 "Kuoni to focus on luxury and corporate travel segments")
Tour operator Kuoni is focusing on luxury and corporate travel segments to drive growth next year.
Kuoni's Indian business was acquired from its Swiss parent by Thomas Cook in August but the transaction is yet to receive all regulatory approvals.
Kuoni expects to a post a profit in calendar year 2015 on the back of strong growth in leisure and meeting incentive tour segments. While leisure tours make up for a bulk of its revenue, the company is growing its other businesses. Luxury travel at present contributes to only 2 per cent of our revenue. But it is an attractive segment and we expect it will grow rapidly," said Vishal Suri, chief executive officer of tour operating division of Kuoni. Suri added that company is focusing on Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru markets to increase in luxury tour segment.
The company is also ramping up its corporate travel business with an improvised booking tool which integrates with airlines and portals. "At present the adoption of online platforms for corporate travel in India is low but the trend is changing and companies especially small and medium enterprises are adopting corporate booking tools," said Manoj Chacko, CEO of Kuoni India.
" This is one of the best year for us. We continue to see strong demand in Q4," Kuoni India's managing director Rajeev Wagle said. "Rupee depreciation is not a problem but a volatile rupee does pose problems," he added.