DRMumbai: Thomas Cook (India) Ltd., India’s leading integrated travel and related financial services company, has launched Holiday Basket – an innovative EMI-powered holiday solution, offering Indian travellers inflation-proof credit based holidays. Thomas Cook India’s data reveals an upwards of 30% demand from young travellers between the age group of 25 – 35 years, who believe in instant gratification even in travel; and through the launch of Holiday Basket, it aims to tap into these growing aspirational travel demands.
According to recent reports, demand for personal loans for travel purposes grew by 55%, out of which 85% are millennials. A recent survey by Thomas Cook India further validated the strong potential of EMIs for travel, reporting healthy double-digit growth in enquiries from customers across various subsets, especially India’s millennials, and middle-class segments. Interestingly, Thomas Cook India’s internal data reveals two key insights on travel trends amongst Indians: 1) a growing aspiration to travel twice in a year with one international long haul vacation and one domestic short-haul vacation; and 2) the most preferred domestic destinations for a first time traveller include Andaman, Kerala, Ladakh, Goa, Himachal and the North East, and Bhutan, Thailand, Singapore, Mauritius, Dubai, Bali, Phuket, and Sri Lanka, as international choices.
Based on these key insights and to address this high growth segment, Thomas Cook India conceptualised a one-of-a-kind product, Holiday Basket, with two variants, allowing consumers to enjoy four holidays in two years (two international and two domestic) in an alternate fashion, or two holidays in one year (one international and one domestic), by bearing just 20% of the package cost upfront and paying the remaining at a NO cost EMI through partners including Bajaj Finance Limited, Tata Capital Limited, and SanKash Private limited.
Holiday Basket’s inflation-proof EMI will save travellers from the hassle of last minute travel expenses, further transforming their travel goals into reality. By freezing the cost at the time of payment, consumers can secure their trip at an existing rate for the next two years that includes airfares, hotel tariffs. Moreover, customers will also be able to enjoy the convenience of a dedicated Relationship Manager, facilitating seamless planning of their holidays. With 14 popular locations featuring on the Holiday Basket website https://holidaybasket.thomascook.in/, travellers will gain access to a host of experiences and destinations.
Speaking on the launch of the product, Abraham Alapatt, President & Group Head – Marketing, Service Quality, Value Added Services & Innovation, Thomas Cook (India) Ltd., said, “Thomas Cook’s Holiday Basket is aimed at millennial holiday-goers, for whom, travel is no longer a luxury, but a necessity. We based Holiday Basket on two powerful insights: 1) 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, and 2) There is a growing trend of customers taking two planned holidays a year – one domestic and one international.
Holiday Basket is an inflation-proof and hassle-free offering from Thomas Cook, that helps easily plan and fund very affordable domestic and international vacations across the most popular and attractive destinations – two years in advance, with quick and hassle-free loans via no cost EMIs from our finance partners. Holiday Basket helps protect customers from unforeseen and inflationary rises in holiday costs due to fluctuations in airfares (as is being witnessed today), inflation, and/or increased seasonal demand. The aim is to help make our value-seeking customers’ dream holidays a reality faster, by combining planning convenience with an unbeatable customer proposition.”
