TBM Staff - Mumbai Thomas Cook (India) Limited has unveiled a new campaign to capitalise on the significant demand shift towards customized holidays. The campaign positions the brand as India ka Holiday Specialist, with the company’s long history of fulfilling holiday dreams for millions of customers over the years.
The company’s accelerated digital focus has resulted in building and strengthening its hybrid model – combining state of the art technology with human expertise and personal touch. This has resulted in a significant drop of approx. 10 years in the average age of the company’s holiday customers. With Young Indians willing to increase spends for that once in a lifetime experience – there is a noteworthy shift from a saving to spending mindset.
Additionally, there is a growing sense of ‘YOLO – You Only Live Once’ amongst consumers, with an increased desire to strike off all their bucket-list experiences. This has resulted in a 40-50% increase in Thomas Cook’s customised holidays business compared to pre pandemic, with a noteworthy demand for unique, once in a lifetime experiences over exploring popular tourist locales and regular sightseeing tours.
The strategic intent behind the campaign is to take a long-term and leadership position in the customised holidays space by owning noteworthy differentiators such as the most experienced holiday experts (itinerary curators), who now serve customers at their doorstep as a personal holiday maker to help them create itineraries as per their preferences. The Company has also created a dynamic package building tool, wherein travellers can build their itinerary instantly across popular destinations on the website. Additionally, a 24 x 7 on-tour assistance is now being extended to all customers – experienced and empowered tour managers and experts (via call / WhatsApp) are available to offer guidance to the customers on their holidays.
The campaign plays on the key insight that Thomas Cook’s customised holiday experts cater to diverse requirements of the travellers. In a humorous Pan India cultural context, the campaign showcases the customers’ desire for unique experiences including adventure activities, gastronomy, and more while on their holiday – and seek Thomas Cook’s expertise to make their travel dreams come true. The film will be promoted across all digital and social platforms across regions.
Abraham Alapatt, President & Group Head – Marketing, Service Quality, Value Added Services & Innovation, Thomas Cook (India) Limited, said, “Personalised holidays that are built around specific needs, experiences, events and scheduled as per the customer’s schedule – are witnessing a significant increase in demand from young & young at heart customers, in addition to women only travellers, seniors, groups of friends, well-travelled couples and DINKs. The pandemic has created a deeper appreciation for life & the need to live in the moment. This YOLO (You Only Live Once) mindset is driving travel desire.”
