~Launches ‘Study Buddy’ to leverage the peak student travel season~

Exclusive deals, special offers and assured gifts

3 month promotion across Thomas Cook India’s omni-channel network

 Mumbai, July 19, 2018: In a strategic move to capitalise on the significant and growing student travel segment, Thomas Cook (India) Ltd., India’s leading integrated travel and travel related financial services company, has launched “Study Buddy”. This is an exclusive student focussed Foreign Exchange promotion available across Thomas Cook India’s omni-channel network, including over 150 foreign exchange outlets pan India, and extends over a 3 month period ending September 30, 2018.

Against the backdrop of a steady increase in Indian students opting to study abroad for graduate and post graduate studies, Thomas Cook India has registered an impressive 20-25% YoY growth in its foreign exchange student business over the last 3-4 years. Given the strong growth potential and in a focussed initiative to catalyse demand and expand its student market-share, Thomas Cook India has launched a 3 month strategic Study Buddy promotion- timed strategically to target the critical booking window for student travel. Study Buddy’s attractive offers and deals intend to inspire student foreign exchange transactions with a range of assured gifts, including a 20% discount Myntra gift voucher, a 10% discount on Skybags, and a laptop every day to a lucky winner.

In addition to the Study Buddy offers, Thomas Cook India’s Student portfolio offers a range of significant benefits:

• Attractive rates on purchase of foreign exchange
• Doorstep delivery
• Zero charges on Remittances for university/ tuition fees and living expenses
• The convenience and security of Thomas Cook India’s Borderless and One Currency Prepaid cards
• Free ATM withdrawals
• Currency Notes across all global currencies and Demand Drafts
• Special Student airfares; 10% discount on base fare
• Excess baggage allowance on select airlines
• Overseas Travel Insurance

Thomas Cook India’s omni-channel presence (its portal www.thomascook.in backed by its Call Centres  and its extensive network of over 150 retail outlets) offers students ease and convenience in booking their student travel products/services. The Company’s Online Forex Store and Forex app are handy tools to equip the digitally savvy student segment with foreign exchange bookings on-the-go, coupled with the added advantage of doorstep delivery.

Mr. Deepesh Varma, Senior Vice President, Foreign Exchange – Sales & Relationship Management, Thomas Cook (India) Ltd. said, “The student travel market in India is a significant opportunity and at Thomas Cook India we have already witnessed impressive growth of 20-25% YoY. Hence in an initiative to inspire demand and maximize transactions, we conceptualized “Study Buddy”, timed to coincide with the student travel season. Study Buddy’s attractive offers and assured gifts are intended to delight the value seeking student community!”

He added, “Being a specialist in Foreign Exchange, our core product-service offering includes Remittance of University/Tuition Fees, Forex Prepaid Cards and Currency Notes backed with years of experience in guiding students and parents on changing forex regulations and the safest way in carrying foreign exchange abroad. This together with our “Study Buddy” offers creates a compelling proposition for students and parents to fulfil all their foreign exchange requirements through us, and with ease- via our omni-channel network.” 

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Mumbai, October 03, 2016:Thomas Cook (India) Ltd, India’s leading integrated travel and travel related financial services company has revealed interesting trends witnessed in Forex expenditure in the Eastern region of the country this Durga Puja.

Durga Puja is one of the year’s most widely celebrated festivals in India offering a long holiday opportunity, especially in West Bengal. While Kolkata & West Bengal have been earmarked as an important market for Durga Puja holidays accounting for 10% of Thomas Cook India’s overall leisure travel business, a few trends have been witnessed with regards to the Forex consumption among avid Bengali travellers.

