September 19, 2016

SOTC wins the 2016 PATA Gold Award for its Perfect Moments - Luxury Travel Brochure

SOTC was conferred the prestigious 2016 Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Gold Award for its entry in the Marketing Media - Consumer Travel Brochure category, for “Perfect Moments - Luxury Travel by SOTC”. The PATA Gold Awards Luncheon and Presentation held at Indonesia attracted more than 800 industry executives. The jury members were most impressed with the high quality and exceptional standard of the entry submitted. This year’s awards attracted 212 entries from 71 organisations and individuals worldwide.

Following the success of Perfect Moment-The Luxury Travel Collection, SOTC unveiled its second edition of Perfect Moments which features unexplored destinations, unchartered landscapes and novel leisure options that are the future of luxury travel. Meticulously curated and designed for the most discerning traveller the luxury book contains a vast treasure of inspiration and information on luxury travel as a niche holiday experience. From the unparalleled excitement of experiencing the world’s most premium boutique hotels to overwhelming indulgence of the finest luxury resorts across the globe, keeping in mind a taste of local flavors cultures and traditions crafted for every travelers palate.

On winning the accolade, Vishal Suri, Managing Director, SOTC said, “It is a very significant achievement to be honoured with the PATA Gold Award. Over the years, SOTC has been increasing its canvas of destinations thereby presenting our customers with a range of handpicked exclusive luxury locations. We at SOTC understand this and that is why every holiday is designed to offer new and unique experiences that are beyond the expectations of the luxury traveller. The collection has nine glorious bouquets of luxurious holiday themes. Elemental, tailored, original and exclusive, the new face of brand Perfect Moments has translated the word luxury into a legendary experience which allows our global travellers to pick their perfect moments. The award is a recognition of our commitment to create distinct holiday experiences for our Indian travellers and serves as an inspiration in achieving new heights”. The PATA Gold Awards honour exceptional endeavours and achievements to promote travel and tourism across the Asia Pacific region.

To view the Perfect Moments collection visit: http://perfectmoments.sotc.in/

March 03, 2016

SOTC presents the holiday essentials - An Innovation in the Holiday Space

In our endeavor to make holidays a priority for every Indian, we have left no stone unturned. Having imagined every possible way to make vacations easier, worry free and within reach, we have now introduced the Holiday Essentials Kit. A Family Kit comprising of all the little essentials that make for a safe and comfortable holiday which would provide our customers greater comfort while on Holiday.

Speaking on its introduction, Daniel Dsouza, Head Sales, India and NRI Markets, Tour Operating, Kuoni India said, "We at SOTC have put together a Holiday KIT of all the Essential Items that a Customer must take along on his Holiday. This Family Kit has been designed based on extensive research and also after speaking to many of our welltravelled customers and our very own experienced Tour Managers. This is a first of its kind in the Holiday Space and we believe will add great value to our Customers and help him have a comfortable and enjoyable holiday. The Introduction of the Holiday Essentials Kit is part of our journey towards being a Customer Centric Organization, where all that we will do will be keeping the Customer's needs at heart".

March 01, 2016

SOTC releases its new TVC, asks Indians not to postpone their Holidays & make holidays a priority

From being primarily a group tour company to a brand that stands For Holidays, SOTC has traveled a remarkable journey over the past 3 years with its very sharp and disruptive point of view on the category and a belief that made it want to simply stand “For Holidays” which was then and still is, a huge departure from most other destination sellers hawking economical packaged tours.

With a philosophy of making holidays a priority, SOTC revealed its new TVC urging Indians not to postpone their holiday and this philosophy is summed up in the baseline - “For Holidays”. The brand respects the fact that Indians know the importance of a holiday and therefore does not indulge in extolling the virtues of a holiday. Also the brand does not only focus on communicating destinations and their delights but the fact that holidays are important and one should prioritize them.

The film features a child who speaks to her parents in French making sure the message reaches her parents that she wants to go on a holiday to Paris. The perplexed parents struggle to understand the message until the child says it in Hindi. The father realizes the gravity of the issue and the film signs off with the message 'Abhi nahi jayenge, toh kabhi nahi jeyenge'. With summer holidays round the corner, the message hits home.

SOTC strategically worked on the insight that most Indians have “an exaggerated sense of one's own value or importance” at their workplace, be it a corporate or a small business. This almost comically, arrogant and pompous behavior instigates them to very easily sacrifice their holidays. And this insight laid the foundation for the new TVC.

Speaking on the launch of the new TVC, Vishal Suri, Managing Director, Kuoni India said, "Our endeavour is to 'Make Holidays A Priority'. At SOTC we continue to encourage Indian consumer to view holiday as a necessity & not post pone their holiday. The new TVC reiterates our position that "We stand for holidays" giving shape to the dreams of millions of Indians. At SOTC, we are unwavering in our belief that people should travel and see the world without any hesitation or obstacles and we strive to make their holidays memorable." The refreshed architecture and strategy has been developed with support from the creative agency TBWA.

To view the TVC visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSueIZ-ukQc

February 18, 2016

SOTC unveils its new brand architecture

Kuoni India has rebranded to SOTC as part of a brand transition. SOTC has been taking millions of Indians to the world for over six decades. Acquired by Kuoni Travels - the world's leading Tour Operator in the year 1996, the company emerged as a leader in all travel segments. SOTC entrenched its leadership position by never ceasing to evolve.

Over the past six decades SOTC has devoted itself to creating holidays by providing travel services in line with its customer's needs and evolving preferences. Since then it has grown to become one of India's leading travel services provider.

SOTC today unveiled its new brand logo. The new logo will be used with a distinct tag line for each of our business segments - For Holidays, For Incentive Travel and For Business Travel.

The SOTC four blocks with rounded edges portray flexibility and our readiness to evolve with times and our customer needs. The icon on the top right of the logo signifies direction, a cursor and a paper plane. It embodies the spirit of guiding travelers, easing travel experience by building future ready online capabilities and soaring to greater heights.

Mr. Madhavan Menon, Chairman & Managing Director, Thomas Cook India Limited said, "India's leading travel brand for over six decades, SOTC enjoys strong consumer connect with the Indian traveller. Hence as part of our strategic intent, we are delighted to announce the brand transition from Kuoni to SOTC India. The new brand architecture of SOTC is a reiteration of the Company's core customer‐centric philosophy: embodying the spirit of guiding travellers while offering them an enriching travel experience. He added, “This brand transition is significant in light of the upcoming key holiday season and we look forward with confidence to strong consumer uptake."

On unveiling the new brand architecture, Mr. Vishal Suri, Managing Director, Kuoni India said "Rebranding will allow us to connect to the market strength that SOTC represents. The SOTC brand stands for Value Creation, Customer Delight, Collaboration, Operational Excellence and Innovation and those are qualities that are important to us, to our partners and to our customers. We're pleased to be able to better project those qualities through the new SOTC Logo. Looking ahead, we are focused on accelerating the execution of our growth strategy while continuing to build on the strength of our brand".