 "Mahesh Iyer, managing director and chief executive officer, Thomas Cook India")
Domestic travel bookings for Thomas Cook India have picked up in July on a year-on-year (YoY) basis after seeing moderation following the Pahalgam attack in April and the Air India plane crash in June when travellers' sentiment was affected.
While there is some economic softness and uncertainty related to tariffs, Mahesh Iyer, managing director and chief executive officer (MD&CEO), Thomas Cook India, told Business Standard that he anticipates the second half of calendar year 2025 (H2CY25) to be better than the first half in terms of traveller sentiment and bookings. He further added that this momentum in travel demand is expected to be driven by the festive period and long weekends. From July, forward bookings for the domestic travel segment have picked up and are slightly higher compared with the same period last year.
Thomas Cook India’s net profit declined by 4.3 per cent to ₹72.1 crore for the first quarter of 2025-26 (Q1FY26) on a Y-o-Y basis. This was due to a one-time expense, as the company’s board approved an ex-gratia payment of ₹17.1 crore to Madhavan Menon, who retired as the executive chairman in May, in recognition of his 25 years of service. The company’s revenue from operations rose by 14.3 per cent to ₹2,408 crore in Q1FY26 on a Y-o-Y basis.
“Before April 21 (a day before the Pahalgam attack), our domestic travel booking (in terms of forward bookings) was trending at about 25 per cent ahead of the previous year. As the situation unfolded, this volume started to fall, and by the end of June, our forward bookings fell by 11 per cent compared with the same period last year,” said Iyer.
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On the other hand, the company’s outbound holiday (international travel) segment became one of the key growth drivers in Q1FY26. This was on the back of Thomas Cook India building its booking pipeline for outbound travel since October last year for the summer season, Iyer said.
Thomas Cook India’s Pbidt (profit before interest, depreciation and tax) rose by 4.3 per cent to ₹171.6 crore for Q1FY26 on a Y-o-Y basis.
The company’s leisure hospitality and resorts segment’s income from operations observed a growth of 8 per cent in Q1FY26 compared with the same quarter last year, according to its investor presentation. The company added 12 new resorts comprising about 1,000 rooms. The average room revenue (ARR) of the hospitality segment was around ₹7,100 while the occupancy reached about 64 per cent in Q1FY26. Iyer added that the company plans to add an additional 1,000 keys in the next 18 months.
Iyer further emphasised that the travel industry’s growth outlook will remain around 12-15 per cent in FY26 as travellers focus on short-haul destinations for domestic travel and visa-free destinations for international trips.
