A unique partnership: Classic Travel and Funtime

The travel and leisure industry and the event production business saw the birth of a new phenomenon when Classic Travel partnered with showbiz veteran Imran Saibo of Funtime to launch Classic Funtime. Following are excerpts of an interview with Saibo and Saif Yusoof, Managing Director of EFL and Director at Classic Travel:

Q: As a veteran in the entertainment industry, how would you rate the productions put on locally when compared with those done both in the region as well as in First World countries?

Imran Saibo: Our productions locally have improved by leaps and bounds and if you compare within the region, we would easily be amongst the best. I say this from first hand experience having done shows outside Sri Lanka. In comparison to First World countries we have the capacity to put on a spectacle at far lower rates and on par with what they have, but we still have a long way to go technologically. This is not so much due to the lack of knowledge as much as it is due to financial considerations, since our audiences are small in comparison to the west and the economies of scale come into play when revenue needs to be calculated. 

Q: What was the purpose of entering into this partnership with Funtime? 

Saif Yusoof: A partnership with Funtime allows us to expand our offerings in the MICE sector. We want to create great experiences in the leisure value chain and this can only be done if you bring in established partners and experts in business. We already offer packages for honeymoons and destinations and Funtime’s portfolio complements our business. Our partnership allows us the opportunity to redefine the experience of Sri Lanka travel and complements MICE sector. 

Q: Is entertainment and spectacle fast becoming an important part of corporate life?

SY: It is definitely a part of corporate culture now as all companies have their mix of both internal and external events. We don’t have to go far, just look at Funtime’s list of clients and you would find that most of the top corporates in the country enlist their services on a regular basis.  

Q: As an entertainment industry veteran, how does this alliance with Classic Travel and the Expolanka Group help you?

IS: My relationship with Expolanka and its associated companies goes a long way both professionally and personally, so when Saif first suggested this alliance I was not really certain of what it meant, but I realised that for the first time we would be able to offer clients a one stop shop for everything from events, to conferences and destination weddings, etc. The other most important thing is that we are now partnered with one of the leading players in the corporate travel market, a company that is already serving the same market in which we operate.

Q: What do you perceive as the drawbacks your counterparts face in furthering their business?

IS: I personally prefer to produce my own events based on a client brief and I think one of the challenges we face in the industry is the lack of creative thinking; the tendency being to take the easy way out and simply deliver without enhancing the end result. This can lead to a stagnation and a similarity in events.

Q: Would Classic Funtime be handling all of your Group’s entertainment and conference business? 

SY: As a first step, we are looking to identify our respective strengths and see what we can offer as a combined solution to our existing clients and the group. As we rollout, the group will definitely be among the best to first into this combined solution. 

Q: Would this alliance with Classic Travels restrict you in any way to attending to your other clients?

IS: On the contrary it would give us the opportunity to offer our clients a range of services that didn’t exist before. It also gives our clients the security of knowing that they are dealing with a company that can now leverage on the strengths of their partner and provide a complete solution. Sri lanka is a relatively small market and I’m certain some of our clients are already clients of Expolanka or in some way involved in doing business with the group.

Q: What would be the advantages that Classic Travels would have over your competitors as a result of this alliance with Funtime?

SY: It would have to be in the form of the synergies that we adopt being part of the same business. We have both worked in the corporate travel market and seen the changing trends and requirements, so collectively we can now work together as a team using our capabilities to ensure that we are a step ahead and giving customers what they want, sometimes even before they want it. 

Q: Would you now be in a position to source the latest equipment available as a result of this alliance which hitherto was unaffordable?

IS: More than sourcing of equipment, it is the potential of long term event related investments in the travel and leisure sector that excite us. This partnership allows us to create and formulate ideas that can make the tourism industry come alive and creates an opportunity for Classic and Funtime to further establish Sri Lanka as a destination for leisure. 

Q: What are your plans for the Expolanka Group and Classic Funtime? 

SY: The relationship is just starting and we are studying our respective strengths and looking at our common relationships to see where we can leverage to provide better offerings to our customers. Our bigger goal is to help tourism become more refined in the country. If you look at Sri Lanka’s offerings, it centers around visiting beaches, historical places etc. In all of this, Colombo is just a stopover for some shopping and relaxing. It is not a destination as it does not offer the needed entertainment attractions usually attached to a large and capital city and that is something we need to build on. 

Q: Would you wish your son to follow in your footsteps?

IS: When I embarked on this adventure I did so armed with a degree in Economics and a vast store of general knowledge spurred on by my interests in literature, theater and the arts. For my son, my wish is to find a profession that gives him fulfillment both financially and mentally. I am a strong believer in having the right foundation by having a good education laced with a generous helping of general knowledge. His childhood and teenage years was spent in the company of musicians, artistes, music and entertainment and it is only natural that he would gravitate towards this world, in fact he has already opened his own company at the age of 16 called Explicit Entertainment overseas, with the parental qualification that his school grades cannot suffer due to this.

Q: As a sportsman, would you be in a better position now as a result of Classic Funtime, to woo international sporting events to Sri Lanka?

SY: Sports has always been a passion for me and while I would hope to one day be part of a large event, I feel we have a long way to go before we can do that. The country has been relatively successful in attracting some major events, but we are still not a top of mind destination. We need to build that awareness by creating everlasting experiences so that global sporting giants have us amongst their top destinations for events. 

Q: Instead of bringing aged performers who are long past their prime, would Classic Funtime be able to bring down current stars at affordable rates for Sri Lankan audiences? 

IS: I have been asked this question before and my answer remains the same; current stars are huge investments that most times do not make financial sense, since our audiences are far too small to cover expenses from sale of tickets, which leaves you dependent on a small pool of sponsors. If we are able to attract regional audiences from Maldives, India, Singapore, Malaysia etc , then it could prove to be a possibility . 

On the other hand, Sri Lanka has a vast array of untapped talent and my personal experience is that we need to give them the platform to be seen and heard. It is up to us who have been part of this industry to create that environment and invest in developing our own people as they will be our future representatives on the global stage.