With the Durga Puja and other festivals lined up, demand for travel has strongly rebounded and to capture this demand, travel firms Thomas Cook and SOTC India have launched special packages for numerous overseas destinations, mainly short-haul or destinations for which visa can be obtained easily.

With India’s key festive season beginning with Ganesh Chaturthi followed by Navratri/Durga Puja-Dussehra and Diwali, and with schools closing for their mid-term break, Indians across segments are displaying an increased appetite to travel. To capitalise on the high demand during this peak festive period, Thomas Cook (India) and its subsidiary, SOTC Travel, have launched an extensive range of packages for festive holidays, with a range of special offers and deals.

The festive season represents India’s second largest travel period and the two companies say that their internal data reiterates the strong demand, not just from metros but also mini-metros, and tier 2-3 cities with a significant 74 pc respondents indicating intent to travel. Key segments driving demand for the festive season include:

• Multi-generational families/couples: 78 pc looking for quality bonding time together
• India’s migrant working professional segment: 66 pc keen to travel home and celebrate with their families
• Millennials: 71 pc open to a mini-cation with their group of friends or a solo break

As Indian customers are quintessential value seekers and hence to accelerate bookings, both the companies have announced an array of special deals like Buy One Get One Free, Early Bird Discounts, Travel Now Pay Later on select destinations/tours.

Destinations leading demand include short haul/easy visa destinations like Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Maldives, Mauritius; also Nepal and Bhutan in the Indian subcontinent. Most preferred long and mid haul destinations are USA (for visa holding customers), Australia, New Zealand, Turkey, Jordan, Egypt and Europe, including UK.

According to a press release, cruise holidays represent a great value proposition since it comes with an all-inclusive holiday packed with entertainment/activities across age groups, diversity of dining experiences and sailing to multiple locations with on-shore sightseeing tours, without the hassle of check-in/check-out or transfers. With cruises witnessing an surge in demand, Thomas Cook and SOTC are offering value deals on cruise holidays like children under 18 years of age travel free on Costa Cruise’s Dubai sailings, discounted prices on select Royal Caribbean and NCL (Norwegian Cruise Lines) Cruises for Europe, says the press release.

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“Festivals usher in the spirit of togetherness and reunites people with loved ones. The upcoming festive period is the perfect time for families, loved ones to get away from the hustle of city life and take a relaxing break. To encourage our customers, we have introduced an extensive range of Festive Holidays across customer favourite destinations packed with unique experiences and special deals for our ready-to-book and personalised itineraries to ensure great value for money. Further, customers can make the most of our air-inclusive holidays with Vistara Getaways, Air Arabia Holidays and Emirates Holidays. And to accelerate demand, we have launched a range of unbeatable offers like Buy One Get One Free, Holiday Now Pay on Return and early bird specials,’’ says Rajeev Kale, President & Country Head – Holidays, MICE, Visa, Thomas Cook (India).

“India’s festive season presents the perfect opportunity to travel, especially for families with schools closing for their mid-term break and working professionals taking time off and travelling back to their hometowns to celebrate with their families. To inspire our customers across segments, we have announced an array of deals that are sure to give them the best value, and this is across our international, domestic and cruise holidays. I would like to invite our customers to book their long pending holiday and make the best of these special deals,” adds Daniel D’Souza, President & Country Head – Holidays, SOTC Travel.

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