Description
Report on SOTC cruise liners. It covers branding, promotions, communications etc related to the brand.
Market
According to the World Travel and Trade Council, Indian tourism – averaged retrospectively from 2004 – will grow 8.8% until 2013, making India the world's third fastest growing tourist market. But what has taken the world by surprise is the emergence of the Global Indian. That he has finally arrived is reflected in the fact that more than twenty countries have set up tourist promotion boards in India. Countries as far apart as Seychelles, Malaysia, Spain, Egypt, Hong Kong and New Zealand are competing with each other for the Indian tourist's time and, more importantly, money. The reason for this interest in Indian tourists is not hard to find: Indians have emerged as one of the highest spending communities. For instance, the Indian is the highest spender in Singapore with an average daily expenditure of almost S$ 300 (Rs. 8400). With the economy growing consistently at over 8%, increasing disposable incomes, a change in spending habits, liberalisation of exchange controls, increasing affordability, holiday packages and cheaper air fares, outbound tourist traffic has snowballed. It has been growing at an annual average of around 25%. In 2007, about eight million Indian tourists ventured abroad. UNWTO estimates the figure to reach about 50 million by 2020. Along with the rise in the number of Indians travelling abroad, both the total and per capita expenditure abroad has been increasing. According to the European Travel Commission, average spend per trip of Indian outbound tourists has increased from US$ 611 (Rs. 24,440) in 2000 to US$ 822
(Rs. 32,880) in 2006. Similarly, Euromonitor International estimates the outgoing tourism expenditure from India will grow to US$ 21 billion (Rs. 84,000 crore) by 2011, representing an annual average increase of over 25.7% beginning 2006. A far-sighted holiday brand, SOTC – the outbound division of Kuoni Travel (India) Private Limited – had anticipated this phenomenon way back in 1976 when liberalisation was nothing more than a pipe dream. It is no surprise then, that this early bird is perched comfortably as India’s largest operator in this segment and is twice as large as its nearest competitor. With a distribution network of 140 sales outlets, 3500 travel agents and a million loyal customers across India, SOTC is the king of the outbound road.
Achievements
There is no award in the tourism and hospitality industry’s hall of fame that has ignored this remarkable company. Its sustained innovations and high performance have repeatedly won for it the Galileo Express TravelWorld Award for Best National Outbound Tour Operator; Air India’s Outstanding Contribution Passenger Sales – India Region; Kenya Airways’ Top Revenue Producer; Qantas High Flier Award;
South African Airways’ Travel and Tourism Award; Star Cruises Top Agent and Appreciation of Support Award; Singapore Tourism Board’s Award for Best Travel Experience in India; Malaysia Tourism Award for Best Foreign Tour Operator; Austrian Award for Outstanding Performance; Malaysian Airlines Gold Award for Outstanding Sales; and the Top Ten Agent Award by Air Mauritius, amongst scores of others. In 2007 the company won Today’s Traveller Leadership Award for the Most Successful Travel Company; the CNBC Awaaz citation as the Most Preferred Tour Operator; Gulliver’s Travel Associates Trophy of Achievement and SATTE Best Outbound Tour Operator Award.
History
SOTC opened its first office in 1949 at Cawasji Hormusji Street in Mumbai with five employees. Twenty years later the company up scaled and moved to a larger office at Mint Road. It was, by then, already rated amongst the top ten travel agents in Mumbai and had achieved a turnover of Rs. 2.5 crore (now, US$ 625,000). A major turning point came in 1976, when SOTC handled its first tour group visiting the US during the bicentennial celebrations. Within three years SOTC had taken about 500 passengers to Europe, the US, Singapore and Japan. By 1981 SOTC Package Tours began active advertising. The 1983/95 phase was one of uninhibited growth. The company leap-frogged over several competitors. Spurred by these successes, SOTC moved to new premises in Churchgate, Mumbai. It was here that SOTC installed its first computer to track sales and operations; it metamorphosed into a completely restructured organisation with autonomous Strategic Business Units (SBUs). Kuoni Travel Holding, Switzerland, acquired 100% equity in SOTC on 22nd May 1997.
