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CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IN THOMAS COOK

A Project Report Submitted to

MAHATMA GANDHI UNIVERSITY, NALGONDA

In partial fulfillment of the Requirement

For the award of the degree of

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

By

Mr. K KISHORE KUMAR(REG. No. 001010011029)

Under the guidance of

FACULTY GUIDES : Mrs. PRAVALLIKA

ASST PROF, SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES

2010 2012

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DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the project report entitled "CUSTOMER

SATISFACTION IN THOMAS COOK, is a record of independent research

work and has been carried out by me during the period of my study at

MAHATMA GANDHI UNIVERSITY, NALGONDA under the guidance of

MS. PRAVALLIKA, Associate professor in SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

STUDIES, and has not been submitted elsewhere for any degree either in part or

whole.

Signature

(K.KISHORE KUMAR)

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MAHATMA GANDHI UNIVERSITY

(Approved byA.I.C.T.E, New Delhi )

Nalgonda, Nalgonda Dist, A.P, India. PIN: 508001

________________________________________________________

Date: ----------

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the project entitled CUSTOMER

SATISFACTION IN THOMAS COOK. Submitted by Mr. K

KISHORE KUMAR in partial fulfillment of the work award of the

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION submitted to

MAHATMA GANDHI UNIVERSITY has been completed under my

supervision and guidance.

This project has not been submitted earlier for the award of

any degree or diploma of MAHATMA GANDHI UNIVERSITY or any

other university.

Dr. M. Venakat Ramana Reddy,

Mrs. PRAVALLIKA,

MBA.,Mphil, PH.D.

M.B.A.

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Head of Department

Project Guide

EXTERNAL EXAMINER

INTRERNAL EXAMINER

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I express my profound sense of gratitude to MS. PRAVALLIKA,

Associate Professor, Department of Management Studies, MAHATMA

GANDHI UNIVERSITY under whose guidance I have completed this

project.

I would like to convey my respectable thanks to Dr. M.VENKAT

RAMANA REDDY, HOD, DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT

STUDIES, for extending his co-operation in the beginning of the training

program.

It gives me great pleasure to acknowledge my indebtedness to my

parents for their moral support and encouragement in my studies.

My special thanks to my friends who helped me in completion of this

Industry Analysis.

K.KISHORE KUMAR

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CHAPTER

NAME

LIST OF TABLES PAGE

NO

CHAPTER-I

CHAPTER-II

CHAPTER-III

CHAPTER-IV

CHAPTER-V

INTRODUCTION

OBJECTIVES ANDRESEARCH METHODOLOGY

PROFILES

DATA ANALYSIS AND

INTERPRETATION

FINDINGSCONCLUSIONSUGGESTIONS

BIBLIOGRAPHY

07-22

23-25

26-54

55-72

73-78

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CONTENTS

CHAPTER-I INTRODUCTION

1.1 Theoretical frame work

1.2 Critical analysis of the concepts

CHAPTER-IIOBJECTIVES & RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

2.1 Objectives of the study

2.2 Need for the Study

2.3 Scope of the study

2.4 Research Design

2.5 Period of the study

2.5 Limitations of the study

CHAPTER-III PROFILES

3.1 Industry Profile

3.2 company Profile

CHAPTER-IV DATA ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATIONS

4.1 sub topics

4.2 sub topics

CHAPTER-V FINDINGS, SUGGESTIONS AND CONCLUSION

BIBLIOGRAPHY

APPENDICES

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CHAPTER-I

INTRODUCTION

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

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A true blooded marketer or businessman is likewise concerned with the after

sale Satisfaction of the customers on his products. This Satisfaction or customers

impression towards the goods that he purchased will dictate a great deal whether

that consumer will continue to patronize that product or spread unsatisfactory

remarks against it or the company itself. Unsatisfied customers usually dont give a

second try on the products or services that displeased him and might even convince

others not to purchase the goods. Customers impressions are based on their

feelings. If the goods and services that he gets in exchange for the money he spent

satisfies him, without a doubt, he will continue buying goods from the company. If

otherwise, he might turn to your competitors products. Understanding and

studying consumers Satisfaction, therefore, is a vital tool for a company in

determining whether or not it satisfies his customers.

When studying Customers Satisfaction, the first step that a company should

take is to conduct a market research of its own products. Through this, a researcher

should determine what goods are the customers buying and their reasons for

buying such goods.

Second, conducting market survey will disclose useful information on how

and what the consumers think and feel of the products and the company. Their

Satisfactions, opinions and impressions, whether positive or negative, will serve as

a useful tool in improving product qualities and services. When making a survey,

make it short and simple and be sure that it includes all the key elements that are

needed in the study. Some customers dislike answering surveys especially if it

looks too long. Be precise and direct to the point.

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After the survey, analyze and study the results but it should be noted that

customers opinions are biased or skewed. It differs from person to person, so one

specific measure may not be suited for the sample taken.

Lastly, assess the survey results. This is done by providing answers to some

key questions such as: Do we understand our customers needs? Do we meet their

expectations? Do we help them solve their problems by providing quality goods?

Then compare results of this survey to the previous results. From there, you can

make key decisions on how to really satisfy existing customers, how to hold them

there and how to attract more and more potential customers to try and patronize

your goods and services.

