VFS Global, advancing its pre-season engagement with the travel trade in India, organised a series of roadshows across 12 cities in February and March. The roadshows enabled the company to share insights on their plans for the upcoming peak travel season and provided the agents a platform to address the challenges that they encounter.
The programme commenced in Bhubaneswar on 19 February and concluded on 26 March in Kochi. The other cities where these roadshows were conducted include Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Jalandhar, Chandigarh, New Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, and Chennai. Over 1,200 agents from across these cities participated in the event.
The events focussed on the need to book appointments in advance as most countries accept visa applications up to 90 days (3 months) before the date of travel. According to the revised Schengen Visa Code, effective 09th February 2020, one can apply for a Schengen visa up to 6 months before the date of travel.
Another issue that was reiterated at the meet was that visa appointments are free and it’s only available on www.vfsglobal.com.
The agents were also updated on the operational changes taking place within the regions and VFS Global took the opportunity to promote Visa At Your Doorstep (VAYD), services and Premium Lounge.
The VFS Global team who addressed the travel agent community were Vishal Jairath, Head—South Asia, Visa Operations; Sharad Gowani, Regional Head—West, and Jaya Amit Mitra, Regional Head—South India, Sri Lanka and Maldives.
The event received overwhelming response from travel association such as the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), and the Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI). Jyoti Mayal, President TAAI and Ajay Prakash, President, TAFI, addressed the agent community in Delhi and Mumbai respectively.