Product
SOTC’s Business operations include group tours for Indians, individual holidays and special interest tours. The SOTC-branded World Famous Tours caters to the first time and second time traveller and is widely
acknowledged to be the most successful group package tour brand in India. SOTC Do-It-Yourself Holidays, with highly innovative product offerings, allows individual travellers the freedom to work out their own itinerary, to suit a pace they find convenient. The company also offers a number of successful brands and products for special interest groups. These include SOTC Sport Abroad, SOTC Trade Fairs and SOTC Corporate Tours. Corporate Tours combines the experience of being India’s largest outbound tour operator and India’s leading business travel company to offer unmatched packaged tours for any Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) related travel. The company has not only tapped the existing potential but has also created new markets through innovative packages. Bhraman Mandal a programme floated to cater exclusively to the Maharashtrian population and the Gurjar Vishwadarshan dedicated to the Gujarati speaking population have become iconic in their genre.
Mountains; a magnificent Zingara show; free upgrade to the finest deluxe hotels all over Australia; an exciting ATV ride and a seaplane jaunt over Sydney. Keeping in tune with the aspirations of SOTC’s upmarket clientele, it has launched European Royale – a luxurious holiday experience with extraordinary standards in group holidaying. The tour experience includes a gala dinner with cocktails right next to the Coliseum in Rome, a horse-drawn carriage ride through Innsbruck, sipping champagne and a trip to Brugge.
Recent Developments
SOTC Holiday Bazaar, a consumer road show in seven cities across India, was a pioneering event in the Indian tour operator market. In association with tourism boards, cruise liners and airlines, the road show offered spectacular deals and prices. In order to increase customer access points and enhance satisfaction through a contemporary IT-enabled ambience, SOTC has successfully opened 47 outlets. Simultaneously,
Promotion
SOTC uses conventional media channels – print media and tie-ups with tourism boards and travel fairs – to reach its audience. The company’s holiday bazaars – the Great Singapore Holiday Bazaar and the Great Malaysia Holiday Bazaar – held across India have drawn enthusiastic crowds. Its brochures are designed with high quality production values, leaving nothing to guesswork or to fine-print clauses. Its quarterly newsletter,
This is an articulation of a more contemporary expression of its brand philosophy. The distinctive positioning commits the company to give to the customer more – more value, superior customer service, consistently better quality. The company’s fundamental strengths form the guiding principles by which it conducts its business. These include a commitment to making worldwide travel accessible, being customer centric, making holidays affordable and bringing the magic of travel to the customer’s doorstep. Being the pioneer and market leader in the travel industry, SOTC believes in creating affordable, innovative value-based offers to suit the needs of various travellers. Following price transparency and believing in offering the best value in the market, with no hidden costs, has led to huge brand loyalty. For SOTC employees keeping clients happy is part of the challenge; meeting their expectations is reward.
www.sotc.co.in
THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT
SOTC Gold launched a holiday package covering visits to the ‘New Seven Wonders of the World.’ Celebrity Mandira Bedi played brand ambassador and host for this innovative product. Each year, SOTC creates a package of mustsee offerings – each dripping with excitement and promising fun for the entire family. The most recent of these value-added packages includes three nights on a Mediterranean Cruise to Greece and Turkey plus one night in Athens worth Rs. 46,000 (US$ 1150) absolutely free when a traveller books the company’s Grand Tour of Europe. Similarly, there’s a bonus offer of two additional nights in Helsinki, Finland, free – including meals and sightseeing – on booking the Magnificent Europe tour; and a four-night Royal Caribbean Cruise to the Bahamas for just US$ 99 (Rs. 3960) on booking the fifteen-day All of USA package. SOTC’s Boom-A Rang offer for Australia carries with it a bonus worth Rs. 56,000 (US$ 1400) of six exciting thrills and conveniences: a hot air balloon ride; a two-day stay at the picturesque Blue Let’s Go, is a veritable goldmine of information for customers, travel agents, business associates and loyalty programme members.
SOTC
SOTC was the first travel group to create a tour around the Seven New Wonders of the World It was SOTC which created the concept of a Holiday Bazaar In association with WorldCard, SOTC offers exclusive membership to esteemed clients In Switzerland, the town of Engelberg was renamed SOTC Indian Village in 1999 In 2001, SOTC became the only Indian tour operator to be bestowed the prestigious Friends of Thailand award In 2003, a client travelling with an SOTC Bhraman Mandal tour to Europe came back to India and wrote a book titled Parikrama of Western Europe.The book is an account of his journey – from the decision-making stage to homecoming The supplement Wow! which appears in The Times of India in Mumbai and New Delhi is a first-of-its-kind initiative undertaken by a travel company. It is a co-ordinated effort of SOTC to reach all Tourism Boards Cost Saver Tours were first introduced by SOTC Holiday Now Pay Later was an SOTC initiative
Brand Values
2006 marked the birth of a new SOTC. The spirit of this event is best captured by the brand positioning ‘Expect More.’
doc_518841067.pdf
Report on SOTC cruise liners. It covers branding, promotions, communications etc related to the brand.
