Comments
Thomas Cook India rejigged its strategy post Covid-19 to adopt a hybrid operating model. The legacy brick-and-mortar travel company will now have an added focus on its digital portal.
The travel company is also exploring opportunities in the domestic segment.
Speaking to BusinessLine, Madhavan Menon, Chairman and Managing Director, Thomas Cook India, emphasised that the company has fast-tracked its technological adoption, learning from the Covid-19 pandemic and the quick shift in customer mindset and behaviour.
“What we realised is that the consumer's buying habits are changing. People are online,” he said.
Shifting focus
Traditionally, Thomas Cook India was focused on its brick and mortar operations. Now the company is focusing on acquiring customers through its digital portal, too.
Madhavan said, “We realised that our customers wanted to choose how to reach out to us whether it is online, or via a call centre or physically. Hence, we will now have a more hybrid operations.”
Also see: Centre issues fresh guidelines for those arriving from S Africa, Mauritius, China
Currently, Thomas Cook India is spread across 25 countries across 5 continents. It has approximately 350 retail brick and mortar offices in India including SOTC stores.
While Thomas Cook will have a presence in both digital and bricks and mortar formats, Madhavan noted, “Our focus will be more digital though. By upgrading our software, we can allow our customers to customise their holiday packages.”
Greater customisation
Thomas Cook, essentially focused on holiday packages, takes care of the customer’s end to end services. However, this left little room for customisation. With the software upgrade, one can choose their desired hotel and flight bookings from the available options.
The company recently also introduced a build-your-own-holiday module, which is working very well for the company as it is able to tap customers who want a holiday but want to have the option to choose their flight options and hotel options too.
Domestic segment
Speaking about other changes in the strategy of Thomas Cook, Menon said it is exploring more product opportunities in the domestic segment. The travel company has usually had a large focus on international travel packages.
Currently, due to travel restrictions globally, Thomas Cook’s customers have been booking holidays to domestic destinations. However, Menon expects that with the easing of norms globally there will be a shift in Thomas Cook’s customers who might choose an international tour package.
With international traffic restrictions coming in, the domestic segment now accounts for 50 per cent of it revenues.
According to Menon, the company will continue to focus on the domestic market to ensure that 40-50 per cent revenue comes from domestic market even after international travel opens up.
He felt that the government should clarify when international travel norms can be relaxed and when can India open its borders for inbound travellers.
Further, it also needs to take up confidence building exercises to get India back on the travel charts globally.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.