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Tunia Cherian George

Mumbai , Jan. 24

COX & Kings, the travel company, plans to acquire hotel properties in upmarket tourist destinations such as Kerala, Jaipur and Goa, according to Mr Peter Kerkar, Director.

The company is keen to acquire luxury hotels with about 80 rooms and the acquisition would be made over the next 12 months, he said.

The company currently offers destination management services to foreign visitors in the subcontinent, business and leisure travel, besides currency exchange services in the country.

The Indian arm currently accounts for 50-55 per cent of the group's turnover and recorded a turnover of Rs 550 crore in the year ended March 2004. In comparison, its overseas offices, including those in the US, the UK, and Japan, together recorded a turnover of Rs 475 crore for the calendar year ended December 2004.

In the run-up to its 250th anniversary, which it celebrates in 2008, the company has come out with a `buy one, get one free' offer on its Rs 99,000, 11-day European packages. The packages include return airfares, hotel accommodation, meals, and the services of a tour manager.

"The deal brings a European holiday within the reach of the middle-class traveller who may otherwise have to limit his choice to destinations in the Far East," said Mr Kerkar.

The group has set aside £2 million to fund similar offers across the globe.

According to Mr Kerkar, the offer compared well with packages covering the Far East, and he expected to sell around 5,000 packages during the week-long offer which opened on Monday (January 24). The vacation could be planned anytime between March and October.

This is just the first of several offers that the group plans to unveil over the next three years. Providing a peek into what was planned for the final year of the celebrations in 2008, he said the company would arrange cruises that would retrace the company's journey from Southampton to the Cape of Good Hope and the East, halting on its way at Iran, Pakistan and finally, India.

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