Announce Durga Pujo Holiday Sale Carnivals/Bazaars in key cities

Mumbai, July 21, 2022: West Bengal and East India feature as key source markets for Thomas Cook India, India’s leading omnichannel travel services company and its Group Company, SOTC Travel. With easing of travel/health restrictions, the Companies’ data reveals a 25% surge in demand for Durga Pujo holidays. To maximise on this strong potential, Thomas Cook & SOTC have launched a special Durga Pujo Holiday Sale with exclusive tours and attractive offers available across its retail outlets, portals and at special consumer carnivals and bazaars organised in select cities across East India.

The Companies’ Durga Pujo Holidays have been thoughtfully created to showcase favourite locales of their Bengali clientele: Snighdo Sarathe Europe, Asadharan Italy, Uttom Spain, Wonders of Egypt, Singapore and Malaysia, Crazy Deal Thailand, Bali Delight, Andamaner Samudra Saikate, Kashmir, Leh-Ladakh, etc. In addition, as Bengalis are keen to discover offbeat destinations and unique experiences, Swapner Iceland forms an exciting inclusion to the Durga Pujo special offer.

In keeping with the exclusivity, customers get to enjoy special Bengali cuisine along with mithai/sandesh on select tours. To ensure added reassurance, the Durga Pujo group tours are accompanied by experienced Bengali speaking tour managers, who guide/assist customers throughout the tour – from departure in Kolkata to arrival back in Kolkata.

The Companies also offer air-inclusive tours with Vistara Getaways, Air Arabia Holidays and Emirates Holidays.

Durga Pujo Special Offers*: Thomas Cook India and SOTC have announced attractive deals like Buy One Get One – Companion Free across India & International holidays; Early Bird offers; Travel Now Pay When You Return at Zero processing fee; Cash discounts and cash back offers; assured gifts on booking.

To create awareness and accelerate demand for their Durga Pujo tours, Thomas Cook and SOTC have launched a marketing campaign across key English and Regional print publications, digital platforms and via branding in Kolkata’s Metro trains. The Companies have organized engaging Holiday Carnivals/Bazaars at key consumer catchments, including Kolkata, Patna, Bhubaneswar and Guwahati.

Travel Trends – West Bengal & East India

Thomas Cook India and SOTC reveal insightful consumer behaviours & travel trends for the region:

Strong Travel Demand: 25% increase in demand Vs June/July. Interest for longer stays and appetite for increased travel spends (by approx. 20%)

Preferred Destinations:

· 65% prefer International destinations; favourites include: Europe (Switzerland, France, Italy, Spain and Germany) Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Egypt and Iceland; also Australia

· 35% prefer Domestic holidays – Kashmir, Leh-Ladakh, Himachal, Kerala, Andamans, Rajasthan

Top Experiences: exploring unique history-culture-art of the destination; sampling local cuisine, cruises/ yachting; outdoor adventure like biking, hiking; water sports like diving, snorkeling, etc.

Key segments driving demand: Customers from East India enjoy travelling with immediate/ multi-generational family (50%); millennials/group of friends-colleagues (25%); couples/DINKs (20%); solo (5%)

“West Bengal and East India are key source markets and our data reveals that after a gap of over 2 years, Bengalis are now looking forward to celebrate Durga Pujo by taking a holiday with family and friends. To maximize on the strong pent up demand, we have launched exclusive Durga Pujo Holiday products and special Carnivals in key cities like Kolkata.

To accelerate demand, we have launched our Durga Pujo Holiday Sale – with exclusive offers like Buy One Get One Free – Companion offer across select Indian and international destinations, cash back offers and cash discounts, early bird specials and many more. Our Holiday experts welcome our Bengali customers to walk into our outlet closest to them, to book a truly memorable Durga Pujo Holiday!”

