Why one travel strategy no longer works for Thomas Cook India

The Indian traveller in 2025 looks very different from the one five years ago. India’s economy has continued to grow steadily, but this growth has not been evenly distributed. While a larger, more affluent middle and upper class now has greater spending power, income gains at the bottom of the pyramid have been far more modest.

The current travel boom, therefore, is not the result of uniform prosperity. Instead, it is being shaped by better infrastructure, easier access, and concentrated wealth creation among a segment of Indians that is growing in absolute numbers. Even as inequality widens, this group is travelling more frequently, spending more confidently, and reshaping how the industry thinks about aspiration, value, and experience.

For legacy market leaders, the challenge is no longer just about capturing growth, but about managing this divergence. We spoke with Abraham Alapatt, President & Group Head at Thomas Cook (India) Limited and SOTC Travel, to understand how the company is re-engineering its strategy to serve two very different Indias.

The width and depth of travel consumers 

The central tension in the current travel market is between the width of distribution and the depth of customer value. Thomas Cook’s strategy acknowledges that the era of "one-size-fits-all" growth is over. The metropolitan markets, having reached a level of maturity, are no longer the sole drivers of volume; that engine has shifted to Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.

When asked whether the priority is capturing new customers or increasing wallet share, Alapatt suggests the company is effectively running two parallel playbooks.

"I think the real answer, or the true answer, to this question is really a balance of both," Alapatt explains. "Because as we appreciate, the first part of what they're asking is about capturing volume. That's a number game. It's about passengers or transactions, we call it in travel. And the share of wallet is really a work, in some sense, loyalty and cross-sell, upsell, so that we get more value for customers. So it's a bit of width and depth."

This dual approach is necessitated by the base effect in major cities. "The big cities, of course, still continue to be the big volume contributors, but the rate of growth has stabilised because of the base effect. But Tier 2 and Tier 3 is where the pace of growth is much, much higher," Alapatt notes.

The strategic implication is clear: Physical expansion into smaller towns is a customer acquisition game, designed to catch new entrants as they "rise in the consumption cycle." Meanwhile, in the metros, the focus shifts to retention and premiumisation. As Alapatt puts it, "This is also crucial because, as you have served a customer in the past, it's a legitimate proof of your own service quality that the customer comes back to you and spends more and more as their income rises."

The premiumisation of piety

Perhaps the most striking sociological shift Thomas Cook is tracking is the transformation of spiritual tourism. This sector, historically characterised by austerity and budget travel, is undergoing rapid premiumisation.

The company has moved to capitalise on this by unbundling ‘pilgrimage’ from ‘hardship,’ offering helicopter services and luxury logistics for routes like Char Dham. This isn't just about better hotels; it's about a fundamental change in consumer psychology.

"Earlier, pilgrimages were considered almost synonymous with hardship. If you went on a pilgrimage, the immediate mental association was that you had to go through hardship. What has changed is convenience, comfort, and accessibility," says Alapatt.

He attributes this to a convergence of infrastructure and sentiment: "One is there is definitely renewed vigour, especially in the Hindu community. There is also, from an infrastructure point of view, what has definitely helped is the rapid growth of airport and airline access to these places, dramatically improved highways and roads, and a big growth in two- and three-star hotels."

Crucially, the company has identified distinct behavioral cohorts within this vertical:

Gen Z & Millennial: For this group, religion is part of a broader cultural exploration. "The Gen Z and millennial group want to mix a bit of leisure with the pilgrimage itself. So the pilgrimage is central, but they also look at sightseeing and nearby experiences."

Seniors: This demographic controls the wealth but often lacks mobility. For them, Thomas Cook focuses on "depth, access, and comfort, especially for those with mobility challenges."

The international map

The international travel segment further highlights the economic divide. The market is splitting into ‘flaunt value’ travellers and ‘experience’ travellers.

"I really see this in two different lenses. One is there is definitely an existing and growing aspiration for international travel. There is a bit of flaunt value, there is a bit of learning and experience seeking," Alapatt states.

For the emerging middle class, the entry barrier is being lowered by visa-friendly regimes. "The emerging middle and upper-middle-class segment is entering international travel through short-haul destinations with easy visa processes, including visa-on-arrival and visa-free access, such as Thailand and Malaysia."

However, Thomas Cook is also looking at potential white spaces. In what might be a contrarian bet given recent geopolitical chill, the company is positioning for a resurgence in travel to China, drawing a parallel to the trajectory of Japan tourism.

"China has significant tourism and business potential. Earlier, political issues affected visas and flights. Now, direct flights have resumed and the visa process has improved," Alapatt reveals. "China has become affordable and attractive and is still largely undiscovered for Indian travellers. We are seeing both leisure and business demand, similar to what we saw earlier with Japan."

The Quick-Commerce pivot

Beyond destinations, the mode of consumption is changing. In a move that signals a shift toward unbundling travel services, Thomas Cook has partnered with quick-commerce platform Blinkit for foreign exchange delivery.

This partnership acknowledges that for a segment of digital-native users, speed is the primary value proposition. "Foreign exchange is transactional and time-sensitive. Customers want speed and convenience," Alapatt explains. "Blinkit allows fast and secure delivery, while KYC and loading happen later. This aligns with India's digital-first behaviour."

By decoupling FX delivery from the traditional, slower branch-visit model, the company is attempting to stay relevant to a customer base accustomed to instant gratification, while simultaneously deploying AI tools like "TACY" to handle customer service volume.

The outlook

In the upcoming year, Thomas Cook will be attempting to be two things at once: a mass-market facilitator for India's rising towns and a high-touch concierge for its wealthy metros.

It is a complex balancing act. The success of this strategy depends on whether the company can effectively operationalise this segmentation, offering distinct value propositions without diluting its brand. As Alapatt advises, the key remains sticking to the fundamental demand: "Focus on the customer. Understand their behaviour, pain points, and aspirations. Build everything around that and keep it simple."

In a market as fragmented as India’s, simplicity becomes less a creative choice and more an execution challenge.