Innovation in the Indian travel & hospitality industry

We have all met the 'cab driver from hell' at one time or the other. There are so many types of cab drivers who can ruin your cab journey - the one who drives badly, the one who talks on his mobile while he drives, the one who suffocates you with body odor and so on. 

For me, the most novel unsettling cabbie experience was in Malaysia. We took a cab from Melacca to Kuala Lumpur. The cabbie politely asked us if he could bring his wife along since he wanted her to see Kuala Lumpur. We said 'sure' since there was just me and my wife in the back and the front seat was empty. As soon as his wife got into the car, he took her hand in his left hand while his right hand was on the steering wheel. It was a stick-shift car. When he had to change gears, he let go of the steering wheel, changed gear and then brought back his right hand to the steering, while his left hand continued to hold his wife's hand. I watched this for a few minutes. I did not want to interrupt what seemed to be a romantic moment for both of them. But when I realized, he planned to do this for the entire 3 hour drive, I said - 'Excuse me, can you please drive with both hands, we are getting nervous'. It took a moment for him to understand what I meant after which he brought both hands to the steering wheel. 

I came across two interesting companies which want to address the 'cab driver from hell' problem.

Savaari which offers cabs and good quality drivers across 60 cities in India with a web-based booking system which offers the convenience of booking a cab from anywhere in the world (available at savaari.com). This solves the last-mile problem - till recently you could book airline ticket/hotel through the web but not a cab. It also creates a branded cab service where quality of service is assured.  

GlobalThen which offers training solutions to the travel and hospitality industry. You can read about the company at globalthen.com and specifically about the cab driver training at

 globalthen.com/baburaokikahani

If these companies can pull it off, it will help substantially in the Government's 'Atithi Devo Bhavah' Program