Chitra Gurnani Daga Discoved best travel experiences around the world

The duo started by focusing on direct customers, offering them a number of options across the country through digital marketing. However, this was time-consuming and had a long gestation period for revenue generation. So they decided to turn to corporate clients and added outdoor activities as team-building exercises.

What is Thrillophilia?

Provider of an online booking platform intended to discover and book adventurous activities. The company's platform sells activities and experiences to corporate houses and international travelers, enabling customers to book long tours and plan adventure and activity trips online.

"Thrillophilia is the country’s most thrilling name when it comes to activities and experiences. With more than 40 M online traffic, we have catered to more than 2 Million+ customers. Started with experiences in Bangalore, today Thrillophilia sells experiences of 15 Asian countries with Dubai, Thailand, Singapore and Bali leading the charts after India."

Specialties

Trekking and Camping, Things to do in India, Experential tours, Activities and local experiences, Team building, tours and activities, e commerce, travel, technology, OTA, Adventure, leisure travel, luxury travel, international travel, and travel asia

While most people reserve their weekends for pending chores or the typical outing to a mall, others grab the tiny window to pack in some travel. For Bangalore-based Chitra and Abhishek Daga, the travel bug gave birth to Thrillophilia, a Rs 2.8 crore travel company specialising in experiential, activity-based holidays, in 2009.

“We noticed a lacuna in the travel segment. There was space for a company that could offer discerning travellers a chance to go beyond the ordinary without having to spend a fortune. The idea was to experience something beyond the usual rules and ideas of sightseeing,” says Chitra. The duo met in school in Jaipur and have known each other for 16 years now. While Chitra did her B Tech in IT from Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Technology in 2006, followed by stints at Infosys and SAP India, Abhishe ..

In mid-2010, the company faced a new challenge. Chitra was accepted at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, and had to leave for the course. Over the next year, while Abhishek managed the company, along with his job at Cisco, Chitra pitched in over trips to Bangalore every second week. Their efforts were, however, showing result. The company managed to break even in its second year of operations and the inflow of corporate clients ros

Convinced about the viability of the business, Chitra rejected a good offer during ISB placements and joined Thrillophilia. The company renewed its attention on individual travellers without shifting focus from corporate clients. Soon, it started offering domestic travellers adventure tours across Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Ladakh, Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh. Though the tours were more expensive than those offered by competitors, they got a lot of repeat customers, claims Chitra.

In 2011, the duo tied the knot and Abhishek finally quit his job to join Thrillophilia full-time as well. The Dagas are seeing a steady flow of customers and expect a revenue of Rs 6.5-7 crore by the end of this financial year. The company is looking to organised tours beyond India, starting with Southeast Asia in two years.