From the indignity of dealing with ticket touts to the exclusivity of the Paddock Club, the trajectory of the Indian sports fan has undergone a seismic shift. In this exclusive deep dive with Travel Trade Journal, we sit down with Monish Shah, CEO and Founder, DreamSetGo, to discover how a personal frustration at Stamford Bridge sparked a B2B revolution, transforming DreamSetGo into the ultimate gatekeeper for India’s travelling elite.
There is a particular circle of hell reserved for the dedicated sports fan travelling abroad. It usually involves standing on a chilly street corner in London or Barcelona, negotiating with a man named ‘Dave’ (who may or may not be a scalper), paying a small fortune for a ticket that looks like it was printed on a home inkjet, and praying the turnstile light turns green. For years, this was the unglamorous reality for Indian travellers chasing the high of live sport. You flew halfway across the world only to find yourself at the mercy of the secondary market, or worse, seated in the opposition end, silently celebrating a goal while surrounded by thousands of people who would quite happily throw a pint at you.
Shah knew this feeling intimately. Before he was orchestrating the movement of thousands of Indians to the Paris Olympics, he was just another Chelsea fan at Deutsche Bank, trying to squeeze a match at Stamford Bridge into a business trip. Despite his VP status and a nine-year tenure at the bank, the access simply was not there. He was an outsider looking in, wallet open, but with nowhere reputable to spend his money. It was, as he puts it, a “ridiculous” state of affairs.
That frustration, born in the queues of West London, has since metamorphosed into India’s most formidable sports experiences platform. Shah pulls back the curtain on an alliance with Dream Sports’ Harsh Jain and Bhavit Sheth, which sparked a revolution in the B2B travel trade, and why the future of luxury travel is no longer about five-star hotels, but about who you are sitting next to in the Paddock Club.
The Kick-Off
The Indian sports traveller was being short-changed. There was no trusted bridge between the high-net-worth individual (HNI) in India and the Old Trafford box office. The market was crying out for an institutional player, someone who could bypass the touts and shake hands directly with the clubs. Shah added, “I thought there needs to be a trusted Indian company that can partner with some of the best sporting bodies, and give Indians access to this experience.”
Launched in October 2019 under the Dream Sports umbrella, the mandate was clear: professionalise the chaos. Shah was not just building a travel agency; he was building a diplomatic channel between Indian passion and global sporting inventory.
The Pandemic as a Training Camp
Barely four months after setting up shop, the world locked its doors. The stadiums fell silent, planes were grounded, and the very concept of sports tourism became an oxymoron. For a fledgling business, February 2020 should have been the final whistle. Instead, Shah treated the pandemic like a long, gruelling pre-season training camp.
While the rest of the travel industry was in a state of existential panic, putting out fires and processing refunds, DreamSetGo went shopping. They used the 18-month lull to court the giants of world football. Shah wagered that when the world eventually reopened, the appetite for live experiences would be voracious. “We used those 18 to 20 months to hire the best people and build the right kind of partnerships,” Shah noted. He spent those quiet months securing exclusive partnerships with Chelsea FC, Manchester City, and Manchester United. Owing to the learnings from his past working experience, Shah said, “You know, the first time you get an out-swinger, you would not know how to play it, but the next time you get it in a match, you can read it better. By the third or fourth time, you probably know how to drive it and get a four out of it as well.”
The Tier 2 Takeover
The traditional assumption in the Indian travel trade is that luxury is the preserve of South Mumbai and Lutyens’ Delhi. If you want to sell a £5,000 Wimbledon package, you go to the metros. Shah’s data, however, blows this assumption out of the water. In a revelation that should have luxury tour operators scrambling for their atlases, Shah notes that nearly 50 per cent of DreamSetGo’s demand now hails from Tier 2 cities. Adding to his observations, “Disposable income is rising. People want to pay for experiences, especially post-COVID,” said Shah.
The wealth in these pockets of India is not just deep; it is adventurous. These are travellers who have ‘done’ the Eiffel Tower and the Swiss Alps. They are bored with the standard itinerary. The rise of cities like Ahmedabad, Pune, Chandigarh, and Hyderabad as power centres for sports tourism is a wake-up call for the industry: the wallet is no longer strictly urban, and it definitely is not staying at home.
Beyond the Wicket
It is a truth universally acknowledged that an Indian in possession of a passport must be in want of a cricket match. While cricket remains the undisputed religion of the subcontinent, and the company did move a staggering 3,000 people to Australia for the T20 World Cup, Shah has observed a fascinating sophistication in the Indian palate.
Formula 1, for instance, has seen a threefold growth year-on-year. The allure of the Paddock Club, the roar of the engines at Silverstone or Yas Marina, has captivated the Indian elite. Similarly, tennis has emerged as a dark horse, with the company positioning itself to be the largest mover of Asian traffic to Wimbledon. The modern Indian sports tourist is as likely to be found courtside at Roland Garros, or pitchside at the Etihad, as they are at the Wankhede. Even niche sports like padel are showing green shoots of interest, suggesting that the market is maturing faster than anyone anticipated.
The Culture of the Locker Room
Managing the logistical challenges of moving thousands of people to the Paris Olympics or navigating the complexity of a FIFA World Cup requires more than passion; it requires a military-grade operation. Shah describes the internal culture at DreamSetGo using the acronym ‘SPORTS’ (Service, Performance, Ownership, Relationship, Transparency and Statistics). Shah said, “We go above and beyond to make sure that our clients have a great experience because we are in the business of experiences.”
Shah admits to being something of a workaholic; there is a paradox here, one that Shah touches on with a hint of wistfulness. He added, “I have worked towards developing a disciplined lifestyle. I do not smoke or drink. I started prioritising sleep. A healthy mind can take far better strategic decisions.” To build the ultimate experience for the fan, the founder must cease to be one. He confessed that when he attends these mega-events now, he rarely watches the ball. His eyes are on the clients, ensuring their glasses are full and their logistical paths are smooth. The joy of the delivery has replaced the joy of the game. It is the classic sacrifice of the tourism and hospitality professional.
The Celebrity Factor and the Road to 2026
If the last few years were about getting Indians to the stadium, the next phase is about bringing the stadium to India. DreamSetGo has pivoted towards becoming a home for premium experiences, importing global icons to exclusive, intimate gatherings. They have already flown in Andre Agassi, Usain Bolt, and Manchester United legends like Gary Neville and Sir David Beckham.
This is a shrewd strategic move. It keeps the engagement alive between tournaments. A client might travel with you once a year for a World Cup, but they will dine with you three times a year if you put them at a table with a Premier League legend. It turns a transactional travel relationship into a membership in an exclusive club.
Looking at the horizon, 2026 looms as a “Summer of Sports” that will test the bandwidth of the entire industry. With a T20 World Cup, a FIFA World Cup in North America, and the Asian Games all vying for attention, the calendar is packed. Shah is already preparing to bring Chelsea legend John Terry to India in April, with another half-dozen global superstars in the pipeline.
