KOLKATA: On the back of a strong rupee, travel major Thomas Cook (India) Ltd has said it registered a robust growth of booking for international travel from India in the January-March period of 2019 as elections have not shown any negative sentiment to tours.
The company has decided to offer sops to celebrate the Lok Sabha election and launched ‘Ghar Jao Vote Karo’ campaign ahead of the polls that began APRIL 11.
“We have registered 20 per cent jump in revenue while the number of travellers’ booking rose by 15-16 per cent in the January-March 2019 compared to the same period last year,” Thomas Cook India VP (holidays) Romil Pant said.
About the sops around elections, he said, “We are offering Rs 1,000 discount for domestic travellers booking an air ticket from workplace city to their hometown to vote.”
After voting, travellers with the indelible mark on their fingers, the proof of that they had voted, will get Rs 3,000 discount per person on domestic holidays and Rs 5,000 on international travels, Pant said.
The rupee had regained some 10 per cent from its recent lost ground from a low of Rs 74 against the US dollar, encouraging travellers. The sector had suffered owing to sharp rupee depreciation last year.
Pant said there have been some talks of election tourism among international travellers to India but that remains at a very nascent stage.
Thomas Cook is focused on outbound travel.
In Gujarat, some travel agents have been promoting election tourism among international tourists in line with Mexico to showcase the Indian elections as a festival.
Cruise as a segment is gaining momentum with strong uptake of 32 per cent, Pant said.
He said the “women only” groups for international destinations are gaining more attraction.
Pant said the east market is promising and Kolkata was showing the strongest growth of 25 per cent growth in customized holidays in the recent period. PTI
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