The Discerning Bengali Traveller   ü  Loves history & culture ü  Fascinated with the elusive era of The Renaissance ü  Prefers travelling to Europe to satisfy the hunger for more knowledge ü  Appreciates various works of artists and authors they admire ü  Fave Destination: Europe – for the numerous museums with a vast treasure of paintings and sculptures. ü  Others include Paris, Switzerland, London, Austria and Italy

KEY TRENDS:

• Kolkata witnessed a surge of approx. 50% in number of transactions for forex in the Puja month as compared to the previous 2 months
• There has been an Increase of 10% in turn over as compared to September last year
• Average forex spend of a traveller from Kolkata is approx. USD 1600 -1700
• While USD/ EUR / THB are the top three currencies among Kolkata travellers, Hotels, Sightseeing & Food are the top forex spends while travelling on a holiday.
• Kolkata travellers prefer to carry cash followed by aforex card.
• Average load value of the card isapprox. USD 1000
• The east market accounts for 15% of the overall usage across India which has witnessed a surge up to 25% during Durga Puja.

Commenting on the surge in forex spends during Durga Puja Mr. Mahesh Iyer – Chief Operating Officer, Thomas Cook (India) Ltd said, “Durga Puja is one of the most significant festival in India and is widely celebrated in the Eastern region of the country, especially West Bengal. Marked by grand celebrations, the 9-day festive extravaganza is one of the biggest holiday seasons in the state. The demand for outbound leisure travel from the Eastern market has witnessed a significant surge recently resulting in a considerable spike in the consumption of forex making it the 3rd largest forex market in leisure travel segment in the country. We expect a steady growth in the segment over the next one year.”

About Thomas Cook (India) Limited:

Thomas Cook (India) Ltd (TCIL) is the leading integrated travel and travel related financial services company in the country offering a broad spectrum of services that include Foreign Exchange, Corporate Travel, MICE, Leisure Travel, Insurance, Visa & Passport services and E-Business. The company set up its first office in India in 1881.

TCIL’s footprint (exclusive of its subsidiaries) currently extends to over 231 locations (including 20 airport counters) in 92 cities across India, Mauritius & Sri Lanka and is supported by a strong partner network of 111 Gold Circle Partners and 112 Preferred Sales Agents in over 130 cities across India.

ICRA upgraded the long term rating of Thomas Cook (India) Limited’s non-convertible debenture programme to ‘ICRA AA/Stable’. CRISIL has assigned a long term rating of ‘CRISIL AA-/ stable‘ to the non-convertible debenture programme and long term banking facilities, and a short term rating of CRISIL A1+ to TCIL’s banking facilities. Further, ICRA has assigned a rating of ‘ICRA AA-/Stable’ to the company’s preference share programme.

Thomas Cook (India) Ltd has been voted as Favourite Outbound Tour Operator at the Outlook Traveller Awards 2015, Best Tour Operator – Outbound at the CNBC AWAAZ Travel Awards 2015, 2014 & 2013 and Best Company providing Foreign Exchange at the CNBC AWAAZ Travel Awards 2015 & 2014; felicitated with Diamond Award for Exemplary Achievements in Visa Issuance at the French Ambassador’s Travel Awards Ceremony 2015; Thomas Cook India’s Travel Quest was honoured with a Gold Award at PATA Gold Awards 2015; honored as India’s Leading Tour Operator 2014, World Travel Awards Asia & Australasia 2014,  Favourite Tour Operator at the Condé Nast Traveller Readers’ Travel Awards 2015  – 2011 ,recognized as a Consumer Superbrand 2013-14 & 2012-2013 and National Tourism Awards 2013-2014. Thomas Cook India’s Centre of Learning has received IATA accreditation as “Top 10 South Asia IATA Authorized Training Centers” 2016, 2015, 2013 & 2012. For more information, please visit www.thomascook.in

Thomas Cook (India) Limited is promoted by Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Fairbridge Capital (Mauritius) Limited and its controlled affiliates.  Fairbridge is responsible for the execution of acquisition and investment opportunities in the Indian subcontinent on behalf of the Fairfax family of companies.

About Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited:

Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited is a holding company which, through its subsidiaries, is engaged in property and casualty insurance and reinsurance and investment management.  The Company is headquartered in Toronto, Canada and has a global presence in insurance and reinsurance, including ICICI Lombard (India).  The Company, founded in 1985 by the present Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, PremWatsa, has, over the past 30 years, demonstrated a strong and consistent financial track record.  For the year ended December 31, 2015, Fairfax increased book value per share at a compounded annual growth rate of 20.4% since its inception with a corresponding compounded annual increase in share price of 19.4% and had over US $41 billion of assets.

Fairfax is engaged in long term investments from its own resources, with a focus to delivering long term capital appreciation through a flexible and value oriented approach. Fairfax Financial Holdings through Thomas Cook (India) Ltd. owns  69.55% of the Quess Corp Limited (formerly IKYA Human Capital Solutions Limited), a provider of integrated business services and 100% of Sterling Holiday Resorts Limited (formerly Thomas Cook Insurance Services (India) Limited) engaged in time share and resort business.

About Quess Corp Limited (formerly IKYA Human Capital Solutions Limited)

Quess Corp Limited is one of India’s leading integrated business services providers operating in four broad segments: Global Technology Solutions, People and Services, Integrated Facility Management and Industrial Asset Management. Headquartered in Bengaluru, it has a pan-India presence with 43 offices across 24 cities, as well as operations in North America, the Middle East and South East Asia. As of November 30, 2015, it employed over 118,000 employees.For further details on Quess Corp Ltd. please visit: http://www.quesscorp.com

About Sterling Holiday Resorts Limited:

Sterling Holiday Resorts Limited, a pioneer in vacation ownership and a leading leisure hospitality company in India, was incorporated in 1986 with the vision of delivering great holiday experiences to Indian families. To achieve this vision, the company pioneered Vacation Ownership in India and set about building a network of leisure resorts at some of the best holiday destinations in India. Currently, Sterling Holidays has a total inventory of 1914 rooms spread across a network of 26 resorts in 23 scenic holiday destinations in India.

In pursuance of the Order of Hon’ble High Court, Bombay, dated 2nd July, 2015 sanctioning the Composite Scheme of Arrangement and Amalgamation between Sterling Holiday Resorts (India) Limited (SHRIL) and Thomas Cook Insurance Services (India) Limited (TCISIL) and Thomas Cook (India) Limited (TCIL) and their respective shareholders and creditors (Scheme), the time share and resort business division and undertaking of SHRIL was Demerged into TCISIL and the residual business of SHRIL was Amalgamated with TCIL.

Post implementation of composite scheme, Sterling Holiday Resorts Limited (formerly Thomas Cook Insurance Services (India) Limited) continued the time share and resort business.

The company also has 16 additional sites where it plans to add new resorts in the coming years. For more information visit:www.sterlingholidays.com

About SOTC Travel Services Pvt Ltd (formerly known asKuoni Travel (India) Pvt. Ltd) & Kuoni Hong Kong

SOTC Travel Services Pvt Ltd (Formerly known as “Kuoni Travel (India) Pvt. Ltd.”) is a step-down subsidiary of Fairfax Financial Holdings Group; held through two companies, its Indian listed subsidiary, Thomas Cook (India) Limited (TCIL) and TCIL’s subsidiary Travel Corporation (India) Ltd.
SOTC is a leading travel and tourism company active across various travel segments including Leisure Travel, Business Travel, Destination Management Services and Distribution Visa Marketing Services.

TCIL through its step down Subsidiary Horizon Travel Holdings (Hong Kong) Private Limited holds 100% stake in Kuoni Travel (China) Limited (Kuoni Hong Kong), which has an attractive business in the travel sector backed by a trusted brand name, and a stable and motivated professional management team. Kuoni Hong Kong is a premium outbound travel operator in Hong Kong.

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“At Thomas Cook India, we stand in solidarity with the people of Istanbul & Turkey and we unequivocally condemn the heinous act of terror. Turkey holds favoured destination status with our travellers across our leisure segments- whether group or individual traveller, also MICE/ Corporate.

