FAIRFAX Financial Holdings, which owns Thomas Cook India, will discontinue the Kuoni brand name in India in the coming months.
Fairfax had earlier acquired Kuoni Group’s travel businesses in India and Hong Kong last year and under the agreement, Fairfax has access to the Kuoni name for one year in India and five years in Hong Kong. Kuoni Hong Kong will remain in use.
Madhavan Menon, chairman and managing director, Thomas Cook India, said: “If I look at other names that we have acquired like SOTC and SITA, they are better known brands here. We will drop the Kuoni name as we go forward.”
As for Kuoni Hong Kong, Menon said that it is an established brand and “apart from the fact that it is an extremely well run business, we also clearly see that it will give us a footprint in Asia.”
Menon is also keen to leverage on its newly acquired entities to help replace the Thomas Cook brand – a name it will be losing in 2025 as part of the agreement with Thomas Cook Group UK in 2012. Menon further dispelled rumours of any change in management in both India and Hong Kong.
Additionally, Kuoni India’s inbound business, known as Kuoni Destination Management and which operates under the SITA brand, will be merged with Fairfax’s Travel Corporation of India. Meanwhile, its outbound businesses, Thomas Cook India and SOTC India, will continue to operate as two different companies, but share backend services.
