Rajeev Kohli

Rajeev Kohli, CIS, CITP, DMCP was born into the industry and has a passion for travel and showing India to the world. With over 29+ years of industry experience, today he is the Joint Managing Director of Creative Travel, a family legacy of two generations that has showcased this part of the world for over 47 years. Creative has grown to become a prominent, respected, and independent DMC offering the finest of cultural experiences, personal immersions, and natural wonders all over India and South Asia. At Creative, he focuses on marketing and strategy initiatives. He has also contributed to making Creative the most globally awarded DMC in South Asia winning over 88 global and national awards & recognitions for our service and creativity. Rajeev is also passionate about incentive travel and has taken his team to win 8 SITE Crystal awards for excellence in incentive travel programs, the most of any company in all of Asia.

Following his strong family tradition, Rajeev too has contributed significantly to the development of the tourism industry at different levels. He currently is the President 2023-2025 of the global DMC group, EUROMIC, the oldest DMC alliance in the industry (www.euromic.com). Rajeev is also a member of the CII National Committee of Tourism (Confederation of Indian Industries) as well as of the ASSOCHAM. He was the first Asian to ever take the leadership position of Global President of the Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE; www.siteglobal.com), completing two terms in 2016 & 2017. He is the past Senior Vice President of the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO; www.iato.in), India’s apex body for the incoming tourism industry, and was on the IATO Executive Committee for 6 years. Rajeev has been the Vice Chairman of the India Convention Promotion Bureau (ICPB) and past President of the India Chapter of the American Society of Travel Agents.

Rajeev also speaks at various industry forums across the world and has many articles and thought papers under his name. He feels that his upbringing has taught him to respect people, to uphold and value integrity, and to spread happiness.  

In November 2021 at a special event in Las Vegas, Rajeev was inducted into the Events Industry Council (EIC) “Hall of Leaders”, the highest accolade in the global travel, tourism & events industry. He is the first Asian ever to be inducted (only 144 inductees in 36 years). Since 1985,the Events Industry Council has distinguished the industry through the Hall of Leaders awards programme in order to promote the value of the industry and the contributions of the leaders working within it. The Hall of Leaders award is the premier recognition programme in the meetings, conventions, exhibitions, hospitality and travel industry - our industry's "lifetime achievement award." The award recognises outstanding leaders who have undoubtedly shaped the industry. The defining quality among these leaders is that the industry would not be what it is today without their contributions.

In 2017, Rajeev was recognised as a thought leader as one of the ‘25 Most Influential People in the global Incentive industry’ (http://www.incentivemag.com/News/Industry/Incentive-Industry-25-Most-Influential-People-2017/).

In 2015, Rajeev was awarded the prestigious ‘IMEXAcademy Award’, a highly prestigious recognition for contribution to a chosen profession. (https://www.smartmeetings.com/news/70293/imex-academy-awards-2015-honor-industry-pros).

In June 2022, Rajeev Joined the World Experience Organisation (WXO) as a Founding Member. The WXO’s mission is to connect the pioneers of the Experience Economy, so that we all create better experiences that create better experiences, better profits, and better lives. (www.worldxo.org)  

Rajeev has a Master’s in Business from the University of Southern California with specializations in Marketing and Entrepreneurship and an undergraduate honours degree in Economics from the University of Delhi. Rajeev is professionally certified as a Certified Incentive Specialist (CIS), Certified Incentive Travel Professional (CITP) and Destination Management Certified Professional (DMCP).

Rajeev often writes for trade publications and is commonly quoted as an expert source in the media. Rajeev lives in Delhi with his wife and two teenage sons who are currently studying overseas.

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