A detail Study On Thomas cook

A Detailed Study on Thomas Cook India

A Detail Information Study on Thomas Cook India

Submitted By

PGDM 05 (SECTION B) (2015-2017)

Tanmoy Roy (030105007)

Under the guidance of

Prof. Arpita Chowdhury (Faculty of Business Communication, Globsyn Business School)

In

Department of Management Studies

Globsyn Business School

MouzaChandi, PS- Bishnupur, Amtala,J.L. No- 101, District- 24 Parganas (South), D.H. Road,

Pin- 743503, West Bengal, India.

Page | 1



Table Of Contents Page NoCHAPTER 1 3-6CHAPTER 2 7-8CHAPTER 3 9-13CHAPTER 4 14CHAPTER 5 15-17CHAPTER 6 18-22






Chapter - 1


History and Background of the Company:

On July 5, 1841, young Thomas Cook arranged an 11-mile train journey priced at merely 1 shilling, for a motley group of 570 passengers from Leicester to Loughborough. And this marked the beginning of a chapter in travel history. He went on to introduce a railway tour of Europe. But it wasn't until the early 1860s that he began the travel firm, Thomas Cook & Son, which included tours of the USA. The Company also started operations for military transport and postal services for England and Egypt during the 1880s.


Thomas Cook has widely been acclaimed as the founder of world tourism, and in addition to the world’s first package tour in 1841, Thomas Cook introduced a number of customer empowering innovations that we take for granted today: pre-paid hotel coupons (in 1868), holiday brochures (in 1858) and travellers cheques (in 1874).

The world got around and by the early 1900s, the who's who of the era - kings, politicians, bishops and professors - patronised Thomas Cook's travel itinerary.

As the years passed by, the Company introduced the world to a whole new concept of leisure and


business travel. Driving innovation in the business, it connected continents and presented the people an economic and state mode of travel across them.

In 1881, Thomas Cook started its India operations, with its first office being set up in Mumbai. As it expanded its horizons across the subcontinent, the Company came to be known as Thomas Cook Overseas Ltd. And on 21st October 1978, it was christened Thomas Cook (India) Ltd, only to make its first public issue in February 1983. In the year 2000, the Group commenced its operations in Mauritius and also acquired the Sri Lanka business from Thomas Cook Overseas Ltd, UK. In 2006, Thomas Cook (India) Limited acquired LKP Forex Limited and Travel Corporation (India) Pvt. Ltd. (TCI). In May 2012, Thomas Cook Group plc, UK (the erstwhile parent) sold its investment in Thomas Cook (India)


Limited (TCIL) to Fairbridge Capital (Mauritius) Limited (Fairbridge). Fairbridge made an open offer to the non-promoters and post August 14, 2012, TCIL is part of Fairfax Group, Canada.


Thomas Cook (India) Ltd (TCIL) is the leading integrated travel and travel related financial services company in the country offering a broad spectrum of services that include Foreign Exchange, Corporate Travel, MICE, Leisure Travel, Insurance, Visa & Passport services and E-Business. The company set up its first office in India in 1881.

TCIL’s footprint (exclusive of its subsidiaries) currently extends to over 232 locations (including 23 airport counters) in 92 cities across India, Mauritius & Sri Lanka and is supported by a strong partner network of 116 Gold Circle Partners and 112 Preferred Sales Agents in over 130 cities across India.


ICRA upgraded the long term rating of Thomas Cook (India) Limited’s non-convertible debenture programme to ‘ICRA AA/Stable’. CRISIL has assigned a long term rating of ‘CRISIL AA-/ stable‘ to the non-convertible debenture programme and long term banking facilities, and a short term rating of CRISIL A1+ to TCIL’s banking facilities. Further, ICRA has assigned a rating of ‘ICRA AA-/Stable’ to the company’s preference share programme.


