Rajeev Kale

President & Country Head Holidays, MICE, Visa, Thomas Cook (India)

At Thomas Cook India, our strategic focus was given to product development. From the early days of the lockdown, we realized that we had to quickly adapt to the new normal and create products and services in line with the requirements of the COVID-19 era.

The consumer wish-list had changed and our teams worked basis the same to create easy to book, practical holidays such as workations, staycations, drivecations, and affordable luxury holidays. We focussed on quick breaks to counter the stresses of work from home and home chores and at convenient short drivable distances/within their city of residence. We invited our customers to celebrate special occasions such as birthdays and anniversaries with our specially designed holidays.

Today, in the face of limited international border reopening, domestic tourism offers a significant opportunity to the travel and tourism industry. Indians are displaying a keen and growing interest in domestic travel with 52 per cent of respondents of our Second Holiday Readiness Report (December 2020) indicating their preference for a Domestic holiday in 2021.

Domestic destinations are currently seeing strong demand. Indians are showing encouraging trends of wanting to discover incredible India and our Hidden Gems product is doing well. There is so much India has to offer: from Kashmir’s tulip gardens, Lonar Lake - an astronomical marvel created by a meteor and