Sangita BhattacharyyaFounder & CEO of +50plusvoyagers Published On: Monday, February 01, 2016 Views 4006

50+ Voyagers is India’s first active travel and adventure company exclusively for people aged 50 and above. We promote travel for healthy ageing, repelling depression and loneliness, which in turn reduces the risk of chronic diseases in old age.

All our trips include unique activities to enable active and social participation of travelers, rather than passive observation from the window of a coach bus. We design our own trips to offer a relaxed yet enthralling experience which includes close encounters with nature, heritage, and communities, without compromising on comfort and safety. 50+ Voyagers promote ‘alternative tourism’ to Senior Citizens e.g. Cultural Tour like Hornbill Festival of Nagaland, Adventure Holiday like Rafting in Rishikesh, Eco Tours to Wayanad, Chikamagalur, Tribal Tours in Orissa to name a few.

Having grown up in an Air Force family and having moved many times, I was bitten by Travel bug since my childhood. My parents also had an inclination towards active travel and experiencing the local flavors. Later when I moved to the USA for my corporate responsibilities, while I was planning a tour for my parents in India, which would consist of some trekking coupled with a heritage tour, I discovered that the Indian Tourism Industry lacked focus on the 50+ segment. All there was on offer were Pilgrimage tours or Leisure cookie cutter holidays in a group of 30+ people to domestic and international destinations. There were none offering a holiday experience with activities and adventures suitable for 50+ aged and Sr. Citizens. However, with increasing life expectancy and a healthy lifestyle maintained by the elders of this generation, there is a demand for ‘alternative tourism’ or more adventurous ways to see the world. To cater to this new breed of ‘Young at Heart’ adventure travelers, we have set up 50+ Voyagers Travel and Adventure Club ( 50plusvoyagers.com), focusing on active holidays to promote healthy ageing.

Know your goals, stay focused, motivated and persevere to achieve them.

The biggest challenge was to find people who are as passionate as us towards the venture.

We always look to find a person whose value system matches that of the organization and is dedicated to organizations cause. We offer internships to the student, which gives them a platform to work on various assignments and highlight their capabilities and gives us an opportunity to evaluate the candidate for a full-time prospect.

We bootstrapped with a fund of $30,000 contributed by my own savings and by family members.

Today’s young generation is motivated to work in a start-up, mainly because of diverse learning opportunities it offers. While the monetary part is important, but getting responsibilities for which they would have to wait for 3-4 years in bigger companies, keeps them motivated. We hire candidates who are potentially aligned to the company values and have a strong cultural fit with the company. We also encourage them to engage in various creative activities beyond the operational work, such as blog writing, planning workshop/events for our clients.

• Capability to Work Smart
• Adaptability to change
• Persistence

I use Google tools such as calendar, dropbox, drive along with Asana to create a co-working space. For personal task management, I use Wanderlust and Google Now.

During my tenure in Wipro, I once got an opportunity to interact with Azim Premji for the whole day, as part of Wipro Leadership Program. He told us “a successful leader keeps his/her tongue in control. Be it for food or from talking nonsense”. I have inculcated this into the habit and it does save many inefficiencies.

I have a habit of working late at night as I think I am most productive during that time.

• One tip to success:

A lot of “if-else” analysis is not healthy sometimes. One needs to take some risk, at the end of the day; it will always result in a new learning at the minimum.

• One mistake you believe every individual must avoid:

Avoiding issues one doesn’t want to deal with and interpersonal situations where one would feel uncomfortable

• One most important lesson that you have learned until now:

Do not put all sweat just to build the product, give equal importance to marketing, onboarding clients and most importantly setting up the revenue flow.

Our aim is to be recognized as a foremost brand for organized group travel in the 50+ age segment. We would like to grow 10X and grow into other cities.

I will not do anything different. I like the way it has turned out.

Kerala, North-East India and South-East Asia.

I love animation films and so Walt Disney, who once said, “easiest way to get started is to quit talking and start doing” is something I try to follow.