Thomas Cook (India) Ltd has been voted as Favourite Outbound Tour Operator at the Outlook Traveller Awards 2015, Best Tour Operator - Outbound at the CNBC AWAAZ Travel Awards 2015, 2014 & 2013 and Best Company providing Foreign Exchange at the CNBC AWAAZ Travel Awards 2015 & 2014; felicitated with Diamond Award for Exemplary Achievements in Visa Issuance at the French Ambassador's Travel Awards Ceremony 2015; Thomas Cook India’s Travel Quest was honoured with a Gold Award at PATA Gold Awards 2015; honored as India's Leading Tour Operator 2014, World Travel Awards Asia & Australasia 2014, Favourite Tour Operator at the Condé Nast Traveller Readers' Travel Awards 2015 - 2011 ,recognized as a Consumer Superbrand 2013-14 & 2012-2013 and National Tourism Awards 2013-2014. Thomas Cook India’s Centre of Learning has received IATA accreditation


as “Top 10 South Asia IATA Authorized Training Centers”2015, 2013 & 2012. For more information, please visit www.thomascook.in

Thomas Cook (India) Limited is promoted by Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Fairbridge Capital (Mauritius) Limited and its controlled affiliates. Fairbridge is responsible for the execution of acquisition and investment opportunities in the Indian subcontinent on behalf of the Fairfax family of companies.


About Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited:


Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited is a financial services holding company based in Canada with a global presence in insurance and reinsurance, as well as joint ventures including ICICI Lombard (India). The Company, founded in 1985 by the present Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Prem Watsa, has over the past 30 years, demonstrated a strong and consistent financial track record. For the year ended December 31, 2014, Fairfax increased book value per share at a compounded annual growth rate of 21.1% since its inception with a corresponding compounded annual increase in share price 19.8% and had over US $36 billion of assets.


Fairfax is engaged in long term investments from its own resources, with a focus to delivering long term capital appreciation through a flexible and value oriented approach. Fairfax Financial Holdings through Thomas Cook (India) Ltd. owns 66.80% on a fully diluted basis of the Quess Corp Limited (formerly IKYA Human Capital Solutions Limited), a provider of specialised Human Resource related Services and 100% of Sterling Holiday Resorts Limited (formerly Thomas Cook Insurance Services (India) Limited) engaged in time share and resort business.

About Quess Corp Limited (formerly IKYA Human Capital Solutions Limited)


Quess Corp Limited is one of India’s leading integrated business services providers operating in four broad segments: Global Technology Solutions, People and Services, Integrated Facility Management and Industrial Asset Management. Headquartered in Bengaluru, it has a pan-India presence with 43 offices across 24 cities, as well as operations in North America, the Middle East and South East Asia. As of November 30, 2015, it employed over 118,000 employees.For further details on Quess Corp Ltd. please visit: www.quesscorp.com



About Sterling Holiday Resorts (India) Limited:

Sterling Holiday Resorts Limited, a pioneer in vacation ownership and a leading leisure hospitality company in India, was incorporated in 1986 with the vision of delivering great holiday experiences to Indian families. To achieve this vision, the company pioneered Vacation Ownership in India and set about building a network of leisure resorts at some of the best holiday destinations in India. Currently, Sterling Holidays has a total inventory of 1767 rooms spread across a network of 24 resorts in 21 scenic holiday destinations in India.


In pursuance of the Order of Hon’ble High Court, Bombay, dated 2nd July, 2015 sanctioning the Composite Scheme of Arrangement and Amalgamation between Sterling Holiday Resorts (India) Limited (SHRIL) and Thomas Cook Insurance Services (India) Limited (TCISIL) and Thomas Cook (India) Limited (TCIL) and their respective shareholders and creditors (Scheme), the time share and resort business division and undertaking of SHRIL was Demerged into TCISIL and the residual business of SHRIL was Amalgamated with TCIL.


Post implementation of composite scheme, Sterling Holiday Resorts Limited (formerly Thomas Cook Insurance Services (India) Limited) continued the time share and resort business.

The company also has 16 additional sites where it plans to add new resorts in the coming years. For more information visit: www.sterlingholidays.com


Chapter – 2


Area of business & product profile :

HOLIDAYS –1. International Holidays

a) Europe Packages


b) Dubai Packagesc) Malaysia Packagesd) Thailand Packagese) Singapore Packagesf) Mauritius Packagesg) Maldives Packagesh) Maldives Honeymoon Packagesi) Mauritius Honeymoon Packagesj) Singapore Honeymoon Packagesk) Switzerland Honeymoon Packages


2. India, Nepal ,Bhutan and Srilanka Holidays

a) Andaman Packagesb) Goa Packagesc) Kerala Packagesd) Himachal Packagese) Kashmir Packagesf) Srilanka Packages


g) Uttarakhand Packagesh) Kerala Honeymoon Packagesi) Andaman Honeymoon Packagesj) Weekend Getaways Mumbai Packagesk) Weekend Getaways Delhi Packages

