Thomas Cook to tap Japan traffic with JTB Corp

Mumbai: Thomas Cook India has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Japanese travel solutions company JTB Corp to beef up its market presence and penetration of the Asia Pacific region, along with Europe and the US. In a move building on the less-travelled organic growth path, Thomas Cook India, which has till now largely relied on inorganic business expansions, is looking to grow its business in other ways.

An alliance with JTB Corp gives Thomas Cook access to JTB's network that spans 30 countries, while simultaneously providing JTB Corp with a ready-to-tap platform for its move into the Indian market. 

Speaking on the occasion, Udayan Bose, chairman of Thomas Cook India said, “The year 2007 was designated as India-Japan Tourism Exchange Year. Both countries hope to increase the number of visitors between the two countries to approximately 300,000 by 2010, which will be nearly double that of the 2005.  Hence, we are pleased to enter into an alliance with JTB Corp, the largest travel company in Japan and one of the largest travel companies in the world. We see great potential in this co-operation across a wide range of travel activities including leisure outbound, corporate travel and inbound travel to India. In any case Japan was being looking at by us as a target country for inbound and outbound tourism. This co-operation will benefit both the companies and countries immensely.“

Ken Hibino, executive director of JTB Corp said, “India's economic growth is driving travel and tourism strongly.  India is an attractive market and we have been planning to enter this market for a while. It is a major milestone as two big giants in their respective countries have decided to join hands together. We are pleased to have found a right fit in Thomas Cook, a company backed by strong credibility and network across the country.“  

Madhavan Menon, managing director of Thomas Cook India said, “With business travel growing at 20 per cent, this alliance will provide further impetus to our corporate travel business.“

Each year sees an increasing number of travelers coming into India from Japan; JTB Corp being the leader in the Japanese market, would be able to tap Thomas Cook India's network to serve its clientele better. 

According to a company release, the travel cooperation arrangements would be for inbound, outbound and corporate travel across markets such as Japan, China, South-East Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Europe and America.