VALUE EVIDENCE

The present day customer buys his ultimate Satisfaction, not the product

(Kodak claims to sel.) Todays customer is an active seeker of Value-Evidence

(Certificate, Policy, Prompt Service/ Ful value.) He dwells more on promise of

Satisfaction made by agents/ brokers/ company advertisements/ assertions by

Company/Industry/Regulator/ Legislature. The judgment of customer service is

mainly on the basis of what was asserted or implied about the policy product.

Operational staff delivers this assertion done by marketing personnel at the

beginning by issuing documents promptly, their behavior at the time the consumer

prefers a claim or seeks assurance of his service in Any other manner.

Therefore, any lapse on the part of operating office turns proactive rather

than preventive, and it affects the sustainability of relationship between the

customer and the insured customer.

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BUILDING RELATIONSHIP OF CONFIDENCE AND TRUST

The Satisfaction of Insured customer requires building relationship of

confidence and trust between the buyer and seller. It is essential to build trust so

that the intentions of both the parties are clearly understood by each other

E.g. If an insured has paid premium against a proposal, mere issue of receipt

without any narration (cover note/ Certificate of customer) as to the specifications

of the product intended to be sold, would not render Satisfaction, prompt issue of

the policy document and quick and adequate settlement of claim, would only create

confidence in buyer about the product bought by him.

COMMITMENT

The building of confidence also requires that one should build up the

reputation, that whatever is once said is not unilaterally withdrawn in the garb ofofficial red-tapism or other unforeseen constrains developing due to change in

environment. The rules are always meant for internal consumption until they are

not detrimental to the mutual interest of either.

The customer must be held fully accountable for his promises made to

public, more so when the customer has already given a commitment through Cover

note or a public commitment through Citizen Charter or industry commitment

given by the Customer Regulator by way of regulation of Protection of Policy

Holders Interest & promulgating code of conduct on intermediaries (agents/

brokers) or facilitators like Surveyors & Loss assessors.

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INTERNAL ACCOUNTABILITY

The natural corollary of building confidence to external customer requires

that each internal customer (employee) must accept accountability for al the

actions done by them or done on their behalf, whether it is improper treatment,

breach of mandatory Provisions, non-inclusion of warranties or conditions,

charging wrong premium or overstatement by intermediaries at the time of pre

sales and post sales both.

SENSE OF CARE:

Moreover, confidence would be generated only if customer companies are

quick to serve. Undue delay is an important reason of losing confidence by the

insured in the Words spoken by the customer or his representative. The customer is

the most wanted person on the customers premises. Each employee of the

customer company from sub-staff to Chairman exists in the company on the simple

premise to serve the customer, in whatsoever role has been assigned to any one.

Therefore, attending to potential, prospective, insured is the prime duty of each

employee.

The customer at no cost should go back unattended. We in Customer

business proclaim ourselves to be a part of a family, which clearly insists that if

one family member is absent, another or whosoever is present, should attend to his

best of ability and see that the customer returns with the clear notion that He was

adequately cared.

The sense of care is a vital tool in achieving customer Satisfaction. An

unattended or frustrated visit could bring discord and a feeling of repulsion, which

may in turn rupture the thin cord of mutual relations developed due to the

customer-insured relationship. The customers role pre-envisages the instinct of

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sense of care, building of confidence & trust. The claimants morale is already low

due to economic or personal los sustained and happening of a fortuitous event. The

customer is, therefore, under greater degree of duty to assuage insureds hurt

feelings and attend to his needs promptly, efficiently, actively and courteously.

Good human relations can be built up when we keep in mind the motives

and desire of other people as given here under:

a) To be treated courteously: we must respect human dignity whether the customer

is Managing Director of a corporate group or merely a cattle owner.

b) The customer must get a suitable environment to accomplish the job for which

he has come at our doorstep.

A sense of care, concern, trust and confidence must be present on the

customers premises.

There should not be any display of complacency and lack of sensitivity in

the employees towards Customers. The customer needs to be served promptly,

efficiently and effectively.

As a Public Sector Customer we should not lose sight of our goal of social

service, spreading of customer to every nook and corner of our vast country and to

help distribution of economic wealth to one and al. Our job exists to serve the

customer at the right time, to serve him with courtesy, magnanimity and sincerity.

In our industry, it is sell, sell, sell. And-oh-yeah give good service, too. But

that is as an after thought only. Does this not point to our failure, to properly define

and reinforce the service role of employees? The result we see today is, Growth

with lot of question marks on service, though moto1 is: SERVICE GATEWAY

TOGROWTH.

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GETTING CLOSER TO CUSTOMERS

A common assumption is that the front line personnel understand their

customer priorities by virtue of regular customer contact. Our front line contact

persons are mainly agents, Brokers, Companies Sales officers, underwriting/claim

assistants, cashiers in office, besides sub-staff and other executives etc. This front

line staff interacts 90% of time with the customers, mainly interacting outside any

direct supervision.

These moments of opportunities (the time to perform) for our organization

are in reality (Richard Normans high impact interactions at Scandinavian Airlines)

moments of truth, for the customer to feel the service. This desires full

accountability of the front line staff presents for interaction on behalf of the

customer.

CORPORATE CULTURE CONCEPT OF 6 C

The author feels that an Customer service companys corporate culture

should be based on 6 C Communication, Cooperation, Cheerfulness,

Credibility, Challenge and Continuity. The Company must welcome the insured to

speak on the basis on these 6 C to the employee who has been serving him, if he

is not happy with the service provided by him or any of the companys agents or

associates or any other matters that they are not satisfied with. Only after availing

the response the customer should be directed to use formal mechanism. The

customer interactions with a company form a critical part of value of customers

perceive.

