Skift Take

India has a handful of major gateway cities that get all the attention. But increasingly, travel companies are targeting the up-and-coming regional markets.

Bulbul Dhawan

Earlier this month, Thomas Cook India’s company – SOTC Travel – unveiled a series of 6 regional film campaigns around travel. The campaign was launched to mark its 75th anniversary and to reinforce the company’s focus on regional markets in India. 

“India is not a single market. There are multiple markets within India," said SD Nandakumar, SOTC Travel’s President and Country Head, Leisure Travel and MICE. "Most of our leading products cater to the pan-India segment, but we have seen that the regional markets need a lot of differentiated products."

Nandakumar told Skift that the idea behind the film campaigns was to connect with customers in these markets in a way that caters to their unique needs. "We do not believe that products catering to these markets are niche at all. I think these are all part of our mainstream offerings," he said.

Aspirational Travelers: The regional markets are probably more aspirational when it comes to travel than the metro cities, he said. “People really want to travel and explore. India has moved away from the four gateway cities and it’s time for us to recognize that.”

With many countries offering visa on arrival and visa-free access to Indians, it is becoming easier to travel. “So people from smaller towns find it much easier to travel inter