ROGER MAHAL’S LEADERSHIP KEEPS SITA’s FUTURE TRUE TO ITS REMARKABLE PAST

Roger Mahal, Chairman

LOS ANGELES – Born in India, educated in Great Britain, and now making his home in the United States, Roger Mahal, Chairman/CEO of SITA World Tours is an innovator with deeply set international roots and a unique global perspective that has resulted in SITA becoming one of North America’s leading Tour Operators today.

SITA’s prestige is due in part to its history, which dates back to 1933 when Jack and Helen Dengler of Rancho Mirage, CA founded the company. In a time when traveling was a notion reserved for the rich and the daring, SITA was revolutionary in its offer of bicycle tours to students. Within a few years, SITA grew to be one of the first Tour Operators in North America to provide travel packages to various destinations worldwide.

Before purchasing SITA in 1982, Roger worked as a Chief Engineer for a Houston-based petrochemical company. With a bachelor’s and master’s degree in engineering from universities in India and England respectively, the transition from a career he had been prepped for all his life to running a tour-operating agency was somewhat of a risk.

However, for Roger, making the transition made a great deal of sense and he felt that any risk was far outweighed by the benefits. As a man who had traveled his entire life – living on three continents, and spending a great deal of time among different people and cultures – Roger knew that his passion was bigger than the vocation for which he had been trained. So when SITA, a travel company with a highly recognized name and trusted reputation, crossed paths with Roger, it was destiny at play.

"I always took great pleasure in traveling and interacting with people. Though engineering was gratifying in its own way, I felt my desire to interact and move about was being neglected. So when this opportunity came along, even though it seemed somewhat of a gamble, it was an adventure I was willing to embark upon," said Roger.

Today, that adventure has resulted in SITA developing offices throughout the US and Canada. They include Los Angeles, where the company is headquartered, Houston, Chicago, New York, Vancouver, and Toronto.

Additionally, SITA is a member of many industry organizations, such as the prestigious United States Tour Operators Association (USTOA) and the International Association of Travel and Tourism Professionals (SKAL). Roger serves on the executive board of SKAL’s Los Angeles chapter.

During Roger’s two decades of leadership, he has helped SITA maintain its edge by tapping into various niche markets and promoting tours in conjunction with organizations such as major travel trade consortiums, the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), Women’s Travel Club (WTC), and Continuing Medical Education (CME), to name a few.

SITA also offers a wide array of tours and products to many exotic locales worldwide, including Africa, Australia, China and the Orient, India, New Zealand, and South America. Currently, SITA is in the process of expanding to include destinations such as Greece, the Mediterranean, and Eastern Europe.

In addition to increasing its product line, SITA has also invested much of its time in advancing its technology. With a centralized and automated computer booking system, Roger believes that SITA will continue to give what he calls "exemplary customer service."

"As we approach our 75th anniversary, we have to keep in mind many things, otherwise we become relics. If we want to stay as relevant today as we were back in 1933, we have to think about destinations, niche groups, advanced technology and, most importantly, our valued clients. This is our legacy."

When Roger is not running one of North America’s longest standing tour-operating companies, he is spending time with his family, which includes his wife, Parveen, three daughters, one son, and two granddaughters. The rest of his time is dedicated to traveling, reading, playing golf, and gardening.