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CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT

Theoretically, Customer Experience Management appears disarmingly

similar to Customer Relationship Management, which should be a business

strategy to improve long-term loyalty. CRM nevertheless, in practice is an

information-driven approach to customer analysis and process automation, while

CEM concentrates on the customer\ value proposition and includes al interactions,

not just those that can be automated.

The focus, therefore, must shift to understanding gap between the

experiences customer are receiving vs. those customer companies think they are

delivering, if we want to address the roots of customer Satisfaction. With

quantitative data from two CRM guru surveys on CEM it has been concluded that

managing experiences well can, indeed, boost business performance. Companies

that lead in CEM effectiveness as measured by CRM Gurus 25 question

assessment generally also achieve double-digit revenue and profit growth.

METHODOLOGY FOR IMPLEMENTING CEM

The objective of bringing employee and customer together is to build a

positive attitude and empathy amongst employees, towards customer and to create

effective and prompt response towards customers. The way out for employees to

achieve this is by getting closer to customers. The customer companies must

give Weight age to following aspects:

Listen to customers viewpoint at every stage from end to end.

Obtain customer feedback through employees-customers meets. Exposing

employees to have first hand experience of client by arranging visits along with

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field staff. Identify and fulfill unarticulated needs of the customer to provide

excellence in service.

Understand of psychological needs which cause mismatch between the

Satisfaction of the customer and the employee. A concerted action should be

initiated to minimize the gaps by increasing tangibilisation of services, in lieu of

intangible promises doled out by the customer policy. The customer customer

needs:

1. Prompt and accurate issue of document.

2. Prompt and fair settlement of claim.

3. Good listening mechanism

4. Better problem solving approach

5. Reliable manner of service

6. Meet customers requirement on time every time.

If each one starts striving for customer Satisfaction, as a step towards

competitiveness, we shall soon be identifying ourselves with creating Customer

Delight rather than mere customer Satisfaction.

Customer Satisfaction is a key factor in the formation of an effective and

vibrant organization, with caring, committed and empowered people. This new

thrust & innovativeness, is key to competitiveness.

PROFIT OPPORTUNITIES IN MANAGING SERVICES

Winston Churchill once said, One must always look ahead, but it is difficult

to look further than one can see. In the current liberalization era we have little

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option but to strive for customer Satisfaction and competitiveness for bare survival.

Professor M. L. Agarwal of IIM- Lucknow in his studies on Customer

Relationship Management has identified five profit opportunities in managing

services:

1. Greater intangibilisation

2. Customer co-production

3. Pace based services

4. Cyber services

5. Mass customized services

The emerging need of customer customer is ample evidence of changing

customer profile and their expectations. The competitive advantage can be

achieved through net- based delivery channels.

The Customer Regulator has amply demonstrated by implementing the

licensing of agents/brokers/companies through web.

One PSU has issued an e-sugar Policy to Sugar Stock Exchange, being

serviced on Web Technology based competition, with cyber-based services. The

interactive response system is an important tool in emerging scenario to achieve

competitive advantage in the organizational effort to sustain. The customer

mal.com has opened up true competition among customer companies whether

private or public, in product quality and price vis-a- vis availability at the doorstep

of the consumer.

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The customer industries business is so enormous that the negative effects of

technological competition are considerably nullified, if the Public Sector

Customers start relying on the strength of their core competencies viz.,

a) Existing employees

b) Huge network of offices,

c) Loyalty of customers and

d) Strong bond between customers and employees

e) Approach to problem solving as against dispute resolution.

The competition has been tougher in the last 5 years and more of the same is

expected in the next 5 years. Competitiveness requires special emphasis in two

areas while achieving customer Satisfaction.

TANGIBILISATION OF SERVICES

How to work with customers & attend to queries i.e. tangibilisation &

empathy should be given priority. The dress, manner of speaking by employees,

writing and issue documents also enhances tangibilisation process.

Phone cal attending: It should be done courteously instead of saying that so-and-

so is on leave or is away from his seat. We must find the reply from the concerned

person and it should be complete and ensure calling back by appropriate person.

Visit of client: The client needs to be attended like a friend giving him a seat and

a glass of water. One must empathize with the client in his moments of distress

caused due to his sustaining los. Do we not expect the same treatment for

ourselves? We must also ensure that he is not made to visit office for the same

reason again & again and that his interest is attended to on top priority. How many

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clients do we receive every day? With al knowledge and tag of highly paid

educated employees cant we attend a visitor adequately?

All enquiries need to be attended promptly.

Any complaint must be handled with fairness and we should not try to hide

behind legality & technicality, which in any case the consumer is not aware of.

The customer also needs to be understood by listening him properly. We can

create an Appellate mechanism as in Income Tax department to review the

decisions of our operating offices. Second step to appeals is to go to legal

department for initiating appropriate steps governed by protecting the interest and

image of the company.

Grievance in itself has a negative connotation and unless extraordinary

precaution are taken results in disputes fought in court of law resulting in total

alienation of the customer for ever, as he looses trust in the customers ability to

protect the interest of the customer.

Good service is vital; however, at times other factors tend to be ignores at

customers expense. These are things such as the ergonomics of the environment,

the hygiene and even the general aesthetics. Physical infrastructure that caters for

people for special needs for example is overlooked area. Facilities for customers

(external or internal) who have to wait a longer time such as heaters/air

conditioning, comfortable seating. In Customer presentation and getup of Cover

note, Policy document is important to customer besides the treatment he receives

during his visit to office.

