SOTC Travel, one of India’s leading travel and tourism companies, inaugurated its new franchise in New Town, Kolkata. The outlet was inaugurated by Rakesh Bawa, Senior Vice President and Head of National Sales at SOTC Travel. This new addition expands SOTC’s network strength to six stores in Kolkata (one retail and five franchises), reiterating the company’s strategic focus to expand its footprint in the city. The new outlet will also cater to nearby areas of Newtown Action Area 2 and Rajarhat.
With a rich heritage of 75 years of being an Indian-grown brand, SOTC firmly believes that ‘No one understands the Indian traveller better than SOTC’. Kolkata is among the company’s top five source markets, and the newly inaugurated outlet will cater to a range of customer segments including multigenerational families, Gen S/seniors, couples, millennials, and Gen Z.
Kolkata Travel Trends
- Increased travel intent in 2024: 25% YoY
- Desire for longer stays: 20% higher compared to pre-pandemic years
- Higher spends: 25–30% compared to pre-pandemic years
- Top destinations
- Domestic: Kashmir, Leh-Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Andamans, Kerala, Goa, Bhutan, and Nepal in the subcontinent
- International: Europe’s Switzerland, France, Spain, Austria, Turkiye, Australia, New Zealand, UK, USA (for visa holding customers), Japan, South Korea, Abu Dhabi, Mauritius, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore
- Unique preferences: There is an increased demand for personalized holidays and group tours, and high interest for experiential holidays, spiritual journeys, domestic cruises, eclectic stays, safaris, and biking trips.
Customers from Kolkata are inclined towards culture and spirituality, hence, to cater to their unique preferences SOTC has introduced a range of Durga Puja special departures specially designed around the preferences of Bengali travellers including the comfort of local food on tour and SOTC’s Bangla-speaking expert tour managers.
The company is popularly known for its group escorted tours for international, domestic, and customized holidays. To boost demand, SOTC Travel has announced an exciting inaugural offer of discounts of up to Rs 50,000 on select holidays.
Daniel D’souza, President and Country Head of Holidays at SOTC Travel, said, “Kolkata is a high potential market for us and features among our top five source markets for leisure travel at SOTC. We are witnessing a robust growth in demand of 25% YoY from this region. The addition of our new store in New Town increases our network strength and caters to customers from New Town Action Area 2 and Rajarhat. This new addition increases our network strength in the city to six stores and offers easy accessibility thus allowing us to cater to a range of customers segments.
We extend a warm welcome to our customers, and we look forward to planning their next holiday with us.”
SOTC Travel’s new outlet offers end-to-end travel solutions with an array of services, including International & Domestic Holidays (group tours, personalised holidays, cruises, etc.), value added services like travel insurance, visa services, etc.
