Thomas Cook (India) Limited and its group company, SOTC Travel’s youngest distribution network is a Travel Business Associate (TBA) model. It provides individuals, irrespective of age, an opportunity to supplement their income while working from home without being bound by the need to report to offices or keep time schedules.
Rapidly adapting to the accelerated demand for flexible jobs and the rise of the gig economy, the TBA’s hub and spoke model network, connects entrepreneurial individuals with the companies’ retail branch network. The associate is then aided by the branch to close sales and earn attractive commissions.
Further, the TBA model does not require upfront payment/deposits or investment in any physical office. The income generated is variable–based on conversion of referrals into a sale for the companies.
The model has witnessed strong interest from homemakers, women taking sabbaticals or forced to stay at home due to domestic family transfers, self-made women entrepreneurs, also retired individuals, small business owners, insurance agents, mutual fund distributors, etc. New mothers comprise 50 percent of the companies’ TBA workforce.
The TBA model has seen a 10X sales growth since its inception in 2018, surpassing its pre-pandemic sales. With over 300 partners on-boarded, the companies now aim to scale up the business to maximise on this high potential model.
Abraham Alapatt, President and Group Head-Marketing, Service Quality, Value Added Services and Innovation at Thomas Cook (India) and SOTC Travel said, “The strategic intent was to build a simple hub and spoke model aligning individual associates to our local branches and backing them with training, tools and technology to create a new customer-market opportunity. The TBA model is based on personal connections and references with no fixed costs and consequently a non-linear cost line that lends itself perfectly to rapid scalability, especially in a post-pandemic recovery period. What is noteworthy is that, in an era witnessing rapid rise of the gig economy where individuals seek flexibility, we are emphasizing on creating equal opportunities.”
