Cox & Kings eyes overseas acquisitions

Travel operator Cox & Kings India is scouting for acquisitions in countries like the US, Canada, England, Australia and New Zealand, a senior company official said today.

The travel operator, which raised Rs 610 crore through a public issue in December last year, has earmarked Rs 150 crore for funding such acquisitions.

"We have a fund of Rs 150 crore earmarked for this (acquisitions). We are very comfortable with countries where the laws are familiar like the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand...It becomes very attractive for us particularly since these countries are just coming out of recession," Cox & Kings Executive Director Peter Kerkar told PTI here.

Kerkar said the company is still on the look out and that "it could be several small companies or one large company".

Last year, Cox & Kings acquired MyPlanet Australia and Bentours International, expanding its product and retail distribution presence in Australia.

Besides this, it has a strong presence there through Tempo Holidays, a outbound tourism market player that it had earlier acquired.

He said the company would focus on enhancing its distribution in India, through franchise sales outlets as well as internet.

"Going forward, we want to increase our distribution in India, particularly on franchise circuit. We plan to take the total number of franchise outlets to 150 by December-end and will focus on Tier II and Tier III cities," Kerkar said.

Cox & Kings currently has 80 franchise sales outlets in 44 locations across India.

The company is betting big on the inbound tourist traffic from the US, UK, Russia and Japan because it feels that a recovery in the foreign markets would further enhance its earnings prospects.

Besides, it expects to attract more business from international tourists through the Maharaja Express, India’s first pan-India super luxury train that was flagged off last month from Mumbai to Kolkata.

Launched by the Royale Indian Rail Tours (RITL), Maharaja Express is a joint venture between IRCTC and Cox and Kings India.

"Certainly, the new initiative on the luxury train will be a hit with international tourists. We are expecting a very strong response (and already) 150 tour operators worldwide have signed up with the product," he said.

Kerkar said he expects about 10-15 per cent growth in India's inbound tourist travel next fiscal after arrivals hit a low in the previous year led by the financial meltdown, the 26/11 terrorist attacks and swine flu.