Tag Archives: Thomas Cook India

Thomas Cook India Limited’s education and training vertical, Centre of Learning, felicitated 270 students of the 2015-2016 batch at its fifth Convocation Ceremony held at the Indian Merchants Chamber, Mumbai. The ceremony was graced by the Chief Guest Craig Astridge, Regional Head, Marketing and Commercial Services, Asia-Pacific International Air Transport Association. Other guests at the event included Lokesh Matta – Regional Training Business Development Manager, South Asia at International Air Transport Association (IATA) along with Soraya Homchuen – Director, Tourism Authority of Thailand, Abraham Alapatt, President & Group Head – Marketing, Service Quality, Financial Services & Innovation, Thomas Cook (India), and Smeeta Gulvady,‎ Vice President & Head- Centre of Learning at Thomas Cook (India). The Centre of Learning Convocation Ceremony honoured its students who had successfully completed the Travel Professional Program, a Post Graduate Course in Travel & Tourism Management, Certificate Course in World Tour Management, IATA. Scholarship certificates and special prizes were awarded to top performers of Centre of Learning’s Travel Professional Program – a Post Graduate course in Travel & Tourism Management.

Thomas Cook Tours (TCT)’s Centre of Learning, also the education and training vertical of Thomas Cook (India), intimated its holding company that a memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed between Sharad Nautiyal, General Manager Training, representing the Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation Limited and Smeeta Gulvady, Vice President & Head, Centre of Learning, Thomas Cook (India) Ltd. in the presence of Hari Ranjan Rao (IAS,) Managing Director, Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation. Under the MOU, Thomas Cook’s Centre of Learning will impart training programmes – ‘Explore Madhya Pradesh’ via engaging learning modules to over 660 travel agents, covering 20 cities (Kolkata, Noida, Gurgaon, Delhi, Lucknow, Varanasi, Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot, Pune, Nasik, Nagpur, Mumbai, Goa, Raipur, Chennai, Hyderabad, Cochin and Bengaluru) in the next two months. A qualifying evaluation will be followed post the training session and top 2 winners from amongst the 660 travel agents across 20 cities will be hosted for a 2 nights/3 days hotel stay by Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation Limited.

Thomas Cook (India), in its bid to improving tourist infrastructure and promote better sanitation-hygiene at tourist destinations has announced the pilot launch of pre-fabricated sanitary installations. Udhagamandalam (Ooty) was chosen as the first site for this initiative. The Thomas Cook India toilet units can be used free of cost. Abraham Alapatt, President & Group Head-Marketing, Service Quality, Financial Services & Innovation, Thomas Cook (India), said, “Through this initiative, we at Thomas Cook India, intend to improve the sanitation and hygiene of prime tourist locations across India. While the choice of location depends upon various factors like community need, land availability, clearances/approvals from local administrative bodies, availability of resources, etc., we are looking at targeting major tourists hubs to further the Government’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. We have identified prime destinations in India that receive high tourist footfalls but face a deficit of sanitation facilities for this.”

Thomas Cook India’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Thomas Cook Lanka has entered into a Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) for the purpose of acquiring 24 per cent of the issued, subscribed and paid up share capital of Sita World Travel Lanka. Sita World Travel Lanka was incorporated in 1997 to promote leisure travel to Sri Lanka. The balance 76 per cent is held by SOTC Travel Service which is a subsidiary of Thomas Cook India and Travel Corporation of India. The successful completion of the acquisition is subject to statutory and regulatory approvals. (Source: PTI)

Thomas Cook India has announced the launch of exclusive international packages – ‘Sharod Shubheccha’ for avid Bengali travellers this Durga Puja, one of the most widely celebrated festivals in India offering a long holiday opportunity, especially in West Bengal. Thomas Cook India has introduced special packages to some of the top favourite international destinations like Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Egypt, China, Dubai, Hong Kong, Macau, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, U.K, etc. starting from INR 35,500/- onwards (per person on twin share basis) giving more than one reason to its Bengali travellers, to celebrate an auspicious occasion in a foreign locale. Kolkata & West Bengal, as also Bhubaneshwar & Orissa have been earmarked as an important market for Durga Puja holidays accounting for 10% of our overall leisure travel business and has witnessed an uptake of 27% in bookings y-o-y with consumers booking their holidays almost 2 months in advance. Thomas Cook India’s distribution and reach in West Bengal augments to 6 consumer access centers: 3 owned branches, and 3 Gold Circle Partner (franchise) outlets. Commenting on the Durga Puja special packages Mr. Rajeev D. Kale, President & Country Head – Leisure Travel & MICE, Thomas Cook (India) Ltd. said, “Durga Puja is one of the most significant festive occasions and is widely celebrated in West Bengal. Marked by grand celebrations, the 9-day festive extravaganza is one of the biggest holiday seasons in the state. Keeping in mind the strong support received from our discerning Bengali travellers, also considering their evolving preferences and demands, we at Thomas Cook India have designed special packages at exciting price points, to enable Bengali travelers celebrate their favourite festival at their dream destinations- with their loved …

