Tradebytes

SOTC to expand distribution by year end

Andrea Lopez - Mumbai

Seeing that luxury leisure travel is no longer confined to the metro cities, outbound tour operator SOTC has expressed its plans for expanding to the tier II cities this year. By the end of 2008, SOTC will have a presence in 10 cities across India, an increase of seven, from its current three offices. The expansion plan will cover the tier II cities including Ludhiana, Chandigarh, Chennai and Hyderabad. In conversation with Express TravelWorld, Sunil Gupta, chief operating officer (India & South Asia), outbound division - SOTC expressed, "The market for overseas leisure travel is no longer restricted to the key metro cities. We had been waiting for the right time to expand our services and build our brand in the B cities in India and will do so by the end of 2008."

The company's online portal that had been on the anvil for a while now will also be rolled out this year. "The online opportunity cannot be missed out now as the market has reached a level of maturity," says Gupta, attributing the change in the market largely to the advent of LCC and IRCTC bookings. MICE is one of the strongest growing segments and the biggest change in this regard is that budgets have also grown. Sports tourism seems to be the flavour of the season, as more corporates and individuals are choosing to centre their holidays around sporting events. SOTC Sport Abroad, the sports tourism division will be promoting the Formula one SingTel Singapore Grand Prix in September this year.