Online travel aggregator (OTA) Thomas Cook has recorded 32 percent growth in forward bookings for the festive season, the company said in its earnings presentation of September quarter FY24 results.
"First, Durga Puja, then Diwali and Christmas - owing to these festivals we are seeing uptick in the travel demand," Debasis Nandy, President and Group CFO (Chief Financial Officer) told Moneycontrol.
Also read: Festive travel demand soars despite high airfares; Ahmedabad thrives on cricket craze
"We expect a good quarter based on this. However, the ongoing ICC Men's Cricket World Cup has not been a big money spinner for us," he said.
In terms of events, Nandy said that big growth is going to come from large government events. "We are taking care of accommodation of ongoing National Games in Goa. We played a major role in G20 conference and did 41 events over 11 months. Also, played a major role in Khelo India. Government contracts are large and bringing big volumes for us in the MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) segment," he said.
The company reported profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 52.4 crore in Q2 FY24 as against Rs 72.5 crore in the June quarter of FY24.
Income from operations stood at Rs 77.6 crore, 21 percent up from Rs 63.9 crore in Q2 of FY23. However, it was down sequentially as the company reported income from operations at Rs 91.6 crore in Q1 FY24.
"On the macro side, Indian economy is doing well, there is rising demand for travel across segments and we have been able to ride on that, There is infrastructure growth and growth in income in smaller cities which has opened up new set of customers for us. Development of airports in smaller towns and Vande Bharat is another story," said the CFO.
He added that sequentially, numbers are lower as there is strong seasonality factor in travel business. "In Q1, there are school holidays so that is the time for family travel. Q2 is a weaker quarter. While travel demand is spreading across months, Q1 will continue to be the biggest quarter."
The OTA registered growth in its overseas business with a profit before (PBT) of Rs 80 crore versus a loss of Rs 17.6 crore in Q2 FY23.
"The growth in overseas business is due to restructuring, headcount has been rationalised. We have built software to automate and increase productivity. Internationally, we have seen rising demand for travel. This has helped in bringing volumes which is 38 percent ahead of pre-Covid levels and 40 percent versus last year," Nandy said.
Also read: Dussehra, Diwali see spike in travel demand; hotels expect 80% occupancy in festive period
He added that overall travel services is back to pre-pandemic levels. "B2B (business-to-business), and MICE is ahead of pre-Covid levels. Within leisure, short haul (destination) travel is close to pre-Covid levels but on the long haul side there is some recovery that is remaining as getting visa is not that easy and air fares continue to be very high which push people from long to short haul."
Nandy said that there is improvement in terms of approval of visa applications. "In Q1, we saw high visa rejection. Eighteen percent of the visa application in India were rejected. That rate has started coming down. We expect by end of this financial year situation should normalise."
Also read: Student visas for Canada may get delayed by 6 months, ed consultants say
He also pointed out that there is no impact of Israel-Hamas war on India inbound and outbound travel. "For outbound segment, there are not too many travelers that go to that part of the world. And inbound travel has not seen any collateral damage. Also, inbound travel season has started now. So, going by the forward bookings while we may not be back to 100 percent of preCovid level, it will be around 70 percent," Nandy said.
Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
