SOTC sees tourist numbers trebling

After the tour operators of the country faced a dismal 2003 with the number of outbound tourists from India registering a 35 per cent decline, SOTC, a leading outbound tour operator, expects a three-fold rise in the number of outbound tourists this year.

Over 11,000 tourists from India visited various countries through the SOTC network in 2002, but this number fell drastically to 6,500 in 2003.

"First it was the cricket World Cup, which was attended by a large number of Indians, then, there was the SARS scare and finally the Iraq war. All these jointly contributed to 2003 being a dismal year for the outbound tour operators in the country," said Frederick Divecha, senior vice president of SOTC, who was in Ahmedabad on Friday.

Divecha, however, said SOTC expects between 16,000 and 18,000 tourists from India to go abroad through the company this year.

"We are looking at increasing the number of persons travelling through SOTC in a big way and providing more and more customised tours for people across the country," Divecha said.

He said 'Gurjar Vishwadarshan', a package tour meant exclusively for Gujaratis which was launched on Friday, is an example.

In 2002, the 'Brahman Mandal', a package tour exclusively for Maharashtrians, was launched. Similarly, last year, SOTC launched 'Vishwa Darshan', an exclusive package tour for the north Indians.

In these exclusive package tours, tourists are provided with regional food and are given information in their own language. Divecha said in October, SOTC will launch a similar customised package tour for Tamilians as well.

"This concept has clicked well. We have taken over 800 persons on these personalised and customised tours from Maharashtra and Punjab-Chandigarh in the past few months and expect at least 2,000 Gujaratis to go abroad under the 'Gurjar Vishwadarshan' tour between April and September," he said.

SOTC was acquired by Kuoni Travel Group, Zurich, in 1997 and is active in three business segments "" escorted tours, individual travel and incentive travel.

The company is the leader in the outbound travel market, having a 66 per cent share.

Its distribution network comprises over 116 sales outlets and 3,500 travel agents retailing the SOTC range of products across the country.

Its revenues before tax for 2002 stood at around Rs six crore, officials said.

Over the past 50 years, SOTC has escorted over two lakh travellers across the globe and has a range of packages for different persons with varying requirements, Divecha said.