3. India Long Weekend Holidays4. India Luxury Hotels5. Honeymoon packages


6. Weekend Packages7. Cruise Holidays

8. Holidays With a Difference9. Senior Citizen Holidays10.Only Stay Holidays


Foreign Exchange :1. Buy Foreign Exchange2. Reload Borderless prepaid card 3. One Currency Card4. Send Money Abroad5. Self Foreign Exchange6. Student Travel7. Education Forex8. Receive Money Via Money Gram


9. Receive Money Via Xpress Money Flights Hotels Gift Cards Visa& Insurance

1. Visa and Payments2. Overseas Travel Insurance3. Student Insurance

Offers1. Holiday Offers


2. Flight Offers3. Hotel Offers4. ICICI Bank Offers5. STATE Bank Offers6. AXIS Bank Offers7. HDFC Bank Offers8. RBL Bank Offers9. KOTAK Bank Offers10. HSBC Card Offers11. Standard Charters Bank Offers



Chapter – 3

Management of The Company:


Board of directors

(CEO)Chris Mottershead


Chairman and Managing DirectorMr. Madhavan Menon


Non-Executive DirectorMr. Chandran Ratnaswami

Non-Executive DirectorMr. Harsha Raghavan


Non Executive Independent DirectorMrs. Kishori Udeshi


Non Executive Independent DirectorMr. Pravir Kumar Vohra


Additional Non Executive Independent DirectorMr. Nilesh Vikamsey

Additional Non Executive Independent DirectorMr. Sunil Mathu




Chairman and Managing DirectorMr. Madhavan Menon

Madhavan Menon, (B.A. (Business), George Washington University, USA., MBA, Finance & International Business, George Washington University, USA), born on 12 February 1955, was appointed as an Additional and Executive Director-Foreign Exchange for 3 years with effect from 1st May, 2000 , re-appointed for a further period of 3 years w.e.f. 1st May 2003. He was appointed as the Managing Director of Thomas Cook (India) Limited (TCIL) with effect from 27th April 2006.

He has a total experience of over 33 years. His previous assignment prior to joining TCIL was as Chief Operations & Administrative Officer of Birla Sunlife Asset Management Co. (AMC) Ltd, Citi Bank and


ANZ Grindlays Bank. His expertise spans over Banking, Finance and Travel-related Foreign Exchange Management.

His responsibilities in TCIL include achievement of planned revenues through business development and growth




Awards:

Thomas Cook (India) Ltd; India’s leading integrated travel and travel related financial services company, was honored as the “Favorite Tour Operator” at the 5th Annual Condé Nast Traveller India Readers' Travel Awards 2015 for the fifth time in a row. The event was graced by luminaries from the tourism and hospitality industry, including Chief Guest, Shri Vinod Zutshi, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India.


The Condé Nast Traveller Readers’ Travel Awards are globally recognized as a benchmark for excellence and acknowledged as one of the most prestigious in the industry. The awards honoring the best in travel, tourism and hospitality, are rendered even more meaningful as the selection is by the discerning and influential readers of Condé Nast Traveller.

Thomas Cook (India) Limited has been the recipient of the followingHighly prestigious awards and accolades during the period 1st January,2014 to 31st March, 2015:

Voted as Favourite Outbound Tour Operator at the Outlook Traveller


Awards 2015

IATA accreditation as "Top 10 South Asia IATA Authorized TrainingCenters 2015

Best Tour Operator - Outbound at the CNBC AWAAZ Travel Awards 2014 &2013 and Best Company providing Foreign Exchange at the CNBC AWAAZTravel Awards 2014

''India''s Leading Tour Operator'' for the year 2014, at the 21st Annual


World Travel Awards Asia & Australasia 2014

Favourite Tour Operator at the Conde Nast Traveller Readers'' TravelAwards 2014

Consumer Superbrand 2013-14





Chapter - 4


BALANCE SHEET












Chapter –5

The Thomas cook have there are 233 plus braches in National wide. The head offices of Thomas cook India is situated at Mumbai.The addresses of the Head offices are below-

1. Contact Information of Investor Grievance official:

Designated official of the Company for Investor Grievance: Amit Parekh


Email Id: [email protected]