Mr. Rajeev Kale, President & Country Head – Holidays, MICE, Visa, Thomas Cook (India) Limited

“The Durga Pujo festivities bring in a key travel season for Bengalis. This year, we are seeing increasing travel desire from various segments including family/ multi-generational family; millennials/young professionals and couples to explore domestic and international destinations around this festive season. To capitalise on this demand, we have designed special domestic and international holidays at attractive price points. We have added special touches like a Bengali speaking Tour Manager, Bengali cuisine on select tours and guaranteed departures from Kolkata on our Pujo special tours. This is our gift to our Bengali customers – enabling them indulge in their passion for travel while celebrating their favourite festival.”

Mr. Daniel D’souza President & Country Head – Holidays, SOTC Travel

Click here for details: Thomas Cook SOTC

Additionally, our safety commitment “TravShield” – with only vaccinated staff and co-passengers among many other precautions, building on their “Assured” travel safety protocols – developed in association with Apollo Clinics. TravShield & Assured together, ensure best in class safety and protection for travellers in the post Covid era, covering every distribution, delivery and partner touch point in the travel ecosystem.

About Thomas Cook (India) Limited: Set up in 1881, Thomas Cook (India) Limited. (TCIL) is the leading omnichannel travel company in the country offering a broad spectrum of services including Foreign Exchange, Corporate Travel, MICE, Leisure Travel, Value Added Services, Visa and Passport services. It operates leading B2C and B2B brands including Thomas Cook, SOTC, TCI, SITA, Asian Trails, Allied T Pro, Australian Tours Management, Desert Adventures, Luxe Asia, Travel Circle International Limited (TCI 勝景遊), Sterling Holiday Resorts Limited, Distant Frontiers, TC Tours, Digiphoto Entertainment Imaging (DEI), Go Vacation, Private Safaris East & South Africa

As one of the largest travel service provider networks headquartered in the Asia-Pacific region, The Thomas Cook India Group spans 25 countries across 5 continents

TCIL has been felicitated with CNBC-TV18 & ICICI Lombard India Risk Management Award – Travel & Leisure Category 2022 & 2021, The Best Travel Agency – India at TTG Travel Awards 2019, The Best Outbound Tour Operator at the Times Travel Awards 2018 & 2019 and Leading Company with Cutting Edge Travel Innovation at the Times Travel Awards 2018, Silver award for Asia’s Best Integrated Report (First Time) category at the Asia Sustainability Reporting Awards 2019, Best Risk Management-Framework & Systems at the India Risk Management Awards 2019; Best Cash Management Solution – India at the Asset Triple A Treasury, Trade, Supply Chain & Risk Management Awards 2018, Best Outbound Tour Operator at the SATTE Awards 2019, Excellence in Domestic Tour Operations at the SATTE Awards 2018, The French Ambassador’s Award for Exemplary Achievements in Visa Issuance 5 years in a row and the Condé Nast Traveller – Readers’ Travel Awards from 2011 to 2019.

CRISIL has reaffirmed the rating on debt programmes and bank facilities of Thomas Cook (India) Limited – ‘CRISIL A+/Negative on the long-term bank facilities of TCIL and CRISIL A1 rating on the short-term bank facilities and short- term debt of the Company. For more information, please visit www.thomascook.in

Fairbridge Capital (Mauritius) Limited, a subsidiary of Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited promotes TCIL by holding 72.34% of its paid-up capital and is responsible for the execution of acquisition and investment opportunities.

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About Subsidiaries of Thomas Cook (India) Limited:

Sterling Holiday Resorts Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of TCIL, is a leading Indian Leisure Hospitality company with 37 resorts across the country, providing a variety of offerings: Leisure holidays through FIT packages, Meetings & Conferences, Weddings, Reunions, Picnics and Holidays through Memberships.

SOTC Travel Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of TCIL, is a leading omnichannel travel and tourism company active across various travel segments including Leisure Travel, Incentive Travel and Business Travel.

Travel Corporation (India) Limited (TCI), a wholly owned subsidiary of TCIL, is the leading Destination Management Company in India that offers tailor-made travel and related services to India, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka.

Thomas Cook India Group holds 51% stake in DEI Holdings Limited (DEI), one of the world’s leading imaging solutions and services providers.

For more information, visit: Sterling Holiday Resorts Limited: http://www.sterlingholidays.com SOTC Travel Limited: http://www.sotc.in

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.