine travel, a Director in Athens Airport, the founder of Prime Travel in Greece and is now a valuable shareholder in our Connect Group. His extensive knowledge of travel operations and insights for value creation is a crucial ingredient to Travel Cue’s growth and momentum. His depth of experience sharpens our operations, helping us to increase our efficiency and efficacy and his life-long practice of focusing on the customer pushes us to innovate ever-greater value-add to our services. Family and friends are at the centre of Vaggelis world and he often brings them together over a barbeque pit, of which he presides over as chairman and CEO.

We build bespoke solutions for our marine clients – solutions that have consistently delivered the highest levels of service quality, speed, customer satisfaction and best-in-class cost efficiencies; all with an assuring dependability. Its how we define being on cue for our clients.

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“Travel Cue has provided us with excellent services, and their 24/7 team is very effective. Among other travel agencies, they have always offered the best rates so far.”
– Fleet Manager, Manning Company

Joanna Kaunang

Deputy Managing Director & Shareholder

Joanna believes in investing time and energy on value building and mentoring strong, effective and self-sustaining teams. She is a true-blue travel professional with education background in Travel & Tourism.

She started her career with United Airlines and Swissair, where she was part of the corporate sales team and has held leadership roles in renowned travel management companies. With a successful career spanning over 20 years, she has extensive knowledge and understanding of large-scale multinational client servicing and an expert in travel programme implementation. Joanna supports the global business needs on a day-to-day basis and oversees the network expansion. Joanna recently achieved an MBA from Sunderland University and when not at work, Joanna loves to spend time at the beach with her husband and son.

Rahul Pereira

Global Operations Head & Shareholder

Rahul’s travel career started more than 20 years ago with a Corporate Travel Management company in Mumbai. After diversifying into Marine Travel in 2003, Rahul developed a passion for handling the time-sensitive travel requirements of ships’ crew and rig rotators.

As global head of operations, Rahul’s 15 years of experience in crew travel stands him in good stead in building and managing complex operational travel solutions for customers located in multiple geographies. Rahul now calls Singapore his home having moved over 15 years ago. He takes great pleasure and is fervent about mentoring the younger members and developing the skills and future talent of the operations team around the world. Rahul is currently pursuing his MBA and when his busy schedule permits, he enjoys playing golf and travelling to relax and unwind.

Organising crew rotations involve multiple people movements which require detailed planning, proactive cost analysis and strong advocacy in the collaborative process. Experience, industry insights and surpassing technologies enable Travel Cue to deliver a structured approach for our customers; so that they can make data-driven decisions for optimal results.

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“The Travel Cue team provides support even outside of office hours, showing that the customer is their number one priority.”
– Field Engineer, Global Oil Service Company

Our ability to understand and build solutions for the Shipping industry is unparalleled.

Working 24×7 around the year, the unified team has in-depth knowledge of the intricacies in managing travel related to crew, technicians & shore based personnel with utmost care. Managing complex logistical requirements, further compounded by tight timelines and frequent last-minute changes, has become second nature in the way we operate.

With an effective global procurement we bring to our customers the best of class in cost efficiencies and quality of service standards. Leveraging technology, we bring peace of mind to our customers through transparency, accuracy and strong reliability in a genuine and caring way.

Our service design reinforces our mission towards delivering the best service while we continue to connect with our customers 24 x 7, 365 days a year.

Coordinating the intricate travel details for our clients in a highly demanding environment such as Yachting requires precision in understanding not only the industry, but each specific yacht and their purpose. This allows for efficient execution; which is a highly sought quality within the yacht travel industry.

Our expansive procurement strategy ensures we continue to build our smart sourcing, including specialist marine fares for the yacht industry. This scope is an integral part of who we are, what we believe in, and the resultant customer experience.

We continue to enhance the brand identity of Genuine Care, Professionalism & Commitment and reinforce the value perceived by our customers through the experience of quality services.

Travel, regardless of the industry, is a 24 x 7 service as it is not limited to a location, it is global. Our travel technologies and unprecedented service enable seamless travel solutions within sectors such as, Law, Media & Advertising, Medical, etc. Every customer, regardless of time of day, time of the year or nature of Travel, Travel Cue ensures the ability to empower each and every travel programme.

Optimos

Optimised for your travel performance

Dedicated customer service (email & phone)
Travel reservation & ticketing
Change & cancellation management
Refund management
Less than 5-day refunds
Client profile management
Credit management
24/7 Emergency service
Duty of care
Customised management report
Assigned account manager

Neeraj Yeswant

Chief Technology Officer

"Cyborg"

Neeraj is our Chief Technology Officer and he has been at the helm of our Group’s technology initiatives since 2013. His uncanny ability to bring disruptive, breakthrough technologies to bear on travel management processes and systems has enabled us to deliver the elevated levels of service to our clients.

Neeraj’s career first began with Tata Consultancy in 2001, where he specialized in Business Intelligence (BI) solutions where he developed innovative tools for sales reporting and tracking. Acting as the primary bridge between developers and non-technical clients, he honed his skills in effective communication and solution delivery. In 2005, he joined Griffin Travel and spearheaded the implementation of critical BI initiatives within our Group while overseeing the in-house software development team until 2012.

Under Neeraj’s visionary leadership, our technology platform has been transformed, revolutionizing our front-, mid- and back-office systems into a unified, seamless eco-system. While crafting robust BI solutions remains a core focus, he continually defines and refines our internal systems into ever-higher levels of efficiency. Neeraj excels in understanding our business by fostering functional collaboration with his peers, subordinates, and the management team.