Tel. No.: 0091-22-6160 3333/ 0091-22-6609 1700

Correspondence Address: Thomas Cook Building,

Secretarial & Legal Department,

Dr. D. N. Road, Fort, Mumbai – 400 001


2. Contact information of the Debenture Trustee:

IDBI Trusteeship Services Limited

Asian Building, Ground Floor

17, R. Kamani Marg, Ballard Estate


Mumbai – 400 001

Contact Person: Sarita Iyer

Tel: +91-22-4080 7005


Fax: +91-22-6631 1776

E-mail: [email protected]

3. Contact Information of Registrar & Share Transfer Agent:

TSR Darashaw Limited


6-10, Haji Moosa Patrawala Industrial Estate,

Near Famous Studio,

20, Dr. E Moses Road, Mahalakshmi,

Mumbai 400 011

Tel: +91 22 6656 8484


Fax: +91 22 6656 8494

Email Id: [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]



West Bengal


In West Bengal the branches Of Thomas cook is mainly at Kolkata and the address are below -

Lake Gardens ,Kolkata -Thomas Cook (india) Ltd., 378 Lake Gardens, 1st Floor, Police Station Lake, Kolkata West Bengal 700045 , Phone (033) 64542158, 64542159, Mobile.

Shakespeare sarani, Kolkata-Thomas Cook (india) Ltd, 19b, 1st Floor, Shakespeare Sarani Kolkata West Bengal 700071 , Phone (033) 66526241/45/31, Mobile.

Saltlake city , Kolkata -Thomas Cook (india) Ltd., Al-2, Saltlake City, Sector Ii, Kolkata West Bengal 700091 , Phone (033) 40006464, Mobile.


Lake Town ,Kolkata - Thomas Cook (india)ltd., 238 Lake Town, Block B, Kolkata West Bengal 700089 , Phone (033) 64500699, Mobile.

Saltlake ,Kolkata - Thomas Cook (india) Ltd, Sdf Buliding, Module 304, Block Ep And Gp, Sector V, Bidhan Nagar, Salt Lake Kolkata Kolkata West Bengal 700091 , Phone 033 - 66526214, 66526206, 66526209, Mobile.



Chapter- 6


Future Plans Of Thomas Cook in India :

The competitor of Thomas cook is Cox & Kings, Make my trip,Yatra.com

Chris Mottershead reveals his plans for Thomas Cook

There are few that would deny 2015 was a challenging year to become the UK and Ireland managing director of a major holiday firm.



How Chris Mottershead is planning to take Thomas Cook to the next level

Especially when that firm happened to be Thomas Cook; a company that spent much of last year trying to deal with its own issues – the aftermath of Harriet Green’s departure and the inquest into the tragic


deaths of Bobby and Christi Shepherd, to name but a few – not to mention the many global crises that rocked not only the travel industry but the world at large.

For Chris Mottershead however, amid the many varied challenges, 2015 was also a year of opportunity. In October he was appointed to the top UK and Ireland job at Cook, bringing with him his 10 years of experience at Tui, and nine years at Airtours – a company which he helped lead through its glory days in the 1990s, when it dominated the market as one of the largest travel businesses in the UK.

“We have to be flexible and adapt. If the customer wants to go to certain destinations, we have to be able to go to it.”


And he is a breath of fresh air to Cook. Unlike his predecessor Salman Syed, he has a travel background, but anyone thinking this might constrain his vision or make him more traditional in his approach is likely to be pleasantly surprised. Mottershead is clearly keen for change, and he’s excited about it. He’s also not afraid to create controversy.


On the day we meet, Mottershead has just confirmed he will be “reviewing” Cook’s third-party supplier list, with plans to make further cuts after the travel giant dropped both Belleair Holidays and Balkan Holidays in September.

Further afield

There are other parts of the business that have also attracted Mottershead’s attention, including the destinations within Cook’s programme.


Last year the travel giant expanded its US routes, featuring destinations such as Las Vegas, New York, Boston and Miami. It was a significant change for the company that had traditionally specialised in short-haul package breaks. But Mottershead says Cook has seen “strong growth” in its long-haul offering, and could look to boost its flights to the US, having already added Gatwick-Orlando flights which will begin on May 21. He admits the new programme has transformed the company’s traditional business model.


“We have a dual role at the moment,” Mottershead says. “As well as our holidays, there’s an emphasis on other holiday companies as well. We’re doing a lot of seat-only. We can tap into [our US flights] for the role of creating holidays [as a whole package], but the primary role is seat-only,” he stresses.

