Trade Bytes

Ashwini Kakkar acquires majority stake in Mercury Travels

ETW Staff - Mumbai

Ashwini Kakkar, erstwhile managing director of Thomas Cook India and director on the Worldwide Board of Thomas Cook has bought 74.9 per cent stake in Mercury Travels from Oberoi Group of Hotels (part of East India Hotels). Oberoi Group of Hotels with 25.1 per cent share will continue as a minority stake holder in Mercury Travels, a premier travel company in the country servicing the mid and high-end luxury segments for the past 60 years.

According to the new partnership, PRS Oberoi will continue as the chairman of Mercury Travels, while Kakkar will hold the post of executive vice-chairman. Commenting on the partnership, Oberoi stated, "We are delighted to partner with Kakkar to take the company to the next level. Mercury's legacy in delivering high-end service to its customers places it in an unique position to excel in the dynamic Indian travel environment."

Echoing similar sentiments, Kakkar, who is also president of the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), and a global director of United Federation of Travel Agents' Associations (UFTAA) said, "The high standards of ethics and integrity, as well as a strong focus on quality offerings to customers, has prompted me to choose EIH as my partner. I am confident we can make Mercury Travels an industry leader in the next few years."

Mercury Travels currently has 10 branch offices across India servicing various segments of travel like business travel, inbound, outbound, domestic holidays, foreign exchange, travel insurance, meeting and incentives etc. Following the new partnership, the company intends to leverage India's software strengths to build strong technology platforms for its web, call-centre and m-commerce interfaces to ensure Customer Relations Management (CRM) and superior service delivery.

According to Kakkar, the current focus on customer service quality will also be enhanced through a tie-up with a global centre of learning, which for the first time will make training in service and process skills available in this sector in India. The focus, according to Kakkar will also be on organic and innovation-led growth with Mercury Travels using its international offices to exponentially grow the inbound business into India. Commercial investments in the Mercury brand will also be commensurately increased and the enhanced capital base and reserves will be utilised for any distressed acquisition opportunities.