Dedicated to staying on the cutting edge of technology, Neeraj has pursued numerous technical qualifications, including certifications in Informatics 5i Advanced mapping design, OCP level 1, Six Sigma Green Belt, TCS SAP Business Objects, ITIL V3 Foundation, and AIX 6 System Administration. He has also completed prestigious programs such as Insead’s “Design Thinking and Creativity for Business” and MIT Sloan’s “AI: Implications for Business Strategy”.

Precision is a pivotal feature in travel management in the yachting industry. Granularity of details like knowledge of specific yachts, their purposes and crew preferences are all key to our success in our services to the yachting sector.

Our expansive procurement for the marine sector gives us the unique ability to offer specialist marine fares to our yachting clients. We’d love an opportunity to journey with you and create optimal cost outcomes for your travel programmes

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“We have been very happy and impressed by the team throughout the year. It has been a difficult one for all especially when it comes to travel. We look forward to working with you into the coming years”
– Captain, yachting management company
“… I can’t thank [you] enough … and all your team for this great job you’ve been doing. Traveling been challenging last year and very often we had to rearrange the flights last minute. The whole team of Travel Cue been extremely helpful and flexible, reliable and very quick with responding… ”
– Marine Administrator, yachting management company
Travel Cue commercial travel clients enjoy an array of performance-enhancing advantages:
  • Experienced consulting
  • Fine-tuning of travel programmes
  • Better process engineering
  • Cost efficiencies through the economies of scale that we can offer
Your business depends on your people. Taking care of each one of them so that they travel well, on time and get back home safely, is ours.

“We are very happy with the service that Travel Cue provides and can count on them for any required bookings. Whenever there have been any minor issues, they have been rectified straight away. We would happily recommend them to other companies.“  – Office Manager, Engineering Consultant Company

Accent

Designed to give you the advantage

Dedicated customer service (email & phone)
Travel reservation & ticketing
Change & cancellation management
Refund management
Less than 5-day refunds
Client profile management
Credit management
24/7 Emergency service
Duty of care
Customised management report
Assigned account manager
Data analytics
Accounts reconciliation
Multi-currency billing & settlement
Loyalty programme management
Account management
CO2 reporting & offsetting
Online booking tool
Itinerary management

Concierge services that go further

A dedicated, round-the-clock and around-the-globe team ensures that every journey embarked is maximised for care, comfort and fulfilment of every detail

Concierge service

Third-party system integration

Enhanced crew / project mobility management

Suite of services

Dedicated customer service (email & phone)
Travel reservation & ticketing
Change & cancellation management
Refund management
Less than 5-day refunds
Client profile management
Credit management
24/7 Emergency service
Duty of care
Customised management report
Assigned account manager
Data analytics
Accounts reconciliation
Multi-currency billing & settlement
Loyalty programme management
Account management
CO2 reporting & offsetting
Online booking tool
Itinerary management
Concierge service
Enhanced crew / project mobility management
Third-party system integration

Nagender Chikuri

Group CEO

"Transformer"

Prior to Travel Cue, Nagender worked at Griffin Travel from 1995 till 2011 where he developed and implemented high growth business environments and expanded the operations through the Asia Pacific region, servicing large global customers. He started his career in the travel industry in 1991 after a six year stint in the Indian Army.

With over 25 years of industry experience in acquiring and managing customers in Shipping, Marine, Offshore and Oil & Gas industries, Nagender has held key operational and management positions and is passionate about building innovative organisations and high performing teams.

He holds an MBA from Northumbria University and is a graduate of the Harvard Business School General Management Program. When not at work, Nagender enjoys playing golf and spending time with his wife, daughters, and their four dogs.

Joanna Kaunang

Group Managing Director

"Orchestrator"

Joanna believes in investing time and energy on value building and mentoring strong, effective and self-sustaining teams. She is a true-blue travel professional with education background in Travel & Tourism. She started her career with United Airlines and Swissair, where she was part of the corporate sales team and has held leadership roles in renowned travel management companies. With a successful career spanning over 20 years, she has extensive knowledge and understanding of large-scale multinational client servicing and an expert in travel programme implementation. Joanna supports the global business needs on a day-to-day basis and oversees the network expansion. Joanna recently achieved an MBA from Sunderland University and when not at work, Joanna loves to spend time at the beach with her husband and son.

Rahul Pereira

Chief Operating Officer

"Enforcer"

Rahul’s travel career started more than 20 years ago with a Corporate Travel Management company in Mumbai. After diversifying into Marine Travel in 2003, Rahul developed a passion for handling the time-sensitive travel requirements of ships’ crew and rig rotators.

As global head of operations, Rahul’s 15 years of experience in crew travel stands him in good stead in building and managing complex operational travel solutions for customers located in multiple geographies. Rahul now calls Singapore his home having moved over 15 years ago. He takes great pleasure and is fervent about mentoring the younger members and developing the skills and future talent of the operations team around the world. Rahul is currently pursuing his MBA and when his busy schedule permits, he enjoys playing golf and travelling to relax and unwind.

Nagender Rao Chilkuri

Group Managing Director & Shareholder

Prior to Travel Cue, Nagender worked at Griffin Travel from 1995 till 2011 where he developed and implemented high growth business environments and expanded the operations through the Asia Pacific region, servicing large global customers. He started his career in the travel industry in 1991 after a six year stint in the Indian Army.

With over 25 years of industry experience in acquiring and managing customers in Shipping, Marine, Offshore and Oil & Gas industries, Nagender has held key operational and management positions and is passionate about building innovative organisations and high performing teams.

He holds an MBA from Northumbria University and is a graduate of the Harvard Business School General Management Program. When not at work, Nagender enjoys playing golf and spending time with his wife, daughters, and their four dogs.