INCONSISTENCY IN SERVICE

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One of the biggest complaints in the area of service is inconsistency.

Particularly in Public Sectors like banking & customer, the views of the customers

vary significantly because one customers experience differs generally from the

next.

This inconsistency is usually nothing more than attitude of the service

provider, lack of management of their employees moods, discrimination and

choosing to favor certain customers over others, and generally, aspects of service

that can be managed by demonstrating a positive attitude.

Inconsistencies may be a result of different service experiences from the

same staff complement. It could also be inconsistency among staff where service

by the Field Officers does not match with the service received when one gets to the

customers office.

No pretentious proportions will lead to bountiful benefits. The reliability in

its great people is an organizations greatest asset. Therefore the first and foremost

point is to invest in getting the right people for right job and thereby, minimize

costs and risks the company entails by sending them on endless training courses

that will simply not work.

Customer organizations tend to talk wildly about complaints procedure(s)

they have and the fact that the door is open for customers to voice their complaints.

The reprisal of Public Grievance Rules 1998 permitted the Companies to avail

exemption from the applicability of the mechanism, if they can demonstrate to

have a viable grievance redresses system.

Its disheartening to note that not one PSU has sought the exemption in past

10 years. Often the complaints are of the same type. The Endeavour should be that

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if a complaint has happened once it should not repeat again. It is desirable to

manage the customers experience from the beginning.

The vision statement must be more than a wall hanging. It should be visible

and a working policy of any company. Whether the Company and its each

employee live up to the vision statement? If a company in its performance cant

match the vision, there is no reason why the company should display vision as a

public document.

If a company has a Vision statement or Citizens charter or industry

regulation like Protection of policy holders Interest regulations, applicable to

insures, each one in the company must make sure that it is delivered by each

employee of the company irrespective of the capacity in which one works. Half the

battle in the service industry is in ensuring that the staff are informed and are the

right fit and are monitored regularly.

The other half is what incentives the Customer companies tend to provide to

facilitate the service providers, managing the service delivery? Most of al is there a

battle at al or are we sitting and waiting for the other side to sort themselves out?

Are there any real challenges in customer service management?

Tourism industry is one of the major and the largest industry in the world.

Tourism has played a major role in increasing productivity across a wide range of

Tourism product and services.

This study conducted in Thomas cook outlet in Hyderabad (masabtank) .

Total sample size of the study is 300. For this reason, study results are more

effective and reliable.

INTRODUCTION TO CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

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Companys primary task is to create customers. But todays customers

face a vast array of product and brand choices, prices, and suppliers. We believe

that customers estimate which offer will deliver the most value. Customer are

value-maximizes, within the bounds of search costs and limited knowledge,

mobility, and income. They form an expectation of value and act on it. Then they

learn whether the offer lived up to the value expectation and this affects their

satisfaction and their repurchase probability.

CUSTOMER VALUE

Customer delivered value is the difference between total customer value and

total customer cost. And total customer value is the bundle of benefits customers

expects from a given product or service.

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

Satisfaction is the level of a persons felt state resulting from comparing a

products perceived performance in relation to the persons expectations. The

satisfaction level is a function of the difference between perceived performance

and expectations. A customer could experience one of three broad levels of

satisfaction. If the performance falls short of expectation, the customer is

dissatisfied. If the performance matches the expectations, the customer is satisfied.

If the performance exceeds expectations, the customer is highly satisfied, pleased,

or delighted.

Companies are aiming high because customers who are just satisfied will

still find it easy to switch suppliers when a better offer comes along. In one

consumer packaged-goods category, 44% of those reporting satisfaction

subsequently switched brands. Those who are high satisfied are much less ready to

switch. One study showed that 75% of Toyota buyers were highly satisfied and

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about 75% said they intended to buy a Toyota again. The fact is that high

satisfaction or delight creates an emotional affinity with the brand, not just a

rational preference, and this creates high customer loyalty.

The challenge is to create a company culture such that everyone within the

company aims to delight the customer. Unisys, the computer company, recently

introduced the term customaries in its ads, and defined it as follows: To make a

company more responsive to its customers and better able to attract new ones.

Unisys sees this as a matter of extending informations system capabilities to field

locations and other points of customer contact and support.

But customizing a company calls for more than providing good

information to customer contact employees. Ultimately it may require linking staff

pay to customer satisfaction. The companys staffs must be converted to

practicing a strong customer orientation.

Body Shop, wisely observes: Our people (employees) are my first line of

customers. Companies seeking to win to todays markets must track their

customers expectations, perceived company performance, and customer

satisfaction. They need to monitor this for their competitors as well consider the

following.

For customer-centered companies, customer satisfaction is both a goal and a

marketing tool. Companies that achieve high customer satisfaction rating make

sure that their target market knows it. Although the customer-centered firm seeks

to create high customer satisfaction, it is not out to maximize customer satisfaction.

First, the company can increase customer satisfaction by lowering its price or

increasing its services, but this may result in lower profits.

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Second, the company might be able to increase its profitability in other

ways, such as by improving its manufacturing or investing more in R&D. Third;

the company has many stakeholders including employees, dealers, suppliers, and

stockholders.

Spending more to increase customer satisfaction would divert funds from

increasing the satisfaction of other partners. Ultimately, the company must

operate on the philosophy that it is trying to deliver a high level of customer

satisfaction subject to delivering at least acceptable levels of satisfaction to the

other stakeholders within the constraints of its total resources.