Market
According to the World Travel and Trade Council, Indian tourism – averaged retrospectively from 2004 – will grow 8.8% until 2013, making India the world's third fastest growing tourist market. But what has taken the world by surprise is the emergence of the Global Indian. That he has finally arrived is reflected in the fact that more than twenty countries have set up tourist promotion boards in India. Countries as far apart as Seychelles, Malaysia, Spain, Egypt, Hong Kong and New Zealand are competing with each other for the Indian tourist's time and, more importantly, money. The reason for this interest in Indian tourists is not hard to find: Indians have emerged as one of the highest spending communities. For instance, the Indian is the highest spender in Singapore with an average daily expenditure of almost S$ 300 (Rs. 8400). With the economy growing consistently at over 8%, increasing disposable incomes, a change in spending habits, liberalisation of exchange controls, increasing affordability, holiday packages and cheaper air fares, outbound tourist traffic has snowballed. It has been growing at an annual average of around 25%. In 2007, about eight million Indian tourists ventured abroad. UNWTO estimates the figure to reach about 50 million by 2020. Along with the rise in the number of Indians travelling abroad, both the total and per capita expenditure abroad has been increasing. According to the European Travel Commission, average spend per trip of Indian outbound tourists has increased from US$ 611 (Rs. 24,440) in 2000 to US$ 822
(Rs. 32,880) in 2006. Similarly, Euromonitor International estimates the outgoing tourism expenditure from India will grow to US$ 21 billion (Rs. 84,000 crore) by 2011, representing an annual average increase of over 25.7% beginning 2006. A far-sighted holiday brand, SOTC – the outbound division of Kuoni Travel (India) Private Limited – had anticipated this phenomenon way back in 1976 when liberalisation was nothing more than a pipe dream. It is no surprise then, that this early bird is perched comfortably as India’s largest operator in this segment and is twice as large as its nearest competitor. With a distribution network of 140 sales outlets, 3500 travel agents and a million loyal customers across India, SOTC is the king of the outbound road.
Achievements
There is no award in the tourism and hospitality industry’s hall of fame that has ignored this remarkable company. Its sustained innovations and high performance have repeatedly won for it the Galileo Express TravelWorld Award for Best National Outbound Tour Operator; Air India’s Outstanding Contribution Passenger Sales – India Region; Kenya Airways’ Top Revenue Producer; Qantas High Flier Award;
South African Airways’ Travel and Tourism Award; Star Cruises Top Agent and Appreciation of Support Award; Singapore Tourism Board’s Award for Best Travel Experience in India; Malaysia Tourism Award for Best Foreign Tour Operator; Austrian Award for Outstanding Performance; Malaysian Airlines Gold Award for Outstanding Sales; and the Top Ten Agent Award by Air Mauritius, amongst scores of others. In 2007 the company won Today’s Traveller Leadership Award for the Most Successful Travel Company; the CNBC Awaaz citation as the Most Preferred Tour Operator; Gulliver’s Travel Associates Trophy of Achievement and SATTE Best Outbound Tour Operator Award.
History
SOTC opened its first office in 1949 at Cawasji Hormusji Street in Mumbai with five employees. Twenty years later the company up scaled and moved to a larger office at Mint Road. It was, by then, already rated amongst the top ten travel agents in Mumbai and had achieved a turnover of Rs. 2.5 crore (now, US$ 625,000). A major turning point came in 1976, when SOTC handled its first tour group visiting the US during the bicentennial celebrations. Within three years SOTC had taken about 500 passengers to Europe, the US, Singapore and Japan. By 1981 SOTC Package Tours began active advertising. The 1983/95 phase was one of uninhibited growth. The company leap-frogged over several competitors. Spurred by these successes, SOTC moved to new premises in Churchgate, Mumbai. It was here that SOTC installed its first computer to track sales and operations; it metamorphosed into a completely restructured organisation with autonomous Strategic Business Units (SBUs). Kuoni Travel Holding, Switzerland, acquired 100% equity in SOTC on 22nd May 1997.
