SOTC Travel explained

SOTC
Foundation:	1949
Location:	Mumbai, India
Key People:	Mr. Vishal Suri (Managing Director)
Industry:	Travel, Tourism
Products:	Holiday Packages, Flights, Hotels
Services:	Travel agencies

SOTC Travel Limited, formerly SOTC Travel Private Ltd as well as Kuoni Travel (India) Pvt. Ltd., is a step-down subsidiary of Fairfax Financial Holdings Group; held through two companies, its Indian listed subsidiary, Thomas Cook (India) Limited (TCIL) and TCIL's subsidiary Travel Corporation (India) Ltd. Established in 1949, it is a travel and tourism company active across travel segments like Leisure Travel, Business Travel, Destination Management Services and Distribution Visa Marketing Services.

Offerings

SOTC offers customized holidays around the world. It also offers Corporate Tours and provides packages for MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Events) related travel needs. SOTC Trade Fair Tours aims to accommodate the needs of businessmen visiting or presenting in International trade fairs. It claims to have pioneered the concept of designing and promoting escorted tours to international travelers in India.^[1]

SOTC has created different avenues through tour packages namely ‘Bhraman Mandal’ committed to the Marathi speaking population and ‘Gurjar Vishwadarshan’ for the Gujarati speaking population.^[2] SOTC has recently launched religious tour called 'Darshans' aimed at offering integrated spiritual and leisure experience across the popular religious destinations in India.^[3]

Key Milestones

• 1996 - Kuoni Group enters India by acquiring a 51% stake in SOTC ^[4]
• 1999 - Kuoni Group acquires 100% equity in SOTC ^[5]
• 2000 - Kuoni India acquires Sita World Travel ^[6]
• 2013 - Launched TVC with new brand architecture 'Kuoni Together with SOTC' ^[7]
• 2015 - Kuoni Travel (India) Pvt Ltd becomes a step-down of Fairfax Financial Holdings Group^{[8] [9]}
• 2016 - Kuoni India rebranded to SOTC as part of brand transition post change in control
• 2016 - SOTC releases new TVC & brand logo ^[10]

Awards and Recognitions

• Pacific Asia Travel Association Gold Awards 2016 for Consumer Travel Brochure.^{[11] [12]}
• CNBC Awaaz Travel awards 2011 for ‘Most Preferred Tour Operator for Outbound Travel’ to Kuoni & SOTC India.^[13]
• Today's Traveller Awards 2017 for "Best Outbound Tour Operator".^{[14] [15]}

Notes and References

1. News: Kuoni- SOTC wins travel award. 29 October 2014. The Times of India. 18 December 2013.
2. News: SOTC's Trade Fair Tours scores big at Drupa '04. 17 October 2014. The Economic Times. 11 June 2004.
3. News: SOTC launches integrated spiritual tour 'Darshans'. 22 August 2017. travelbizmonitor. 22 August 2017.
4. Web site: Thomas Cook acquires Kuoni's travel biz in India, Hong Kong for ₹535 cr . 7 August 2015 . The Hindu BusinessLine.
5. Web site: Winning through action . Express Travel World.
6. Web site: Swiss firm acquires SITA Travels . . 2000-03-25 .
7. Web site: Kuoni India launches a new brand architecture . Express Travel World.
8. News: Fairfax-controlled Thomas Cook to buy Kuoni's travel business in India & Hong Kong. 10 August 2015. 23 November 2019. vccircle.com.
9. News: Kuoni exits India tour operating business . The Times of India. 15 January 2015. 23 November 2019. Reeba Zachariah.
10. Web site: SOTC's new ad urges customers to stop postponing their vacations . Economic Times.
11. News: PATA announces 2016 Grand and Gold Award Winners.
12. News: India bags three PATA Gold Awards.
13. News: Winners 2011.
14. News: SOTC Travel conferred the 2017 Today's Traveller Award for 'Best Outbound Tour Operator' - TnhGlobal. 2017-08-11. TnhGlobal. 2017-12-05. en-US.
15. News: SOTC Travel wins the Best Outbound Tour Operator. irene. 2017-08-14. Voyager's World. 2017-12-05. en.