Sub: Rural Tourism Network Enterprise s Destination Management Company partnership proposal.

Transcription

1 Date: To, Sub: Rural Tourism Network Enterprise s Destination Management Company partnership proposal. Greetings from Rural Tourism Network Enterprise [RTNE 1 ]!! RTNE is established with a mission to bridge the rural tourism supply chain gaps by identifying and investing in financially viable rural tourism business opportunities which positively impact the host communities and provide sustainable solutions to travelers, accommodation providers and travel service providers in technology, marketing and finance. RTNE is incubated by IFMR Ventures; a SEBI registered Fund Management Company [a wholly owned subsidiary of IFMR Trust 2 which manages the Network Enterprises Fund]. RTNE works with a network of Destination Management Companies [DMC] who act as a Destination steward and focus on the sustainable development of the destination. A DMC is core to RTNE intensively work with smaller disaggregated accommodation options on improving the Infrastructure by providing access to financial and non financial resources and Services through handholding and training. The objective of DMC is to improve the Revenues per available room in the destinations. The roles of a Destination Management Company: 1. To collect content 3 on destinations and rural home-stays in a predefined format/template To carry out quality checks of such accommodations and keep a tab on what is available and what is not. 3. To manage relationships with rural accommodation owners and provide details of room availability within a specific turn-around time. 4. To provide post-sales support. 5. To guide and train people managing accommodations on the minimum standards necessary to host guests. 6. A DMC will employ its staff Destination Lead to handle any post sales queries. Destination lead will be local contact point. 7. A DMC has to keep RTNE informed in regarding the bookings and confirmations. 8. In addition to this, RTNE will roll out various value-added services on the DMC model which will have a significant positive impact on sales of the DMC. 1 RTNE is legally registered as NE Rural Tourism Private limited. 2 For more information please refer 3 DMC should have a digital camera to take picture and a GPS [RTNE can help to procure, if needed] to collect lat-long of the point of interest and stay option. 4 Template will be provided to the DMC and will vary from destination to destination.

2 The benefits of a RTNE franchised DMC: 1. RTNE s marketing team work with multiple distribution channels and aggregates destination demand of customer s looking for accommodation options at various price points and diverts such demand to the Destination Management Company. 2. RTNE proposes to strengthen the marketing channel by a dedicated a team of marketing professional who will network with Travel Agents across the country India. 3. RTNE regional team will help DMC to negotiate and contract better rates and travel agent commission from the listed accommodation options over a period of time. 4. RTNE will provide back-end support like product and package development, content management services, payment gateway support to the DMC. 5. RTNE will represent the DMC and all the affiliate properties in various National and International travel trade shows and seminars. 6. RTNE will continuously support and build DMC capacities to provide product designing, packaging and pricing through its market intelligence and seasonality trends to all the affiliate properties. 7. A DMC will be able to list unlimited number of Deals & Packages for the destination or for hotel on RTNE and its partner portal. 8. A franchisee gets immediate access to RTNE existing business associates like KonkanYatra, HolidayIQ, Bharathomestay.com, MustseeIndia.com, Kamat Eco-tours, euttranchal.com [many more to come] and to +500 direct/indirect travel agents. 9. A DMC will get an access to RTNE feedback collection module and will be part of quality and service improvement at accommodation provider level. The feedbacks/appreciation notes and country wide rating will be made available to the travelers which will improve the sales of the affiliated properties. 10. RTNE also aims to provide access to financial and non-financial resources to large no. of accommodation options to improve quality of infrastructure and services through its DMC network.

3 Payment Terms & Conditions: 1. RTNE business model is still evolving and to start with RTNE is proposing a very flat structure wherein 30% of the total Travel agent commission earned 5 from a Destination during a period is passed on to the respective DMC as a DMC share. RTNE s DMC model is primarily build on demand aggregation and large volume of sales and 30% of such large would be remunerative. 2. The payments to the DMCs are settled on a fortnightly basis or on need basis and will depending on volumes will go to weekly basis. 3. The payment to accommodation owner will be credited directly into the DMC bank account as specified in the sign-up form. 4. There may instances wherein large bookings are made to a specific accommodation provider and in such cases the payment is settled on mutually agreed terms. Please refer to Other terms & conditions for details. RTNE s vision is to become a partner of choice in the rural tourism industry providing financial and non-financial resources and believes that a partnership model with clear defined roles will have substantial impact on the Rural Tourism Industry. We assure of quality services and complete transparency in pricing and look forward to long association with you. Warm regards, For Rural Tourism Network Enterprise 5 For example a DMC offers say 50 stay options categorized in A 25% Travel Agent Commission [TAC]; B 20% TAC and % TAC to agents; sales done by RTNE on each of them; DMC will be entitled to 7.5%; 6%; 4.5% respectively. The same revenue share will be applicable to products & packages.

