Launch range of holiday-breaks with special offers, across domestic and closer-to-home destinations

· Ready to book and personalised Domestic & International holidays

· Unique experiences, outdoor adventure, wellness and spa-cations

· Buy One Get One – Companion Free across select India & International holidays

· Early Bird offer on select tours

· Holiday Now, Pay on Return

Mumbai, August 2, 2022: With Raksha Bandhan falling on a Thursday followed by Independence Day on Monday, the second week of August offers an ideal opportunity for an exciting 4-5 days extended weekend getaway. Raksha Bandhan being a school holiday and Independence Day a bank holiday, families, young professionals/millennials and couples/DINKs are displaying strong appetite for a holiday break. To maximise on this opportunity, Thomas Cook India, India’s leading omnichannel travel services company and its Group Company, SOTC Travel, have introduced a range of holidays with special offers/deals across domestic and closer-to-home destinations.

Thomas Cook and SOTC’s consumer data reveals growing demand for short holidays/mini-cations – with 69% of respondents displaying keen interest in the upcoming Raksha Bandhan-Independence Day extended weekend. Over 66% of the respondents indicated preference for domestic locales, while 34% were open to short-haul international options.

To tap into the extended weekend demand Thomas Cook India and SOTC have launched an exciting holiday range to favourite Indian locales (like Kashmir, Leh-Ladakh, Kerala, Goa and Andaman) and closer-to-home and easy visa destinations like Dubai, Abu Dhabi; island destinations like Maldives and Mauritius and South East Asia’s Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. Special offers have been announced to capitalise on the cruise opportunity as well. Cruise options for the extended weekend include: Genting Dream (2 nights Singapore-Malaysia on 10th Aug); Royal Caribbean Cruises’ Spectrum of the Seas (3 nights cruise from Singapore on 11th Aug) or Cordelia Cruises from Chennai to Chennai or Vizag to Chennai via Puducherry.

Thomas Cook and SOTC’s extended weekend holiday breaks include a range of ready-to-book and personalised experiences: outdoor and adventure, including: safaris, biking, hiking/trekking, camping, water rafting and paragliding; drivecations to nearby locales and spa-wellness getaways. Additionally, the Companies also offer air-inclusive tours with Vistara Getaways, Air Arabia Holidays and Emirates Holidays.

“With both Raksha Bandhan and Independence Day falling on weekdays, customers are offered a great opportunity of an extended weekend getaway! To help our customers plan their holiday break, we have launched an exciting range, across domestic and closer to home destinations.

We have introduced a slew of attractive offers like Buy One Get One Free – Companion offers across select India and international destinations, early bird specials and many more. Customers can select from our array of options: safari-outdoor-adventure, wellness getaways, cruises and plenty more.”

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

Mr. Daniel D’souza President & Country Head – Holidays, SOTC Travel said, “Public holidays and festivals closer to the weekend can be utilised for an exciting mini-cation. For this upcoming long weekend of Raksha Bandhan and Independence Day, we are seeing a 69% increase in travel desire from various segments including family/ multi-generational family; millennials/young professionals and couples to explore both domestic and international locales. Our long weekend getaways include unique experiences at attractive price points to a range of favourite destinations that will create unforgettable memories for our customers.

Additionally, our unique omnichannel network offers customers the convenience of selecting their preferred mode of contacting us: via our holiday apps, virtual holiday store, portal, call centre or extensive retail outlets pan India.”

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 and Value Added 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.