2.1 NEED FOR THE STUDY

Marketing today is a dynamic field and its parameters are the entire

economic structure. The fundamental strategies of the business are conceived and

accomplished on the basis of market needs, forces and opportunities.

Now customer has become the kingmaker. If they does not accepts /

approves organization absconds from the scene.

Every organization is very keen to make a study on consumer awareness and

customer satisfaction, towards its products and services. Customer is expecting

new things which can be offered by any company. Hence there arises the need for

study on customer satisfaction.

2.2 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

Primary Objective:

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To study the level of customer satisfaction towards THOMAS COOK,

Hyderabad.

Other Objective:

To study the factors that leads to customer satisfaction.

To understand the customer Satisfaction regarding various services

provided by the Thomas cook.

To provide appropriate suggestions for better customer satisfaction.

2.3 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The scope of this research is to identify the customer satisfaction of Thomas cook

in Hyderabad.

This research is based on primary data and secondary data. Due to time

constraint only limited number of persons contacted. This study only focuses oncustomer behavior and store management in Thomas cook store.

The study does not say anything about rural and buying behavior of

customer because norms/status/attitude & acceptance of the rural and urban

customers differs with urban customers. The scope of research is limited for

Hyderabad. It provides help to further the research for organized Tourism sector

in . It aims to understand the skill of the company in the area like technologicaladvancement, competition in management.

2.4 METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY

The data related to this study is collected from the following sources.

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Primary Sources:

Majority of primary data is collected by making a sample survey of 300

Respondents. The summary was carried out in THOMAS COOK store.

Secondary Sources:

A part of the data is collected through the secondary source which includes

company websites, magazines, published articles and text books.

2.5 LIMITATIONS

1. Majority of customers shows lack of cooperation and are biased towards

their own opinions.

2. The data and result may not be accurate due to a variety of reasons.

3. The management asked us not to disturb the customers especially during the

weekends.

4. We permitted only to get the questionnaires filled by customers outside the

Thomas cook during evenings as the rush was bit too much during evenings.

I N D I A N T O U R I S M I N D U S T R Y

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Tourism is the basic and the most desirable human activity describing the

praise and encouragement of all people and government.

Hotel industry is an essential part of tourism. The expansion of tourism is

well inevitable bringing out development of the hotel industry. Hotel industry is so

closely linked with the tourism industry that it is responsible for about 50% of the

foreign exchange earning form tourism trade and enterprises. The rising volume

of tourism influx brought into light, the shortage of hotels in important tourists

centers. Keeping in view the changing standards in the international hotel keeping.

The Indian industry to make a number of improvements. Its not enough to have

adequate hotel accommodations, it is equally necessary to have at various levels,

low priced, moderately priced, high priced, and a few luxury hotels. Hotels may be

categorized depending upon factors such as:

Locations

Categorization according to plan

Categorization according to number of rooms.

Categorization by type of clientele.

Categorization by the length of stay of guests.

Categorization by the facilities that the hotel offers

The devaluation of the Asian currencies, the Kargil issue and the

parliamentary elections had affected growth in the tourism industry. The situation

is gradually moving back to normal with the tourist arrival figure marginally

increasing from 2.3mn in 1997 to2.5mn in FYOO. The industry is growing at a rate

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of 9%. With the political and economic stability being more clearly visible, both

tourists as well as business arrivals are likely together momentum in the remaining

part of the year. The Indian hotel business focuses largely on foreign tourists with

only 30% of the business coming from the domestic business and the leisure

travels. The tourist arrivals in India are seasonal in nature, with the best season

being from September to December followed by a steep fall till May. The period

June to September gains momentum once the monsoons are over. The slack season

is generally used for renovation work and the period is characterized by discounts

to attract clients.

High capital expenditure acts as an entry barrier in the industry with the

availability of prime land at economically viable rates being a major constraint.

The gestation period is long and break even normally takes five to eight years to

happen. Due to this the established players like Indian Hotels, E.I.H, etc. have an

advantage over foreign majors as they already have well establishments at prime

locations. India was late to wake up to the potential of tourism as an industry that is

not just an earner of previous foreign exchange but also one that could generate a

lot of employment through horizontal and vertical linkages. The importance and

significance of tourism could be understood from the observation of UNESCO,

which says, "tourism is a traditional instrument, which enables culture to the

rehabilitated and made know to the rest of the world".

It is said it's a smokeless industry and has become second to the petroleum

industry in world trade. This great importance was formally acknowledged when

the XXIU.N General assembly designated 1967 as international tourist year with a

unanimous resolution recognizing that "tourism is a basic and most desirable

activity deserving the praise and encouragement of all peoples of government.

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When travelling away from home, tourist comes in contact with the places they

visit with their inhabitants and social exchange takes place. Their presence and

social background affect the social structure and mode of life at the destination.

Tourists are in turn affected by the experience and often carry back home with

them, new habits and new outlook on life. Tourist has great educational

significance. Contact between people of different races and nationalities widen

ones outlook. Tourism, whether domestic or international has common economies

significance in the sense that money earned in places visited large sums of

transferred to the host economies where this money provided a source of income, a

means of livelihood and amenities for the resident population. Purchasing power is

generated in the receiving areas through the expenditure of visitors. Money

received is spent and resent and this multiplier process the host country is a

beneficiary.

