Thomas Cook (India) Limited (TCIL) is widening its franchise and partner distribution across metros, Tier I and Tier II cities and has named Tier II, Tier III and emerging cities as the next growth ground, according to an interview with Rajeev Kale, President and Country Head for Holidays, MICE and Visa, published by FranchiseTv on 7 October 2026. The network spans over 300 Thomas Cook and SOTC outlets and 16 airport counters.
TCIL, set up in 1881, describes its Indian footprint as a mix of owned retail outlets, franchise and partner networks, airport counters, digital platforms and assisted channels. As of the first quarter of FY27, the company reported more than 300 Thomas Cook and South Asian Travels & Tours (SOTC) owned operations, more than 170 preferred sales agent (PSA/GSA) touchpoints and 16 airport counters. The wider Thomas Cook Group spans 28 countries across five continents, the interview states.
Kale links the expansion to rising disposable incomes, better connectivity, digital adoption and growing demand for international and experiential travel in smaller cities, with outbound short-haul trips and spiritual tourism named as growth segments. Travel is a trust-led purchase, he argues, so a local partner brings community relationships and customer knowledge while the brand brings destination expertise, technology, product access, training and service standards.
Franchising is an important part of building a scalable distribution ecosystem.
That is Kale’s description of the model, and the company positions franchisees, preferred sales agents and travel business associates as ways to extend reach beyond conventional retail formats.
The interview lists the fundamentals: a differentiated and trusted brand proposition, a robust product portfolio with a competitive commercial proposition for partners, technology that handles enquiries, pricing, itinerary creation, booking and servicing, and training, standardised processes and ongoing support. Kale adds that the franchisor must keep bringing new products and destinations to the network, and that each catchment needs enough business potential for the franchisee to earn a return on investment.
TCIL says its TACY assistant, which has moved from a generative AI chatbot to an agentic AI travel assistant, handled more than 185,000 customer conversations in FY2025-26 and supports itinerary planning, lead qualification and CRM integration. Raahi automates domestic holiday itineraries and quotations, an AI Agent Assist tool gives advisers pricing guidance, and an AI quality-control bot monitors 100% of customer conversations at roughly 95% accuracy. The company calls its approach “Clicks & Bricks”: customers can research online and book in a store, or start in a store and be serviced through the app.
Service franchises are scaling in India through assisted, asset-light formats rather than heavy build-outs, and TCIL’s criteria read like a diligence checklist for any service brand: product breadth, partner technology and training come before outlet count. Readers tracking other Indian roll-outs will find parallels in Snowberry’s push into Tier I and II cities, Century 21 India’s regional franchise model and Scissors Professionals’ South India salon offer. Our market guides cover franchising in India in 2026 and service franchise opportunities across Asia Pacific and MENA. The interview gives no outlet targets or partner terms, so any comparison of unit-level returns would need data beyond this source.
