Mumbai: Sachin Tendulkar may be all set to hang his boots, but there’s no dearth of opportunities for him. Now, the master blaster is on-board with Musafir.com – a new travel portal that has just made an entry in the Indian market. The cricketer has a 7.5 per cent stake in the company.

Founded in the UAE by Sachin Gadoya, Albert Dias and Mohammed Al Thani in August 2007, the site has roped in Sachin Tendulkar as its face. The portal chose the cricketer for the fact that he is a champion and a global citizen.

We understand the travel market well, says Manu Monga

“One doesn’t associate Sachin to a particular state or a region but to India. He is a global citizen and a champion and that’s what we want to establish here.” says Musafir’s marketing vice president & head Manu Monga empahsing that they have enough experience about the sector and despite of being new in India, they are not scared of the already established names in the market. “We understand the travel market well,” says Musafir’s marketing vice president & head Manu Monga empahsing that they have enough experience about the sector.

The UAE based travel portal launched in the country recently wants to be seen on the top of the hospitality sector. Universal Travels, which is the parent company of the portal, has been around for a long time in the middle-East and believes that the travel industry has boomed in India in the last seven years. “We don’t think any market can mature in such a short period of time and there is more than enough space for growth,” says Monga.

The USP of the portal will be its ability to help people plan their holidays. It wants to be known for complete travel solutions provided to the Indian travellers with exceptional customer service and several product innovations.

The site has already allotted its various duties – Publicis will handle creative duties, while Maxus will be in charge of the media planning and buying.

The company has spent around Rs 20-25 crore during its launch period. In the first leg of their promotion, Musafir.com has branded all the charging points at all major airports in the country. Apart from this, Tendulkar will be seen showing the travellers “a new way to go ghoomne” wherein Musafir.com is a new enabler encouraging “people to stop dreaming and start travelling”.

It plans to have a 360 degree marketing campaign that includes radio, television and outdoor media and will soon be launching a second phase of marketing campaign with festival and holiday season approaching.

The company plans to invest Rs 100 crore in the first year of its launch. By 2018, it aspires to be among the top five OTAs (Online Travel Agent) in India leveraging on its strong investment capability and expertise in the travel sector.