Tag Archives: Madhavan Menon

Madhavan Menon, Executive Chairman, Thomas Cook (India), said the travel industry is expected to continue growing at a steady pace for the next four to five years. The increasing purchasing power of people who can afford holidays, regardless of the cost, will continue to drive the growth trend, he said, adding that Covid-19 has taught companies the importance of productivity.

Madhavan Menon, Managing Director, Thomas Cook India Group, welcomes the announcement by the honourable Finance Minister, Sitharaman, saying, “This is a much needed step towards the revival of tourism – a sector  that is a significant contributor to the GDP, foreign exchange receipts and employment generation – with a cascading force multiplier effect on allied sectors. The three-pronged approach for the sector covers 100% guarantee for loans up to Rs 10 lakhs per government recognised Travel & Tourism stakeholder (TTS), up to Rs 1 Lakh financial support to over 11000 licensed guides at a state/regional level, and 5 lakh gratis visas that will serve to catalyse much needed inbound inflows.  The stimulus announcements reflect the government’s focus on the travel and tourism sector and augurs well for the industry, while simultaneously building consumer confidence in travel.”

Urging the industry to plan for the future now, Madhavan Menon, CMD, Thomas Cook India, speaking at the company’s ‘Mission Tomorrow’ event, said, “Q4 2021 and all of 2022 are going to see a rush. I believe we are going to enter that phase where people are going to go into revenge mode. I can see domestic travel and international travel bouncing back. Please plan your trips!”

Sharing his views on whether travel will become more expensive, Madhavan Menon, Chairman & Managing Director of Thomas Cook (India), says, “Air fares haven’t jumped dramatically so far – it is too early to tell. But I don’t think prices are going to change dramatically, because all of us are responsible for inducing demand. So I don’t see air fares and hotel prices going up dramatically in the next 12 months – they may correct from where they are a little.”

Sharing his thoughts on whether he thinks the architecture of the travel industry will change going forward, Madhavan Menon, Chairman & Managing Director of Thomas Cook (India), says, “It is not going to change dramatically. There is place for the OTAs, the tour operators, and the travel agents. For me, what is going to change is customer behaviour. The customer is going to now look for brands they can trust. No longer can we take our customer for granted. What COVID-19 has done besides everything else is made the customer far more aware.”

Speaking about what he thinks the travel industry needs to do to restart business, Madhavan Menon, Chairman & Managing Director of Thomas Cook (India), says, “Adaptability is part of our DNA. Trust me, each and every travel agent will adapt, and is adapting already. I can see agents approaching us to book holidays for their clients, asking if we can provide them with packages. If you have the will to survive, you will adapt, however big or small you are. Even we are now adapting, with an increased focus on domestic business, which we had never put in before.”

Madhavan Menon, Chairman & Managing Director of Thomas Cook (India), in an exclusive interview with TravTalk said that the government could have been a lot more sensitive to the needs of the industry. “Wish it had looked at things on a broader perspective such as moratorium on loans, easing indirect taxes and waiving off TCS. TCS adds 5% to the cost of the traveller which they have to claim a refund but it takes a year.”    

Madhavan Menon, Chairman & Managing Director, Thomas Cook (India), has categorically denied a rumour floating against it on social media platforms. He said, “We have witnessed robust performances across all our key travel and foreign exchange businesses and continue to remain at a healthy financial position having prepaid our obligations and are debt free at a holding company level. We are bullish on both the foreign exchange as well as the inbound and outbound businesses. We are scouting for new investments and are looking for the right opportunity.” In a statement, the company claimed that they want to clarify that Thomas Cook (India is part of Fairfax Financial Holdings, is a completely different entity from Thomas Cook PLC and has been an independent company since August 2012. It also claimed that Thomas Cook (India) is financially strong, profitable and maintains a positive outlook in the travel and tourism sector and continues to witness strong growth. The statement said, “Cash and bank deposits balance of the Thomas Cook India Group (consolidated level) is at Rs. 10588 Mn. as of March 31, 2019. On a standalone basis Thomas Cook India is debt free upon pre-payment of Rs. 670 Mn debenture obligations ahead of schedule. This has been made possible using stable and strong cash flows that the Thomas Cook India Group is generating year over year. Group generates an annual free cash flow of around Rs. 2000-2500 Mn. As earlier reported, for the Financial Year ended March 31, 2019 on a comparable basis, the Group’s consolidated revenue from operations increased by 18% from Rs.56 Bn. to Rs.66 Bn. Consolidated PBT increased by 985% from Rs. 53 Mn. in FY18 to Rs. 573 …

Thomas Cook India has approved the acquisition of a 24 per cent strategic stake in TravelJunkie Solutions, a Mumbai-based travel tech start-up via its wholly owned subsidiary TC Tours. TravelJunkie Solutions developed Ithaka – a chat-based mobile application serving FIT (Free Individual Travellers) customers by recommending authentic local experiences for different destinations and helping them plan their trip and book hotels and flights. Ithaka’s app-based service offers users a combination of cutting-edge automation via AI/ML-based technology and the farmed collective expertise of well-travelled individuals. It currently serves travellers across various international destinations and plans to expand rapidly over the next 18-24 months with the support of Thomas Cook India. Speaking on the occasion, Madhavan Menon, Chairman, Thomas Cook India Group, said, “We are excited with this strategic investment that also marks our first investment in the exciting travel tech space. Ithaka is a perfect marriage of cutting-edge technology and human expertise delivered in a user-friendly mobile chat format. For Thomas Cook, the partnership with Ithaka creates a new channel that reaches and serves millennials, while for Ithaka, the partnership delivers an end-to-end, bookable experience.”

The Board of Thomas Cook (India) (TCIL) has approved (subject to regulatory approvals) a corporate restructuring exercise aimed at streamlining its businesses into four key verticals namely, Travel (outbound, domestic, business travel & MiCE), Foreign Exchange, Destination Management Services and Portfolio Investments such as Sterling Holiday Resorts. In its current structure, TCIL along with its subsidiaries and associate companies such as SOTC, TCI, TC Travel (earlier Tata Capital Travel) and Sterling Holidays are engaged in various travel and travel-related financial services, vacation ownership and resorts while Quess Corp is engaged in human resource and business related services such as industrial asset management, integrated facility management, and technology solutions. In order to streamline the various businesses of the group, both from operating and management perspective, the restructuring will consolidate like businesses into identified entities creating a simpler and more efficient operating structure with dedicated and focused business verticals. Madhavan Menon, Chairman & Managing Director, TCIL said, “This proposed restructuring with the realignment of the travel businesses of TCIL and consolidation of the  human resource services business into Quess Corp, will simplify the group’s structure, enabling both TCIL and Quess to grow independently and consolidate their positions in their segments with far greater clarity of focus from an industry and growth/opportunity point of view – for investors, management and teams.”