KFA turmoil added to Sheth’s losses Raj Travels had made a lot of advance bookings in Kingfisher airlines which had to be cancelled

Loses due to the scrapping of tours due to the Kingfisher fiasco was one of the setbacks hounding Raj Travels founder Lalit Sheth.
On Wednesday, the 56-year-old chief managing director of Shree Raj Travels and Tours Ltd allegedly committed suicide by jumping off the Bandra-Worli sea link (BWSL).
Sources close to the family said Raj Travels had made a lot of advance booking for its customers in Kingfisher airlines. The bookings had to be cancelled when the airline scrapped many of its services after suffering financial crisis.
“As a result, Raj Travels incurred a lot of loses,” said a source.
The Kingfisher spokesperson refused to comment.
Subhash Goyal, an industry insider and Sheth’s old friend, described him as a pioneer with an astounding business sense. “But he failed to build a successful professional team for his organisation,” he said.
Goyal added that Sheth was a one-man show and took all decisions himself. “May be, he was a bit overambitious in his dealings. But one thing I am sure is that debt cannot be the only reason for him to take his life. There has to be other reasons,” said Goyal, who is also the president of Indian Association of Tour Operator (IATO).
Subhash Verma, president of Association of Domestic Tour Operator of India (ADTOI), who was Sheth’s friend for the past several decades, said that the travel guru was a fighter. “Sometimes the realities of life take so much toll on you that even a fighter sometime decides to take away his life,” he said.
Verma added: “Though Sheth set up a successful business enterprise, we should not forget that the tourism business has changed drastically in the past three years with the new technology and entry of many competitors. Sheth might have felt the pinch.”
Iqbal Mulla, president of Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), said Sheth was under stress for the last few years as he had planned to come up with an Initial Public Offering (IPO) but had to scrap his plan due to the deteriorating market conditions.