TRADE

Travel requirements shifting to leisure and business

Thomas Cook & SOTC collaborates with Expo 2020

Rajesh Tiwari

At a time when the country has gone through the second wave of Covid-19 and gradually moving towards normalcy (by following all Covid-19 protocols to control the further spread out of the virus) it is expected that the interstate travel or outstation road trips may pick-up shortly. While travel was largely needbased (emergency and essential) during the second wave of COVID-19 with workplaces, and tourism slowly beginning to open up, the travel requirements are gradually shifting to leisure and business travel, reveals Savaari Car Rentals, one of india’s leading online chauffeur driven company. In a communication with Whereabouts, Gaurav Aggarwal, Founder & CEO, Savaari Car Rentals reveals that post pandemic travel is expected to resume broadly across three categories – leisure travel, business travel and essential travel. “With the ongoing vaccination drive resulting in the decline of the COVID-19 cases, coupled with quarantine tiredness, there is a gradual resumption of leisure travel. Most travellers are opting for shorter weekend trips or city breaks for vacationing at drivable distances from their homes in order to destress themselves. Staycations and workations still remain the most popular travel trends as of now,” informed Aggarwal. While elaborating on the latest travel trends based on the experience of the Savaari Car Rentals, Aggarwal further explains that last four weeks (begenning of unlocking process and easing travel restrictions after second wave of pandemic) have seen a resumption of travel with a resurgence of car rental bookings. Aggarwal is confident that, “While these are still early days, we believe that 100% recovery to pre-pandemic levels would be completed in the next two weeks. The current trends point to a very quick rebound in car rentals and travel in general.” While further explaining his point of being optimistic about the growing demand of business and leisure travel activities he further says that the pent up travel desire will slowly release in the form of short weekend getaways or simply a day out near one’s own city. Hence, as soon as people sense it is safe to venture out, they will opt for short, refreshing breaks to cure their ‘cabin fever’ and destress

Gaurav Aggarwal

Founder & CEO Savaari Car Rentals themselves.

Savaari users are primarily the segment of people aged 30 to 45, who are fairly well to do, and can afford to spend 20% of their vacation budget on road trips. Another set of customers are the people aged 25 to 35 years who book Savaari for their parents for a trip to the spiritual/religious destinations or relaxing getaways. “Our primary customers are not the young travellers who go on affordable road trips primarily for adventure. We cater to a slightly older demographic, the ones traveling with family, say a couple, or a couple with a young kid, who prioritise comfort over affordability,” explains Aggarwal. Savaari has forged strategic partnerships with leading players in the domestic travel ecosystem, to provide integrated offerings to domestic travellers, combined with their stay, local tourism, etc Present in 2000+ cities across the country, Savaari has executed over 500 million kms of road trips over the last 15 years.

News Desk

Thomas Cook India and its Group Company, SOTC Travel have been appointed as Authorised Ticket Resellers for Expo 2020 Dubai to be held from 1st October, 2021 to 31 March, 2022. The companies’ leadership positioning, extensive omnichannel distribution network, in addition to the diversity of their segments (across India’s leisure, business, b-leisure, MICE and B2B) will offer significant benefit in inspiring visitors to witness this once-in-a-lifetime global megaevent and ensure smooth and seamless end-to-end delivery. Expo 2020 will provide a visually striking and emotionally inspiring 182 days, as more than 200 participants – including nations, multilateral organisations, businesses, and educational institutions, as well as millions of visitors – create the largest and most diverse World Expo ever. To ensure Indian’s maximise on this unparalleled opportunity, Thomas Cook India and SOTC have designed a unique portfolio of ready-to-book products and customised experiences, specially curated to appeal to India’s leisure, business and MICE visitors.

Rajeev Kale, President & Country Head – Holidays, MICE, Visa, Thomas Cook (India) Limited. said, “We have lined up an exciting range of unique products for every traveller – from India’s millennials, couples, families, students, business to MICE travellers. For industry associations, corporates/businesses, Expo 2020 is an ideal space for ideation/R&D/business and networking and our products have been tailor-made to cater to their specific needs too.” Daniel D’souza President & Country Head, SOTC Travel said, “Our company’s presence and reach countrywide will give consumers easy access to plan their perfect Expo trip/s with our experts - by visiting our retail stores or via our virtual holiday outlet.” Sumathi Ramanathan, Vice President, Market Strategy and Sales, Expo 2020 Dubai, said: “Expo 2020 is ready to welcome the world, and with the support of Thomas Cook and SOTC, we invite Indians to join us and be part of the most diverse World Expo in history, as we build a better future for all.”