Our teams at Thomas Cook India have been working in close coordination with our on-ground partners in Turkey; our customers in Istanbul are safe and we are in contact with them to ensure their safety and return back to their home cities.  The repercussions of the attack on tourism will be felt briefly but is expected to pick up swiftly. While we did receive queries from our customers, we have received zero cancellations as of date; while a few prefer to wait and watch and if required defer their departure.”

–  Rajeev D. Kale, President & Country Head – Leisure Travel, MICE, Thomas Cook (India) Ltd

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Chennai, June 23 2014: Thailand’s nationwide curfew was lifted 10 days ago and demand from India is looking stronger than ever. Zooming into Chennai, travel agents say that they are relieved that the curfew has been lifted but also insist that their numbers have remained resilient right through. “Thailand is like a second home to most Indians hence small political problems do not represent a threat for them,” says Caroline Rozario, Manager – MICE, Ascon Holidays.

Shibani Phadkar, Senior Vice President – Products & Operations, Leisure Travel (Outbound), Thomas Cook (India) Ltd agreed with this: “Thailand has always been a favourite with our Chennai-based customers, being a convenient short haul for short breaks and leisurely laid back vacations, its diversity covers a range of price points to suit every wallet, be it the value-seeker or the luxury UHNI-HNI segment whom we cater to under our luxury brand, Indulgence,” she said.

That’s not to say that media reports created no apprehension amongst travellers. The Tourism Authority of Thailand’s (TAT) offices received daily inquiries about the truth of the situation as did travel agents. Importantly, most travellers were only looking for reassurance that they could go ahead with their plans. Once shown the real picture, people persisted with travel plans. Manish Kriplani, Managing Director, Baywatch Travels Pvt Ltd said, “Demand for Thailand was unwavering. People were certainly concerned because of news reports. However after we checked with our partners in Thailand, who gave us a much more realistic picture of the destination, we could reassure potential travellers and they went ahead and travelled. People returned more satisfied than ever because they received better deals than otherwise. I suppose it was also a breather for a region that is always crowded with tourists.

Rozario concurred that customers were calling in looking to be reassured: “The two groups for travel first week of June did approach us with questions about Thailand’s political situation. We forwarded the mail received from TAT and after a lot of briefing, we had the corporate convinced.  The feed-back from the team that travelled was excellent. They said that future groups had nothing to fear,” she said.

Additional feedback from the travel trade indicated that many corporates decided that this was in fact an opportune moment to host a Thailand trip and bag an even better deal than otherwise. “All in all I think the situation was blown out of proportion. Vigilance was on a high on the first day of the curfew but following that, life went on as usual. Some of our corporate customers also thought it was a good opportunity to knock on hotels’ doors for better deals,” Kriplani continued.

“Our bookings remained steady with five groups totaling nearly 250 people, travelling between March and June,” Rozario added.

Diversions, if any, were to other parts of Thailand, testify tour operators. “Given the sensitivity/ media coverage, we did see a shift in demand from Chennai this year, moving beyond Bangkok, to destinations like Phuket, Chiang Mai, Koh Samui and Koh Samet,” Phadkar explained. However, this is also in line with TAT’s strategy to promote itineraries ‘beyond Bangkok’ among Indian travellers.

With the curfew being lifted across Thailand and thousands of travellers returning to share that all is (and was) well in Thailand, demand is on the upswing. Travel agents are showing optimism. “Thailand will continue to trend and features strongly as part of our Monsoon ‘Drizzlers’, ‘Festive Breaks’ for Dussehra-Diwali-Durga Puja, as also our honeymoon packages later this year,” Phadkar shares.

TAT’s Mumbai director Sethphan Buddhani is optimistic too. “We are targeting 1,070,000 travellers from India by the end of 2014. We are hosting journalists, bloggers and travel agents in the destination so that they can see and judge Thailand’s safety, normalcy and continued warm hospitality with their own eyes,” he says.

For further information: www.tourismthailand.org / www.amazingthailand.co.in

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