Mottershead is also not shy about tapping into the gap left by Virgin Holidays’ withdrawal from the trade. “We see it as a real opportunity,” he admits. “We were already the biggest long-haul operator in Manchester, but in Gatwick, we hadn’t had as big a long-haul market. There was an opportunity [to fly to Orlando] and it was an easy move because we can now use [more] retailers.” Is there a chance that Cook could look to emulate the model of Tui in adding many more long-haul destinations? “We don’t


Believe in copying,” Mottershead smiles. “We’ll do it on our own basis. We’ve done the US and others haven’t, but that’s not to say we wouldn’t fly somewhere like Asia in the future. “We have to be flexible and adapt. If the customer wants to go to certain destinations, we have to be able to offer them. You should always ride the crest of a wave.”


Terrorism fallout

Offering more alternative destinations in its programme has proved even more important following the tragic terrorism events of last year. Tunisia in particular hit the company hard. “We were the largest operator to Tunisia from the UK, and we have had to adapt,” Mottershead concedes. “[But] we have to move forward.”


Cook has said it hopes to return to the North African country by April 30, providing that the FCO lifts its advice. Mottershead admits, however, he is not convinced Tunisia will be back on sale by then. “I’m not sure that it will be open [for UK tourists] by then. If it is, we will need to have had a period of time to push and sell it… [Ideally] I would hope to see the country open by February,” he adds, “but I’m not convinced it will be.”

“One of our modern day strengths is that the government and industry both understand each other; it’s not just an unconsidered view”


The closure of Sharm el Sheikh airport has also presented challenges, with the company currently stating that it will reinstate flights to the Red Sea resort from February 10. Mottershead stresses though that the government has been working “in tandem” with the industry.

“One of our modern day strengths is that the government and industry both understand each other; it’s not just an unconsidered view. “Even the prime minister is understanding of what the tour operators and customers have to go through when decisions like this are made,” he adds, revealing that David Cameron wrote to Cook to thank it for its response during the Sharm el Sheikh repatriation crisis.


“The PM personally thanked us as a business; it was great recognition of the industry.” Cook might have spent much of 2015 dealing with crises abroad, but there have also been issues at home. A particular gripe for a number of third party agents is its call-centre, with the Facebook group Travel Gossip often filled with complaints about long wait times.

Mottershead insists that the problems only arise during emergencies, such as with Tunisia or Sharm last year, but he does reveal that one of Cook’s largest call-centres will receive significant investment in 2016.


“We will be investing several million in upgrading our technology in our Falkirk call-centre to modernise it. The team is doing the best they can, but we do need to upgrade the technology and there will be a major overhaul of that. “I don’t think there is an issue in the call centre,” he insists. “It’s when specific things happen, [but] we want to be able to grow and do that in the right way, so we will be investing.”

Cook’s high street has however told a stronger story. Where just four years ago the company was busy cutting shop numbers, Mottershead says he is now keen to open up new stores. He admits leases will still be evaluated as they come up for renewal, and stores could still be shut, but stresses this will be decided on location and performance rather than a definite closure strategy.


“The high street is our strength, and I embrace it,” he says. “That is a clear strategy for us; we might even want to open some new shops. We will continually review stores when the leases come up, but we’re not closing shops for the sake of closing shops; I don’t see the point in that because otherwise we’re denying the sale of our own holidays.” Branding clearly remains an important tool for Mottershead.

He is adamant about keeping the Co-op brand distinct from Cook and is passionate about rejuvenating the Airtours brand. “By summer 2017, we want to do something a bit different – a refresh of it.” He says it will be similar to the revamp that Cook gave to its Club 18-30 offering, which he admits is not yet complete.


“We’ll have more to say on that later this year,” he adds. “We haven’t maximised that opportunity over the last couple of years.” Thomas Cook is likely to look back on 2015 as a significant year for several negative reasons, but Mottershead and his team certainly seem to be gearing up to ensure 2016 is remembered more positively


Competitors-The competitor of Thomas cook is Cox & Kings, Make my trip, Yatra.com.


WEBBLIOGRAPHY

http://www.thomascook.in/

http://www.thomascook.in/


http://www.thomascook.in/pages/indus/tcportal/aboutus.htm

http://www.thomascook.in/pages/indus/tcportal/aboutus.htm