Mumbai, March 21, 2023: SOTC Travel, a leading omnichannel travel and Tourism Company, has been honoured with two awards for ‘Best Outbound Travel Operator’ and ‘Best MICE Travel Operator’ at The Economic Times Travel & Tourism Annual Awards. The first edition of The Economic Times Travel and Tourism Annual Awards brought together top leaders from the travel and tourism industry on a single platform. The selection criteria covered a range of parameters, with the nominations being judged by an eminent grand jury and validations by Ernst & Young.

SOTC Travel was recognized for innovative product development across its Outbound and MICE teams that reassured and inspired customers to travel once again. The Company was the first to deliver a mega group of over 750 delegates each to Dubai and Switzerland. Further, they also successfully managed multiple mega MICE groups ranging from 700 to over 3500 to destinations across India and international.

SOTC Travel strategically developed products based on sustained consumer research to target the strong travel desire emerging from India’s metros, mini-metros, tier 2 – 3 cities. The Company leveraged multiple opportunities like special occasions, public holidays, long/extended weekends, summer/winter breaks and the festive season to create exceptional holiday portfolios. This played a vital role in maximizing their business potential.

SOTC Travel launched a range of offers: Holiday Now and Pay After You Return, Buy One-Get One Companion offers, family discounts and more; also consumer roadshows to assist customers with travel and health protocols and accelerate spot bookings. The Company built & leveraged strong partnerships & alliances to deliver distinctive experiences to its MICE corporates and leisure travel customers.

SOTC Travel’s Outbound and MICE teams successfully demonstrated innovation, agility and digital astuteness in consistently leveraging technology – ensuring seamless delivery of contactless, scalable, secure solutions. The Company launched a Virtual Holiday Store and a Live Video Connect platform enabling customers to connect with experts via a video call and chat.

SOTC Travel’s powerful hybrid omnichannel network continues to offer customers the choice and convenience of selecting their preferred mode or a combination of channels: virtual holiday store, website, call centre, or extensive retail network pan India.

To build customer confidence in travel, SOTC Travel launched its Safe Travel Program in association with Apollo Clinics; “TravShield” – with only vaccinated staff and co-passengers among many other precautions featured a 360° safety commitment.

Mr. Daniel D’souza President & Country Head – Holidays, SOTC Travel said, “We are truly honoured to be selected as the Best Outbound Travel Operator at the first Economic Times Travel & Tourism Annual Awards. This prestigious award acknowledges our leadership in the outbound sector and recognizes our efforts towards revival and growth post the challenges of the pandemic.

With the reopening of borders and restart of commercial aviation, our multipronged strategy across product development, health & safety initiatives, technology and Marcomm has served us well in inspiring customers to go on their much awaited holiday. Our wide range of products and offers ensured the best deals for our customers, and we continue to create more such exciting offers/value propositions.

I would like to thank the grand jury and the team for recognizing our sincere efforts to create exceptional holiday experiences for our customers with this prestigious award.”

“We are delighted to be awarded as Best MICE Travel Operator at The Economic Times Travel & Tourism Annual Awards. At SOTC Travel, we aim to deliver superior experiences to our corporate MICE customers and this special award recognizes our strong delivery.

With the pandemic putting a halt on MICE travel, India Inc. displayed increased interest to organize incentive trips for their key growth contributors as restrictions began to ease. We were quick to seize the opportunity and were the first travel company to a deliver mega group of 750 delegates each to Dubai – as early as January 2021 – followed by another mega group of 750 to Switzerland. Post this, we continued to successfully managed multiple mega groups ranging from 700 to 3500 to various destinations across India and international. Further, we leveraged technology to deliver seamless, contactless and secure solutions to our MICE corporates while also reassuring them of their safety during their travel.

We are grateful to our customers for investing their trust in us and inspiring us in our continuous service. We dedicate this award to them!”

Mr. S D Nandakumar, President & Country Head – Corporate Tours, SOTC Travel

About SOTC Travel:

SOTC Travel Limited is a step-down subsidiary of Fairfax Financial Holdings held through its Indian listed subsidiary, Thomas Cook (India) Limited (TCIL). SOTC India is a leading omnichannel travel and tourism company active across various travel segments including Leisure Travel, Incentive Travel and Business Travel. SOTC was established in 1949. Since then, it has escorted millions of travellers across the globe for more than 70 years to various destinations around the world. A new age innovative holidaymaker, SOTC strives to make holidays a priority for every Indian. ‘We are for holidays’ and we want Indians to prioritize their holidays.

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