International tourism is of great importance in international trade in the

sense that it enters into the balance of payments of accounts of individual countries

generating tourist traffic and export for countries receiving tourist traffic. For manycountries is a major item in world trade. These countries exhibit faster growth in

tourism than in tradeoffs goods.

Domestic and International Tourism

Usually, a destination is drawn between domestic or internal and foreign

of international tourism. In domestic tourism people travel outside their normal

domicile to other areas within the country. Barriers like language, currency and

documentation are not in the domestic tourism. But in India, since difference

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estates have different languages; ones own language may not serve a medium of

communication. Domestic tourism has no balance of payment implications. When

people travel to a country other that which they normally live in is known as

international tourism, the distinction between domestic and international tourism is

now diminishing. The reasons being:

Language barriers are reduced by improving language skills

Currency and customs unions are developing in many European countries.

With globalization the free movement of people is growing.

Considering the greater multiplier effect in domestic tourism, domestic

tourism would have received greater emphasis in India. Reliable data on the

growth of domestic tourists traffic are not available as not extensive survey has

been conducted on a national level by any agency, government or otherwise not

given the numerous festivals celebrated throughout out the year, the innumerable

tourist's centers in the country, the geographical expands and the resource

constraints, estimates of documents tourists' traffic through an executive survey is

considered impossible.

Domestic tourism if considered separate from the travel for religious and

commercial purpose. It is a post-independence phenomenon. Industrial growth,

improvement in the standard of living, rise in disposable income and most

importantly the improvement of tourist infrastructure search as hotels, air, train and

road transport has contributed to the impressive growth in tourist traffic. The

definition of a domestic tourist is a person who travels within the country to a place

of residence and stays at hotels or other accommodations establishments run on

commercial basis or in dharmashalas, sarais, chaultries etc. for duration of not less

than 24 hours. The factors that govern the magnitude of domestic tourist traffic are

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the religious and cultural importance of a place. The extent of manufacturing,

business and trading activity, the climatic conditions, the infrastructure facilities

available and the geographical location etc. the current rough estimate of domestic

tourism in India is ten million a year

Tourism Planning in India

The outlay for tourism development was Rs.8 cores in the third plan

Rs.186.46crores in the sixth plan and Rs.326.16 cores in the seventh plan. It was

during the sixth plan that a tourism policy was formulated and presented before the

parliament. The sixth plan is an objective envisages optimum use of infrastructure,

regionalizing tourist traffic and increase in accommodation and so on.

However, the plan turned out to be a very mere blue print for action for

tourist development. The seventh plan (1985-1990) set a target of 1.5-

million tourist arrival by 1990 and 3 million by 2000 AD. It also

recommended according industry status to tourism in order to encourage private

sector investment in tourism. It was also recommended that public sector

would focus on basic infrastructure development, and the private sector would

be in encouraged to develop tourism.

For the first time domestic tourism was sought to be encouraged for

promoting social and cultural cohesion and employment generation. The national

committee on tourism presented a comprehensive report in 1988, which provided

the basis of a long-term perspective plan for tourism in the country. The committee

set a growth rate of 7% per annual for international tourists. Arrivals by 2000 AD.

Recommendations also included the following:

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1. Set a tourism finance cooperation to extend financial assistance for

tourism project.

2. Developments of select tourist destination and circuits diversification of

tourism arrival of cultural destination to the leisure and holiday tourist.

3. Markets, exploration and development of new tourism generating centre.

4. Increase the hotel accommodation by cent percent by stimulation

investment through appropriate package of incentives.

The committees major recommendation expects that of setting up a national

tourism board wherein accepted. In April 1989, the tourism finance cooperation ofIndia was set up. A working group of the state tourism secretaries in July 1985

identify incentives for the industry. About 14 states and 3 union territories have

declared tourism as an industry however, despite the efforts during the seventh

plan for diversification of tourists for cultural destinations to the leisure and

holiday destination, India still remains as a cultural destination. Budget outlays

where diverted towards facilitating trekking development of beach resorts, building

shopping plazas, wildlife tourism, facilities for conference is skiing etc.

It is reported that the profile of the average overseas and domestic traveler is

changing. In the current plan period as well one of the principal thrust areas would

be modification of the Indian tourism product by adding the concept of India. As

an adventure and leisure tourism destination to the present cultural tag. Trekking,

winter and water sports wild life and health tourism will remain as the major thrust

areas in the forth-coming area

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COMPANY PROFILE

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Thomas Cook (India) Ltd. is the largest integrated Travel and Travel related

Financial Services Company in the country offering a broad spectrum of services

that include Foreign Exchange, Corporate Travel, Leisure Travel, and Insurance.

The Company launched its Indian operations in 1881 and is celebrating its 127

years of world-class service in India. Thomas Cook (India) operates in the

following areas of business, namely:

Leisure Travel

Corporate Travel Management

MICE

Foreign Exchange

SWIFT Network

Travel Insurance

Credit Cards

Pre-Paid Cards

Life Insurance and E-Business.

Post March 31st 2008, Thomas Cook (India) Limited (TCIL) is a part of Thomas

Cook Group plc UK (TCG). On March 7th 2008, TCG announced its decision to

acquire TCIL from Dubai Investment Group. Thomas Cook Group plc is one of the

largest travel groups in the world with a market capitalization of approximately

US$6 Billion.

In June 2006, Thomas Cook (India) acquired LKP Forex Limited and Travel

Corporation (India) Pvt. Ltd. (TCI).

