Thomas Cook India, the foreign exchange and travel services company, has decided to diversify into the hotels business in the country.
To start with, Thomas Cook is scouting for hotel properties in Goa, and is chalking out plans for a national presence.
It has already received its German parents approval for the plan. Thomas Cook AG holds a 60 per cent stake in the Indian arm, and has hotel properties across the globe with more than 75,000 rooms.
Ashwini Kakkar, chief executive officer and managing director of Thomas Cook (India), told Business Standard: "The hotel business fits into our portfolio very well. We do close to 1,600 bookings for Goa every day during the September-March period. Hence, we have decided to acquire a 200-250 room hotel property in Goa."
Kakkar, however, declined to reveal the companys investment plans for the foray into the hotel business. He said the move was part of a plan to be present in every travel-related segment.
With the company expecting to report healthy profits for the year, funding the diversification would not be a problem, Kakkar indicated.
Thomas Cooks leisure travel business had seen a three-fold jump despite the slowdown in the travel industry, he said.
The foreign exchange division had also contributed substantially to the expected growth in revenues, Kakkar said.
The newly started travel insurance business, in alliance with Tata AIG, has also gained substantial grounds.
In its existing businesses, Thomas Cook has identified in-bound charter flight operations as one of the major growth avenues in India.
While the company plans to expand its network of chartered flights across the country, it is also looking at operating chartered flights to European destinations, subject to government approvals. Thomas Cook operates around 92 aircraft worldwide.
