Travel services company Thomas Cook said it will offer holiday packages in which only 20% of the total travel cost has to be paid up front, and the remaining can be paid in no-cost EMIs.
Thomas Cook said that it will offer two packages — four holidays (two domestic and two overseas) in two years and two holidays (one domestic and one overseas) in one year — under its new plan.
Thomas Cook stated that it will provide an inflation-proof credit based holiday packages to Indian travelers, especially to those between the age group of 25-30 years. It said that the loans will help the travelers insulate themselves from developments such as the aviation crisis and the increased flight prices.
It has partnered with Bajaj Finance Ltd, Tata Capital Ltd and Gurgaon-based travel start-up firm SanKash Private Ltd for the new scheme.
SanKash, which had commenced providing travel loans about six months ago, generates more than 100 loan requests daily.
According to recent reports and a survey by Thomas Cook India, demand for personal loans for travel purposes grew by about 55%, out of which 85% are from millennials. The studies validated the strong potential of EMIs for travel, reporting a healthy double digit growth in enquiries from customers across various subsets, especially India’s millennials and middle class segment.
Thomas Cook said that its new ‘Holiday Basket’ travel package will help travellers secure their trip at an existing rate for the next two years that includes airfares and hotel tariffs. Some of the popular destinations included in the package are Thailand, Mauritius, Bali, Singapore, Dubai, Phuket, Sri Lanka, Andaman, Kerala, Ladakh, Goa and Himachal Pradesh.
“Thomas Cook’s ‘Holiday Basket’ is aimed at millennial holiday-goers,for whom, travel is no longer a luxury, but a necessity. It is designed in such a way that the new age traveller does not want to be limited by the size of her/his current wallet and does not want to miss out on the excitement and brag-worthiness of travel”, said Abraham Alapatt, President & Group Head -Marketing, Service Quality, Value Added Services & Innovation, Thomas Cook (India) Ltd.
Headquartered in Mumbai, Thomas Cook offers a range of travel services including Foreign Exchange, international and domestic holidays, visa, passport, travel insurance & MICE. It established its first office in India in 1833, and and eventually extended to over 233 locations in 94 cities across India, Sri Lanka and Mauritius.
Thomas Cook is India’s largest brick and mortar travel company.