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TCIL presently operates in over 61 cities across almost 166 locations in the

country. The company has overseas operations in Sri Lanka which is a branch of

TCIL and Mauritius which is a subsidiary of Thomas Cook (India). The Company

employs over 2,500 resources and is listed on both the Bombay Stock Exchange as

well as the National Stock Exchange.

Thomas Cook (India), over the years has received several prestigious awards such

as the Golden Peacock Award for excellence in Corporate Governance and the

Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Golden Award for Best Travel. Recently,

the Company won the Best Tour Operator at the CNBC Awaaz Travel Awards

2008 and was also accredited the P1 rating which is the highest financial rating

given by Crisil.

History of Thomas Cook

In 1841, young Thomas Cook arranged an 11-mile train journey for a motley group

of passengers from Leicester to Loughborough. And it marked the beginning of a

chapter in history. He went on to introduce a railway tour of Europe. But it wasn't

until the early 1860s that he began the travel firm, Thomas Cook & Son, which

included tours of the USA. The Company also started operations for military

transport and postal services for England and Egypt during the 1880s. The world

got around and by the early 1900s, the who's who of the era - kings, politicians,

bishops and professors - patronised Thomas Cook's travel itinerary.

As the years passed by, the Company introduced the world to a whole new concept

of leisure and business travel. Driving innovation in the business, it connected

continents and presented the people an economic and state mode of travel across

them.

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In 1881, Thomas Cook started its India operations, with its first office being set up

in Kolkata. As it expanded its horizons across the subcontinent, the Company came

to be known as Thomas Cook Overseas Ltd. And on 21st October 1978, it was

christened Thomas Cook (India) Ltd, only to make its first public issue in February

1983. In the year 2000, the Group commenced its operations in Mauritius and also

acquired the Sri Lanka business from Thomas Cook Overseas Ltd, UK.

Awards

Thomas Cook (India), over the years has received severalprestigious awards such as the Golden Peacock Award for

excellence in Corporate Governance and the Pacific Asia Travel

Association (PATA) Golden Award for Best Travel. Recently, the

Company also won the Best MICE Operator Award and was also

accredited the P1 rating which is the highest financial rating given

by Crisil.

Apart from this Thomas Cook has won the following awards:

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Best Travel Agency Award 2004 given by TTG Asia - Part

of Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) for the 5th year in

succession.

The Golden Peacock Award for

Corporate Governance, for the second

time in a row. The Criteria for this award are

transparency, excellence in conducting

business, various levels of management,

social and environmental responsibility,

ethical business practice and Consistent

creation of value for all the stakeholders.

The National Tourism Award for 2001-2002 & 2002-2003,

winning the second rank in category 1 for the company that

achieved the highest foreign exchange earnings from

Ministry of Tourism.

National Tourism Award - Best MICE Operator 2006-07

National Tourism Award - 3rd prize Inbound

Operator 2006-07

The Association of Business

Communications of India (ABCI) where the company won

the first prize for its website - www.thomascook.co.in

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Awarded "The Best Outbound & Inbound Tour Operator

of the Year" award at the Hospitality India Awards 2006

hosted by Hospitality India.

Recipient of the prestigious Government of India Ministry of

Tourism award for "Excellence in Conference Tourism"

Best Travel Agency - India for the year 2008 by TTG

Asia - Part of Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA)

Best Tour Operator by CNBC Awaaz in 2008

Best Outbound Tour Operator in the 4th Hospitality India

& Explore the world Annual International Awards - 2008

SERVICES

Holidays - Inbound

Inbound Tourist refers to tourists/ travelers coming to India.

Inbound tour operators promote India as a tourist destination. We organize tours

for foreign tourist visiting India. We organize Individual tours, group tours and

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Conferences. Various services offered in inbound business are accommodation,

ticketing, roundtrip, excursion, land arrangements, airport transfer etc. These

services are procured from providers of these services like hotels, airlines,

transporters, guides etc. within India. Customers are typically individuals and are

sourced by overseas principals, tour operators or travel agents. TCI, one of the

subsidiaries is among the leaders in inbound tourism and works closely with tour

operators worldwide.

TCI has a widely distributed network of travel agents and tour operators

worldwide. It has around 20 offices in India and a total of 11 offices in USA,

Canada, UK, France, Germany, Spain, China, Korea, Japan and Australia.

We also act as a ground handling agent domestically for Charter flights coming

from international destinations. We also offer customized individual holidays,

group escorted holidays, MICE (Meeting, Incentive, Conference and Exhibition)

arrangements and emergency medical assistance.

Inbound travelers handled by our Company are primarily from Europe and USA.

Our company enters into business arrangements with the foreign tour operators for

servicing their customers when they arrive in India.

International Holidays

Outbound tourist refers to Indian Nationals traveling out of India.

Our Company offers outbound tour packages across approximately 50 Countries.

Outbound packages include various services like air tickets, visa, travel insurance,

airport transfer, hotel accommodation, sight seeing, etc.

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International Holidays is further classified into following categories:

1. Group Escorted Holidays: These are ready made packages

where a group of travelers is escorted by a Tour Manger.

2. Customized Individual Holidays: Tailor made packages based

on individual requirements

3. MICE: Dealers/Employees are sent on tour by Corporates.

4. Sales agency amongst others for Star Cruise, Rail Europe,

Globus, Cosmos Tours, Greyhound, Amtrak, Rocky

Mountaineer Vacations, Japan Rail and Costa Cruises

Domestic Holidays

Domestic Travel refers to Indian Nationals (Tourists, Business Travelers, Students,

Leisure travelers) traveling within India. Various services offered are

accommodation, ticketing, roundtrip, excursions, land arrangements, airport

transfer, etc. These services are procured from service providers like hotels,

airlines, transporters, guides, etc.

