Thomas Cook India & SOTC Travel team up with Sentosa Development Corporation

Tuesday, August 1, 2023

Consumer data from Thomas Cook (India) Limited, India’s leading omnichannel travel services provider, and its Group Company, SOTC Travel, shows a significant and growing Indian demand of 82% for multiple mini-cations; as a result, more popular closer-to-home destinations with simple visa requirements are witnessing demand.

Thomas Cook and SOTC have each signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC), Singapore, the premier island resort retreat and Asia’s top leisure destination, to take advantage of this high potential market opportunity. The strategic alliance aims to take advantage of the profitable leisure markets for both companies. The multi-faceted initiative’s main goals are to intensify product development and marketing communications to increase brand awareness and attracttourists to Sentosa.

Sentosa is easily and conveniently accessible thanks to Singapore’s e-visa system and robust air connectivity. Sentosa’s variety of distinctive leisure and entertainment makes it a favorite in India, according to consumer data from Thomas Cook & SOTC that reveals a significant demand for experience travel in that country.

The Palawan @ Sentosa, the Shangri-La Group’s first freestanding lifestyle and entertainment complex, is one of the most exciting recent developments. It offers eight unique experiences, including two beach clubs, an 18-hole mini golf course, and HyperDrive, an electric go-kart track with gamification features.
In addition, Tipsy Unicorn Beach Club—the only Sentosa beach club with live music—will open its doors in September. Along with enduring favorites like Madame Tussauds Singapore, S.E.A. Aquarium, Singapore Cable Car, SkyHelix Sentosa, Skyline Luge Sentosa, Trickeye Museum, Universal Studios Singapore, and Wings of Time, these new experiences are now available.

The Memorandum of Understanding intends to strengthen the partnership between Thomas Cook, SOTC, and Sentosa and to raise destination awareness in order to boost Sentosa’s rates of capture from the nation’s major metropolises and mini-metropolises as well as the rapidly developing regional cities in India and Bangladesh.

Abraham Alapatt, President & Group Head – Marketing, Service Quality, Value Added Services & Innovation, Thomas Cook (India) Limited said, “Indians are travelling like never before! With short hauls and exciting experiential travel steering demand, Sentosa is perfectly poised to capture the strong and growing appetite from the India market. Our MoU with Sentosa Development Corporation hence aims to showcase the premier island getaway’s engaging and enriching experiences – to India’s families/multigenerational families, Young India’s Millennials/Gen Z, couples, ad-hoc groups of friends/colleagues and our power driver corporate MICE segment.Our strategic partnership with Sentosa will focus on extensive product curation, consumer engagement and promotions to drive visitations.”

Daniel D’souza President & Country Head – Holidays, SOTC Travel Limited said, “Singapore’s convenient e-visa and extensive air connectivity have served to drive demand for the premier island getaway of Sentosa – its diversity of attractions and experiential elements making it a preferred destination for Indians. Our strategic partnership is aimed at deepening our relationship with Sentosa while creating vibrant products that appeal to our customers from across metros, mini metros, and Regional India/Bharat’s tier 2 and 3 cities.To inspire demand, our joint marketing campaign intends to promote the destination across optimal media platforms.”

Chin Sak Hin, Assistant Chief Executive, Sentosa Development Corporation said, “As a key leisure destination in Singapore with a diverse range of experiences to be discovered, Sentosa remains a favourite for travellers from around the world. We hope that the partnership with Thomas Cook India and SOTC Travel will further enable Indian travellers to discover new possibilities in Sentosa, whether it be enjoying leisure time with the family or participating in extraordinary MICE events on Sentosa’s shores. The Sentosa team will continue to collaborate with our valued travel and MICE trade partners in India and position Sentosa as a destination of choice as the tourism industry recovers.”

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