Celebrating a 30th anniversary is a big deal, but it doesn’t always have to involve having a party.

So instead of holding a birthday bash, family-owned operator Indus Experiences decided a better way to mark the milestone would be to reward agents with enhanced commission to thank them for their support over the past 30 years.

Managing director Yasin Zargar told TTG the London-based independent started its journey offering tailor-made trips to India in 1995, with agents playing an increasingly pivotal role in its success over the year, including its recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We thought about having a party to say thank you to our trade partners, but when we looked into it, the logistics would have be difficult as we have agents spread all over the country,” he explained.

"As a thank you, we decided to offer a 2% commission uplift until 31 December. Agents have had trust in us and helped us to survive."

The trade currently accounts for 70% of the operator’s sales, but the commission boost is just one of the ways Indus hopes to increase bookings through agents during its 30th anniversary year.

Early days

Zargar recalled the inspiration for Indus Experiences came from a lack of tailor-made touring options to India in the mid-1990s.

"In 1995, you had the big operators offering one or two-week packages – these were set itineraries so I had the idea of offering tailor-made holidays to India,” he said. “It was tough because it was new, but we slowly started to get a bit of a response from the market.”

After eight years of largely selling direct to consumers, Indus began working with the trade in the early 2000s and joined the Elite Travel Group.

"It wasn’t easy but we started to showcase what we did and found a bit of recognition with agents who sold tailor-made to long-haul destinations,” Zargar continued. “We started to build our name by offering India, Nepal and Bhutan.”

Since then, Indus has expanded its product range to include Sri Lanka, Indochina, Uzbekistan and mostly recently Pakistan. While most trips sold through agents are tailor-made, it also offers a range of special interest group tours.

"It’s mainly through our clients’ wishlists that we’ve added other destinations,” added Zargar. “With Pakistan, it was inspired by repeat travellers who said they would love to go to Pakistan. We have a very good partner in Pakistan and our client had a fantastic holiday.”

Indus is now offering three new tailor-made itineraries to Pakistan, including trips to the mountains and valleys of the north, and ancient sites in the south.

Future plans

Indus Experiences is keen to further develop and deepen its ties with the trade. It rejoined Aito last year after a Covid-related hiatus to attract more of the association’s specialist agents, with “enquiries from the Aito family now coming in”.

As well as offering the higher rate of commission to the trade for the rest of 2025, agents who make £30,000 in sales during this period will qualify to continue earning the higher commission level until the end of next year.

The operator is also planning a series of educationals in 2026 and beyond. This programme will include two trips to India, as well as itineraries to Bhutan and Sri Lanka, with another two to be announced imminently.

Meanwhile, the trade sales team, headed up by marketing director Asiya Zargar, will be hitting the road to call on agents around the UK in the next few months. “Visiting agents for face-to-face training and answering questions on our destinations is what we love most to do,” said Zargar.

As for further product expansion, Zargar is focused on taking advantage of major infrastructure projects in India, including new highways, airports and rail services, to introduce lesser-known parts of the destination.

"There’s a lot happeningto open up remote areas of the country,” he added. “We are enhancing our products so we can provide more itineraries to our trade partners and give them more options to sell.”

Being able to provide more “in-depth” experiences to clients has been one of the biggest changes noticed by Zargar in the past 30 years. “You have to be different from the run-of-the-mill – clients have access to so much information and that’s helping them to make informed decisions,” he added.

"Three decades on, our original ethos – based on integrity, local expertise and personal service – remains at the heart of everything we do.”