Product
SOTC’s Business operations include group tours for Indians, individual holidays and special interest tours. The SOTC-branded World Famous Tours caters to the first time and second time traveller and is widely
acknowledged to be the most successful group package tour brand in India. SOTC Do-It-Yourself Holidays, with highly innovative product offerings, allows individual travellers the freedom to work out their own itinerary, to suit a pace they find convenient. The company also offers a number of successful brands and products for special interest groups. These include SOTC Sport Abroad, SOTC Trade Fairs and SOTC Corporate Tours. Corporate Tours combines the experience of being India’s largest outbound tour operator and India’s leading business travel company to offer unmatched packaged tours for any Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) related travel. The company has not only tapped the existing potential but has also created new markets through innovative packages. Bhraman Mandal a programme floated to cater exclusively to the Maharashtrian population and the Gurjar Vishwadarshan dedicated to the Gujarati speaking population have become iconic in their genre.
Mountains; a magnificent Zingara show; free upgrade to the finest deluxe hotels all over Australia; an exciting ATV ride and a seaplane jaunt over Sydney. Keeping in tune with the aspirations of SOTC’s upmarket clientele, it has launched European Royale – a luxurious holiday experience with extraordinary standards in group holidaying. The tour experience includes a gala dinner with cocktails right next to the Coliseum in Rome, a horse-drawn carriage ride through Innsbruck, sipping champagne and a trip to Brugge.
Recent Developments
SOTC Holiday Bazaar, a consumer road show in seven cities across India, was a pioneering event in the Indian tour operator market. In association with tourism boards, cruise liners and airlines, the road show offered spectacular deals and prices. In order to increase customer access points and enhance satisfaction through a contemporary IT-enabled ambience, SOTC has successfully opened 47 outlets. Simultaneously,
Promotion
SOTC uses conventional media channels – print media and tie-ups with tourism boards and travel fairs – to reach its audience. The company’s holiday bazaars – the Great Singapore Holiday Bazaar and the Great Malaysia Holiday Bazaar – held across India have drawn enthusiastic crowds. Its brochures are designed with high quality production values, leaving nothing to guesswork or to fine-print clauses. Its quarterly newsletter,
This is an articulation of a more contemporary expression of its brand philosophy. The distinctive positioning commits the company to give to the customer more – more value, superior customer service, consistently better quality. The company’s fundamental strengths form the guiding principles by which it conducts its business. These include a commitment to making worldwide travel accessible, being customer centric, making holidays affordable and bringing the magic of travel to the customer’s doorstep. Being the pioneer and market leader in the travel industry, SOTC believes in creating affordable, innovative value-based offers to suit the needs of various travellers. Following price transparency and believing in offering the best value in the market, with no hidden costs, has led to huge brand loyalty. For SOTC employees keeping clients happy is part of the challenge; meeting their expectations is reward.
www.sotc.co.in
THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT
SOTC Gold launched a holiday package covering visits to the ‘New Seven Wonders of the World.’ Celebrity Mandira Bedi played brand ambassador and host for this innovative product. Each year, SOTC creates a package of mustsee offerings – each dripping with excitement and promising fun for the entire family. The most recent of these value-added packages includes three nights on a Mediterranean Cruise to Greece and Turkey plus one night in Athens worth Rs. 46,000 (US$ 1150) absolutely free when a traveller books the company’s Grand Tour of Europe. Similarly, there’s a bonus offer of two additional nights in Helsinki, Finland, free – including meals and sightseeing – on booking the Magnificent Europe tour; and a four-night Royal Caribbean Cruise to the Bahamas for just US$ 99 (Rs. 3960) on booking the fifteen-day All of USA package. SOTC’s Boom-A Rang offer for Australia carries with it a bonus worth Rs. 56,000 (US$ 1400) of six exciting thrills and conveniences: a hot air balloon ride; a two-day stay at the picturesque Blue Let’s Go, is a veritable goldmine of information for customers, travel agents, business associates and loyalty programme members.
SOTC
SOTC was the first travel group to create a tour around the Seven New Wonders of the World It was SOTC which created the concept of a Holiday Bazaar In association with WorldCard, SOTC offers exclusive membership to esteemed clients In Switzerland, the town of Engelberg was renamed SOTC Indian Village in 1999 In 2001, SOTC became the only Indian tour operator to be bestowed the prestigious Friends of Thailand award In 2003, a client travelling with an SOTC Bhraman Mandal tour to Europe came back to India and wrote a book titled Parikrama of Western Europe.The book is an account of his journey – from the decision-making stage to homecoming The supplement Wow! which appears in The Times of India in Mumbai and New Delhi is a first-of-its-kind initiative undertaken by a travel company. It is a co-ordinated effort of SOTC to reach all Tourism Boards Cost Saver Tours were first introduced by SOTC Holiday Now Pay Later was an SOTC initiative
Brand Values
2006 marked the birth of a new SOTC. The spirit of this event is best captured by the brand positioning ‘Expect More.’
doc_518841067.pdf