Thomas Cook unveils new Gold Circle Partner franchise outlet in Warangal, Telangana
Thomas Cook (India) has launched a new Gold Circle Partner (franchise) outlet in Warangal, Telangana.
With this expansion, Thomas Cook India's distribution and reach in Telangana comes to 10 consumer access centres, which include 4 owned branches and 6 Gold Circle Partner (franchise) outlets.
Rajeev Kale, President & Country Head, Leisure Travel & MICE, Thomas Cook (India), said, “With our new outlet at Hanamkonda road, we look forward to serving a range of consumers- across families, business professionals and students.”
The new Warangal outlet offers consumers end-to-end travel solutions like International & Domestic Holidays (Group Tours, Personalised holidays, Cruises, etc.); Value Added Services such as Travel Insurance; Visa Services; etc.
The company’s expansion in Warangal comes after the company identified it as a high growth market for its holiday business in Telangana.
“Warangal has been identified as a high growth market with over 20% growth in demand and contributing a significant 10% to our Thomas Cook India holiday business from Telangana,” Kale added.
Travel & Tourism Biz in India
Every day thousands of people move from one city to another, of which, 30% of the population travel in search of job or for education or to reach office in time, 50% of the population for attending business meetings or seminars or events, and the rest of the population is traveling to relax or for a holiday away from the daily life.
The travel and tourism in India have also emerged as one of the key growth drivers among the services sector in the country. The tourism business especially is fueled by those traveling from other countries to India for medical treatments or in search of spirituality or simply to see the varied culture distributed in mainland India.
As per the reports during 2018, FEEs from tourism increased 4.70 % year-on-year to $28.59 billion whereas FEEs during January 2019 was $2.55 billion. This sums up the situation of the travel and tourism business in India.
Requirements of an Offline Travel Service Franchise
The initial investment required for a travel service franchise would amount to Rs 10 lakhs, of which, the franchise fee would range from Rs 2-5 lakhs depending on the geographical location. The area required would be 400-600 sq feet for Tier I, II and III cities whereas for rural areas the space required would be 250-400 sq feet.
Every travel service franchise has a requirement of two sales staff as well as one receptionist, the average salaries working out to Rs 60,000. The payback period lasts up to 15-20 months and the franchise period of a travel service franchise such as Make My Trip would be five years. The earnings would be through 12% on domestic holidays and 15% on international packages, which would be split in a 60:40 ratio between the franchiser and the franchisee, respectively.
