Mumbai, July 08, 2022: In a planned initiative to give fillip to travel to Turkiye in the high potential India market, Thomas Cook (India) Limited, India’s leading omnichannel travel services company and its Group Company, SOTC Travel, have recently signed an agreement with Turkiye Tourism. The collaboration will focus on building awareness and boosting visitations to the destination.

Thomas Cook & SOTC’s internal data reveals that with strong pent up demand and easing of entry/restrictions, Indian travel sentiment is at an all-time high. Destinations like Turkiye that offer an added advantage of a simple and easy visa process are seeing significant interest. To inspire Indians and catalyse demand, Thomas Cook & SOTC’s partnership with Turkiye Tourism focusses on both product development and wide-ranging marketing initiatives.

The product portfolio has been carefully designed by Thomas Cook & SOTC to showcase multifaceted Turkiye – and its unique position at the crossroads of both Europe & Asia. The extensive range features ready-to-book holidays, group tours, personalised holidays and covers price points from value, affordable luxury to premium. The innovative holiday products incorporate Turkiye’s spectacular geographical formations, iconic UNESCO world heritage sites; exceptional experiences like hot air ballooning at sunrise over Cappadocia’s fairy chimneys, white water rafting at Köprülü Canyon National Park, paragliding at Oludeniz, Pamukkale’s natural thermal pools, traditional “hammam’ spa-wellness, a luxury cruise down the Bosphorus, pristine turquoise beaches and lagoons, an eclectic range of cuisine, entertainment & shopping options.

The partnership aims at targeting India’s high viable segments including millennials/young working professionals, families, couples, solo travellers, B-Leisure and corporate MICE groups from India’s key source markets: metros, mini-metros, as well as Tier 2 & 3 cities.

“Turkiye is one of the world’s most culturally rich destinations renowned for its warm hospitality, unique history, immense natural beauty, breathtaking architecture, and diverse gastronomy. We are delighted to collaborate with Turkiye Tourism to jointly promote the destination to our range of customer segments as an aspirational destination for Indians. To inspire demand, we will strategically focus on digital advertisements, branding at Mumbai & Delhi international airports and a joint marketing campaign across media platforms. Additionally, we have also extended special offers like Buy One Get One Free.”

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

“From the upscale seaside resorts of Bodrum, magnificent monuments and exquisite museums in Istanbul, to the spectacular landscapes of Cappadocia, Turkiye has something for everyone. Our strategic intent will focus on highlighting the benefits/USPs of easy visa process, coupled with its eclectic vibe, stunning natural vistas, signature wellness experience and extensive range of local food & shopping attractions to drive demand. We invite our customers to explore the beautiful country and dive into its enchanting offerings.”

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

“Turkiye is one of the most popular tourism destinations for Indian travellers with the interest of Indian visitors in the country, being on a consistent rise over the recent years. In 2019, which was the pre-pandemic period, Turkiye welcomed 51 million international visitors of which Indians comprised a significant share. With Covid related travel restrictions easing up, Turkiye has been amongst the top travel destinations for travellers from India in the past months. This includes all segments such as FITs, MICE and even Wedding groups.

H. Deniz Ersoz, Culture and Tourism Counsellor

We expect that our collaboration with Thomas Cook India and SOTC will further boost the demand for Turkiye’s tourism in India, which is one of the most important and high potential markets for us. We are excited to host an even higher volume of Indian visitors in the course of this year, as a result of this partnership.”

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 TPro, 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 2019 & 2018 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.

About SOTC

Travel: SOTC Travel Limited (Formerly SOTC Travel Pvt. Ltd.) is a step-down subsidiary of Fairfax Financial Holdings Group; 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 lakhs 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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