Mumbai, 17 August, 2022: With India’s key festive season beginning with Ganesh Chaturthi followed by Navratri/Durga Puja-Dusshera and Diwali, and with schools closing for their mid-term break, Indians across segments are displaying an increased appetite to travel. To capitalise on the high demand during this peak festive period, Thomas Cook (India) Limited – India’s leading omnichannel travel services company and its Group Company, SOTC Travel, have launched an extensive range of Festive Holidays across International and Domestic destinations – with a range of special offers and deals.

The festive season represents India’s second largest travel period and Thomas Cook and SOTC’s internal data reiterates the strong demand, not just from metros but also mini-metros, and tier 2-3 cities with a significant 74% respondents indicating intent to travel. Key segments driving demand for the festive season include:

· Multi-generational families/couples: 78% looking for quality bonding time together

· India’s migrant working professional segment: 66% keen to travel home and celebrate with their families

· Millennials: 71% open to a mini-cation with their group of friends or a solo break

Indians are quintessential value seekers and hence to accelerate bookings, the Companies have announced an array of special deals like Buy One Get One Free, Early Bird Discounts, Travel Now Pay Later on select destinations/tours.

Destinations leading demand include short haul/easy visa destinations like Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Maldives, Mauritius; also Nepal and Bhutan in the Indian subcontinent. Most preferred long and mid haul destinations are USA (for visa holding customers), Australia, New Zealand, Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, Europe, UK; domestic favourites include Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Ladakh, Rajasthan, Kerala and Goa.

Cruise holidays represent a great value proposition: an all-inclusive holiday packed with entertainment/activities across age groups, diversity of dining experiences and sailing to multiple locations with on-shore sightseeing tours – without the hassle of check-in/check-out, transfers, etc. With cruises witnessing an surge in demand, Thomas Cook and SOTC are offering value deals on cruise holidays like children under 18 years of age travel free on Costa Cruise’s Dubai sailings, discounted prices on select Royal Carribbean and NCL (Norwegian Cruise Lines) Cruises for Europe.

India’s couples and solo travellers (30-45 yrs) are displaying a strong preference for spiritual tours that include meditation, yoga, and wellness programs like the Yoga Centre/Ashram in Coimbatore, Dharamshala, and Rishikesh; Panchakarma program at Kumarakom, etc.

Thomas Cook and SOTC’s festive range of offers also extend to it’s ready-to-book and personalised experiences including outdoor and adventure activities like safari game drives at India’s leading national reserves, biking, hiking/trekking, camping, white water rafting, paragliding, etc. Additionally, the Companies also offer

“Festivals usher in the spirit of togetherness and reunites people with loved ones. The upcoming festive period is the perfect time for families, loved ones to get away from the hustle of city life and take a relaxing break. To encourage our customers, we have introduced an extensive range of Festive Holidays across customer favourite destinations packed with unique experiences and special deals for our ready-to-book and personalised itineraries to ensure great value for money. Further, customers can make the most of our air-inclusive holidays with Vistara Getaways, Air Arabia Holidays and Emirates Holidays. And to accelerate demand, we have launched a range of unbeatable offers like Buy One Get One Free, Holiday Now Pay on Return, early bird specials, etc.”

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

“India’s festive season presents the perfect opportunity to travel, especially for families with schools closing for their mid-term break and working professionals taking time off and travelling back to their hometowns to celebrate with their families. To inspire our customers across segments, we have announced an array of deals that are sure to give them the best value, and this is across our international, domestic and cruise holidays. I would like to invite our customers to book their long pending holiday and make the best of these special deals.”

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

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 and Visa 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), 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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