Thomas Cook India has launched its Domestic Coach Holidays, allowing travellers affordable seat-in-coach vacations to popular destinations. These destinations would be at a driveable distance from key metros/mini-metros. Currently, the Coach Holidays feature itineraries for popular destinations including Kerala, The Golden Triangle, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Goa, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, and Himachal Pradesh, with departures from key cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Kochi, at attractive prices starting from Rs. 6999 (per person on twin share basis).These Coach Holidays are pre-packaged products for customers seeking a bargain domestic holiday in the air conditioned comfort of Volvo/equivalent coaches. The Coach Holidays are targeted at two key segments; families and senior citizens, as also entry level young couples and ad hoc groups of friends. Hence, based on the booking preferences of each segment, the pre-packaged Coach Holidays are available through Thomas Cook’s extensive offline network, its India Toll Free Call Centre or online. The Coach Holidays include transportation by air-conditioned, Wi-Fi enabled Volvo/equivalent coaches and a stay in standard two star hotels with breakfast included. Rajeev D. Kale, President & Country Head – Leisure Travel & MICE, Thomas Cook (India) Ltd. said, “Domestic Tourism is witnessing a strong resurgence and the launch of our Thomas Cook ‘Coach Holidays’ intends to catalyse this demand. Popular drive-down locations are seeing strong interest and for today’s travel-hungry yet price sensitive audience, our focus on simple, easy to book, seat-in-coach tours offers the unbeatable quality assurance of the Thomas Cook brand. Our Coach Holidays ensure a comfortable and hassle-free voyage on wheels, for families, couples and ad hoc groups of friends.”

Thomas Cook India has launched ‘Thomas Cook Mini’, a strategic deployment of small technology assisted outlets to tap the growth potential emerging from India’s Tier III markets. Pathanamthitta, Kerala saw the company’s inauguration of the first of its Thomas Cook Mini outlets. Mahesh Iyer, COO – Foreign Exchange & Head Visas, Thomas Cook (India), said, “With our internal data-analytics clearly revealing the untapped yet high growth potential of Tier III markets, a low-cost, rapid penetration model was mission critical, and our Thomas Cook Mini fits the bill perfectly! Such small Tech assisted outlets give us the opportunity to set up shop, test the waters and expand- with the immediacy that was demanded and we are very excited with the initial response from our new Kerala Thomas Cook Mini at Pathanamthitta.” Thomas Cook India’s internal research having highlighted the powerful growth potential for retail transactions, including burgeoning remittance opportunities, the Company conceptualised a quick deployment strategy of small technology assisted outlets to rapidly penetrate India’s underserved Tier III markets; hence the launch of its innovative Thomas Cook Mini. The outlets have been designed optimising space and will be manned by a small team, equipped with technology via mobile devices/tablets for seamless online connectivity to central systems, thus facilitating quick customer transactions. While Thomas Cook has chosen its Foreign Exchange business to pioneer this initiative, its Thomas Cook Mini outlets will see expansion to include other Travel Related Services.

Thomas Cook will discontinue with brand Kuoni and rebrand it as SOTC India, which will operate independently, revealed Madhavan Menon, Chairman and MD Thomas Cook (India). Also, he revealed that Thomas Cook (India) will not be using the Thomas Cook brand after 2025. Talking of the new structure post the acquisition of Kuoni India, Menon said that the company has started the process of discontinuing the Kuoni brand in India. He said, “The Kuoni brand is available to us in India for one year and we plan to migrate to SOTC.” Kuoni’s outbound business will be known as SOTC India Pvt Ltd. SOTC will have an independent management team. It will continue to run the outbound business – packages holidays, corporate travel, MICE and domestic travel that will be launched. Thomas Cook India will de-merge SITA – Kuoni India’s inbound brand – and merge it with TCI. This company will be known as TCI, which will be headed by Dipak Deva , incorporate the three brands– TCI, SITA and Distant Frontiers. Further, he disclosed that The Thomas Cook India Group is allowed use of the Thomas Cook brand till 2025.  As part of its Brand Transition Strategy, the plan to hence leverage the strengths of these brands and draw up a strategy to replace the Thomas Cook brand in the long term.

Thomas Cook India has taken the decision to implement the TravPax 5 Solution across its entire Indian network of travel stores and call centres. The new solution will provide connections to dozens of worldwide wholesalers, GDS, low-cost carriers and others channels, allowing Thomas Cook India to provide the best available rates to its clients and subsidiaries, either as a standalone product or via dynamic packaging. “At Thomas Cook India, technology is at the forefront of our strategy and given today’s rapidly growing base of digital native Indian consumers, offering immediate options and value driven rates for travel bookings is vital,” said Amit Madhan, Chief Operating Officer, IT & e-services, Thomas Cook India. “Our partnership with TravPax will empower our offline franchise and call centre teams with immediate access to best rates and inventory across a range of services including flights, hotels and holiday packages.” Laurent Maytal, CEO of Singapore-based TravPax Solutions, added, “The travel world is changing fast and access to the most up-to-date information on how to get you the best value becomes a major challenge. Value is king. However, that does not mean the cheapest cost always wins. Travellers are seeking quality products at an affordable price and this is exactly what Thomas cook will achieve.” Thomas Cook India now operates in 233 locations (including 23 airport counters) in 92 cities across India, Mauritius & Sri Lanka.

In a major shuffle after the Kuoni Travel (India) was taken over by Thomas Cook (India), it has been announced that Vishal Suri has been appointed as MD of Kuoni Travel (India) effective January 4, 2016. Prior to the appointment, Suri headed the outbound portfolio as Chief Executive Officer – Tour Operating, Kuoni India. Rajeev Wagle, stepped down as MD, Kuoni India with effect from January 4, 2016. Madhavan Menon, Chairman and MD of Thomas Cook (India) said, “It gives us great pleasure to appoint Vishal Suri as the Managing Director of Kuoni Travel (India). He comes with a wealth of experience: over 22 years across a gamut of consumer centric industries like telecom, internet, and office automation; including over a decade in running travel businesses. We wish him every success in his new role. We respect Rajeev Wagle’s decision to pursue his interests outside the organisation and place on record our sincere appreciation for his contributions to building Kuoni-SOTC, as also his expertise and extensive experience of over 26 years, across industries.”