Amey Gatne: Why Being Best Known Beats Being Best in Travel Business
Amey Gatne, MD of Ethics Holidays, tells Avinash why 'Best Known' beats 'Best Product' — plus hotel upgrade secrets and why systems outlast star performers.
Most travel agents compete on price. Amey Gatne, Managing Director of Ethics Holidays, competes on something harder to copy: being Best Known. In our ABC Podcast conversation, he shared why systems outlast star performers — and why India's ₹1.5 trillion L&D market still underestimates the business case for travel itself.
TL;DR- Amey Gatne, MD of Ethics Holidays, reveals that 'Best Known' consistently outlasts 'Best Product' in the travel business
- Systems are more important than individual star performers — when the system works, any good person can deliver excellence
- Hotel room upgrade secrets: relationship, timing, and asking the right person at the right moment
- Travel is not a luxury — it measurably improves mental health, relationships, and personal growth
- Customer experience is the true differentiator in hospitality; price alone never wins long-term loyalty
Who Is Amey Gatne and What Makes Ethics Holidays Different
When I sat down with Amey Gatne on the ABC Podcast, I wasn't expecting the conversation to go as deep as it did. Amey is the Managing Director of Ethics Holidays, and he's built something rare in India's fragmented travel industry: a business where clients don't compare prices before calling, because they already know who they want to work with. That's the Best Known edge, and it's more durable than any fare comparison website.
Why Best Known Beats Best Product in the Travel Industry
Here's the thing about the travel industry that outsiders miss: it's not actually about destinations. It's about trust. When a client calls Ethics Holidays, they're not just booking a flight and a hotel — they're handing over their family's holiday or their team's offsite to someone they believe will get the details right. The agents who build that kind of trust aren't the ones with the lowest fares. They're the ones whose clients remember them by name, refer them to colleagues, and come back year after year. Amey put it plainly: being Best Known almost always outlasts being the best on paper.
| Business Principle | Best Product Approach | Best Known Approach (Ethics Holidays Model) |
|---|---|---|
| Primary differentiator | Lowest price / widest inventory | Relationship depth and trust |
| Client acquisition | Advertising, fare comparison sites | Referrals and repeat bookings |
| Vulnerability | Any competitor can undercut on price | Very hard to replicate years of relationship |
| Staff dependency | Relies on star performers | System-driven; any good person can deliver |
| Customer loyalty driver | Points and discounts | Being remembered, anticipated, taken care of |
| What clients say about you | 'They had the cheapest flights' | 'Call Amey — he never lets you down' |
| Long-term durability | Low — easily disrupted by OTAs | High — human relationships are not bookable online |
Systems Over Star Performers: The Ethics Holidays Operating Model
One of the sharpest things Amey said on the ABC Podcast was this: when you depend on a star performer, you're one resignation letter away from a crisis. When you build a system, any capable person can step in and deliver the same quality. I've seen this play out in corporate training too. Teams at Bajaj Auto and L&T that rely on one exceptional manager to hold things together are fragile. Teams with documented processes, clear SOPs, and a culture of handover are resilient. The lesson: build the system first. Hire good people second. Don't confuse the two.
Hotel Room Upgrade Secrets Indian Travellers Never Hear
Every Indian traveller has wondered why someone at the next room got an upgrade and they didn't. Amey broke it down on the podcast. First: relationship matters more than status. A travel agent who has booked 500 room-nights at a property carries more weight than a solo traveller with a loyalty card. Second: timing is everything — upgrades happen at check-in, when the front desk actually knows what's available. Third: ask the right person. The duty manager has authority; the check-in agent often doesn't. Knowing this changes your odds completely.
Why Travel Is No Longer a Luxury — It Is a Business Investment
What most professionals don't realize is that travel is not a reward you give yourself after hitting a target. It's an input that makes hitting targets possible. Amey and I talked about this directly: the data on travel and mental health is clear. Time away from the daily routine — especially travel that involves unfamiliar environments, new conversations, and physical movement — measurably reduces cortisol, improves sleep, and resets creative thinking. For the senior managers and founders I train at companies like TCS and Infosys, blocked annual leave and zero-holiday cultures are a direct drag on output quality, not a sign of commitment.
How Customer Experience Shapes Travel Businesses More Than Price
Price is a race to zero. Every time you win a client on price alone, you've told them the relationship is purely transactional — and the next cheaper option will take them from you. Amey's approach at Ethics Holidays is the opposite: invest in the experience so heavily that price becomes secondary. That means going beyond the itinerary — anticipating what the client actually wants, following up after the trip, remembering preferences from last time, and being reachable when something goes wrong at 2am in Bangkok. That kind of service is what clients talk about. It's also what they refer.
What Every Indian Entrepreneur Can Learn from the Hospitality Industry
The hospitality and travel industry teaches lessons that apply to every business, and I bring them into my corporate workshops regularly. First: the moment a customer walks in, their experience has already started — your front-of-house, your response time, your first message sets the tone before the product is even delivered. Second: systems create consistency, and consistency creates trust. Third: the relationship outlasts the transaction — your best client from five years ago should still feel known today. These aren't complicated ideas. They're just the ones most businesses skip when they're chasing the next new customer instead of deepening the ones they already have.
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Avinash Chate TEDx Speaker · Founder, The Future Corporate · 11+ yrs experience Avinash has trained Indian Army, BRO, RBI, BARC, JSW Steel and 1000+ corporate leaders across India. His work focuses on leadership development, communication skills, and behavioural training rooted in Indian values and modern business needs. |
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Amey Gatne and what is Ethics Holidays?
Amey Gatne is the Managing Director of Ethics Holidays, a travel company built on the principle that genuine customer experience outlasts competitive pricing. He appeared on the ABC Podcast with Avinash Chate to share insights from the hospitality and travel industry. Ethics Holidays has distinguished itself in India's crowded travel market not by being the cheapest option, but by being the most trusted one — the agency clients call first because they know from experience that the details will be handled.
What does 'Best Known beats Best' mean in the travel and hospitality industry?
In a commodity market like travel, where every fare is visible online, competing on price is a losing game. 'Best Known' means being the first name a client thinks of when they need to book — because you've consistently delivered not just the itinerary but the feeling of being well taken care of. Amey explained on the ABC Podcast that the travel agents who survive OTA disruption are the ones whose clients don't bother comparing prices, because the relationship itself is the product. Being Best Known requires consistent quality, genuine follow-up, and remembering what clients care about beyond the booking.
What are the real secrets to getting a hotel room upgrade in India?
Amey's hotel upgrade advice from the podcast comes down to three factors. First, relationship leverage: if your travel agent has a strong relationship with the property, their request carries far more weight than a solo guest's. Second, timing: upgrades are typically assigned at check-in, so arriving when the hotel is partially booked and the front desk has flexibility gives you the best window. Third, speak to the right person — the duty manager or front office manager has authority to make the call, while a standard check-in agent usually doesn't. A polite, direct request to the right person at the right moment is far more effective than any loyalty card tier.
How can Indian businesses build systems that don't depend on one star performer?
The answer is to document what your best performer actually does — their process, their client communication style, their decision rules — and turn it into a system that anyone with the right skills can follow. Amey's approach at Ethics Holidays is to build SOPs (standard operating procedures) for every touchpoint in the client journey, so the quality of service doesn't depend on which team member handles the booking. I reinforce this in my corporate training sessions: a team that relies on one exceptional individual to hold things together is one resignation away from a crisis. A team with strong systems is resilient by design.
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