4 Other terms & conditions The Destination Management Company hereby contracts with NE Rural Tourism Private Limited. [ RTNE ] as follows: Definitions: "Commission" is a payment owed to RTNE for distribution Services provided by DMC, whether such payment is in the form of a percentage commission or payment, payment of a flat fee or payment of an incentive or override. "DMC share" is each amount paid to DMC paid to by RTNE, less any fees due from DMC to RTNE and any applicable taxes. "Payment Period" means the period of time to which a payment of DMC share relates. RTNE will settle payment every 15 days and will eventually move to weekly settlement of payments. 1. DMC share payments: RTNE shall, in every 15 days (a) consolidate the DMC sales records and DMC share with respect to such Payment Period; (b) pay to DMC by direct deposit to the Bank Account/NEFT transfer/cheque as specified by the DMC; 2. Term and Termination: This Agreement shall remain in effect until terminated by either party upon providing ninety (90) days prior written notice of termination. 3. Fulfillment: DMC shall be shall be solely and exclusively responsible for fulfillment of the stay options if in case the stay option booked by customer is over-booked [double booking]; is not suitable to stay due to some unforeseen circumstances or natural calamities at the same rate as paid by customer. 4. Remedies: DMC acknowledge and undertake that monetary damages may not be a sufficient remedy for unauthorized use/circulation/transmission or disclosure of any Confidential Information and that the RTNE shall be entitled, without waiving any other rights or remedies, to seek such injunctive or other relief as may be deemed proper by a court of competent jurisdiction. 5. Disclaimer: In the event that the RTNE provides any computer software/technology as the case may be to the DMC as Confidential Information under the terms of this Agreement, such computer software/technology may only be used by the DMC for RTNE delegated work. Unless otherwise agreed by the parties, all such computer software/technology is provided on AS IS BASIS without warranty of any kind, and the DMC agrees that RTNE shall not be liable for any damages whatsoever arising from or relating to its use or inability to use such software by the DMC. 6. Relationship of the parties: This agreement is on Principal to Principal basis. The relationship of the parties under this Agreement is and at all times shall remain that of independent entities/contractors and accordingly this deed of Agreement shall not create any employer, employee relationship between the parties. 7. Communication of Notice: Any notice given hereunder shall be in writing and shall be delivered by hand, certified mail, facsimile transmission or overnight delivery. 8. RTNE or DMC may disclose the existence of this Agreement in releases to the public or otherwise but agree that the terms of this Agreement shall be kept confidential. RTNE may use the DMC s name and address in any listing, advertisement or promotional material to indicate that the DMC has signed this Agreement and works with RTNE as DMC. 9. Any proprietary information disclosed to DMC by RTNE or its representatives shall be treated as confidential and not disclosed to any third party without RTNE s prior approval.

5 10. This Agreement embodies the entire agreement of the parties relating to the subject matter hereof and supersedes all prior understandings or agreements [if any] between the parties relating to the same, and all agreements in effect prior to the date hereof with respect to the subject matter hereof are hereby terminated. 11. A DMC shall not assign any of its rights under this Agreement without the prior written consent of RTNE. This Agreement shall be binding upon and shall inure to the benefit of the heirs, successors and assigns of the parties hereto. 12. This Agreement may not be amended or modified other than by a written agreement executed by all of the parties hereto or their successors and assigns. 13. Force Majeure: Neither party shall be responsible for any failure to fulfill its obligations hereunder due to causes beyond its reasonable control, including without limitation acts or omissions of government or military authority, acts of God, fires, floods, labor disturbances, riots, or wars. 14. Validity/Termination/Cancellation of the agreement: a. This agreement shall remain in force for a period of 1 year effective from the day of signing of the Travel Associate Membership Agreement, subject to renewal in writing on such terms and conditions as may be mutually decided by both the parties. b. RTNE shall, in the event of the DMC committing any breach of any of the terms and conditions of this agreement or for any other reason considered by the RTNE as sufficient, be entitled to terminate this agreement immediately by giving notice to the effect in writing. c. The DMC shall not be entitled to any compensation in case of such termination set out at (b) herein above. d. It is agreed that either party to this agreement may terminate this Agreement before expiry of this contract by giving 90 days clear notice in writing. e. The termination of this Agreement shall not relieve the DMC /or their employees, consultants, agents etc. of its obligations. 15. Jurisdiction: Any dispute or disagreement shall first be attempted to be resolved amicably by the top- level executives of both the parties duly authorized in this behalf. If the dispute is not resolved amicably, then it shall be referred to and resolved by arbitration. Arbitration for resolutions of such disputes shall be in accordance with the provisions of the Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996 as amended from time to time. The venue of such arbitration shall be at Chennai. If matter is not resolved by the arbitration then the dispute shall be referred to and decided by the court of competent jurisdiction at Chennai. In witness whereof the duly authorized representatives of the parties each acting with proper authority have caused this Agreement to be executed on the date written above. Signed on behalf of DMC Signed on behalf of RTNE Name Date Name Date