TCI, one of our subsidiaries specializes in special interest and incentive tours,

conferences and air charter / cruise ship ground operations. It operates its own Taj

Mahal Tour and Delhi City Tour and is a General Sales Agent ("GSA") for the

Palace on Wheels and the Deccan Odyssey.

We are active members of various industry and professional organizations.

Air Tickets

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Book your Air Tickets for your travel with us either offline or online

through the site www.thomascook.in. We offer a complete range

for flights, right from Low Cost to Full service Airlines, to choose

from. From time to time we have great deals to offer you on your

flights, Please check out the latest deals and book your flight

today on www.thomascook.in

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Rail Tickets

Book your Rail Tickets for your travel with us either offline or

online through the site www.thomascook.in. You can choose

either Indian Rail Tickets that are available via IRCTC orInternational Rail Tickets via Rail Europe. We offer a complete

range for Rail Bookings, International or Domestic. From time to

time we have great deals to offer you on your Rail Bookings,

Please check out the latest deals and book your Rail Ticket with

us today on www.thomascook.in.

Corporate Travel

Corporate Travel forms a dominant share of overall travel business of our

Company. We manage the travel budgets of several large national and

multinational companies. Our large scale of operations enables us to effectively

manage travel budgets of several Multi National Companies, Blue-Chip companies

and Multinational banks to their advantage. Our Company provides Integrated

Travel Management / Advisory Services to more than 300 Corporates.

Our Company provides customers a complete basket of products for all their travel

needs:

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Air Reservations

Hotel Reservations

Land arrangements which includes sightseeing, car rental,

transfers etc.

Passport / Visa Service

Conference / Incentive tour arrangements

Foreign Exchange

Insurance

Our branches specialize in offering tailor-made Travel Policies for each corporate,

thereby bringing savings on spend.

Based on requirements and volumes of business, corporate are serviced either by

having a dedicated relationship team visits client's office regularly or having a

dedicated & expert travel consultant with Centralized Reservation System located

at the client's site as an 'implant'.

Meetings, Incentives, Exhibitions & Conferences

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One Stop Shop for all your travel needs i.e. air tickets, accommodation, event

management, forex, visas, travel insurance etc. Hands on approach of senior

management, including travelling along with the group Dedicated team in each hub

providing specialized services Most experienced and cooperative Tour Managers

in the industry Operations geared up to handle large groups. We have successfully

handled several groups of over 300 pax in the year 2012 A specialized quality

control department that would ensure smooth delivery of services at every stage.

Experience: This refers to the experience of the travelers right from the time they

board the airline to the foreign destination till the time they come back. The travel

here is a REWARD for the dealers/employees of the company who have done well

over a period of time. The company (as well as the employees) expects the trip to

be an enjoyable, hassle free and fun filled "experience". We at Thomas Cook

understand their concern and provide them this experience through our:-

Experienced, dependable and extensively traveled Tour Managers, who are

available with the group 24 X 7, provide their personalized services to the

group and at times, act as crisis managers. In contrast, the other tour

companies often send their ticketing person as the "tour manager".

The requests for special Dietary requirements are taken care of completely.

The Indians are very particular about the food they eat (e.g.) Jain food. We

make sure that our clients get the same, irrespective of the location they are

traveling to.

The sightseeings that we offer are often exotic and different from the rest of

the tour operators.

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Customer Focus/Customer Centric/Exceptional Service: This primarily refers

to the experience of the corporate with our sales representatives. There is a huge

extent of customization in case of a MICE trip in terms of destinations, hotel

requirements, conference needs, sightseeings to be covered, gala dinner venue,

team building activities etc. Our prime focus is always to cater to our customers

specific needs and the intent is to delight the customer by always delivering more

than promised by us/expected by them.

Dependable: This comes out of the reputation of the company (TCIL) and the vast

experience of handling a large number of MICE movements in the past. The fact

that we have got trusted business partners (suppliers) for every destination and that

there is always an experienced tour manager with the group ensures that the clients

feel secure when they travel with us. Moreover, the reputation of the company

ensures that there will be no let up in the service quality and there wont be any

trivial financial issues.

Reservoir of Knowledge: The experienced employees of the MICE business make

sure that they function as a "travel consultant" to the client rather than being a

"travel agent" to them. We believe that with our expertise, we are in a position to

provide multiple options to our customers. This is especially true in case of clients

who have a budget constraint. Once the client is provided with multiple options

along with the pros and cons for the same, they are in a much better position to

take a decision regarding the destination as well as the services that they expect us

to provide them.

Value for Money/Cost Effective: We are committed to provide quality service to

our clients and we do not believe in any compromise on the same (0%

Compromise). We make sure that the experience that our clients get is of a greater

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value than the cost that they pay for it. If our cost is more than the competition,

then there is ALWAYS a very strong reason for the same (which could be better

quality of hotels, better airlines, EXTRA inclusions etc.). Our Endeavour is to have

our customers delighted by our services so that at all times, they feel that they have

got something EXTRA than the worth of the currency that has been spent on it.

Product Innovation: Over the last decade or so, the MICE industry has been

booming. Since then, some of the companies have been traveling each year (with

multiple incentives/conference tours). They are always looking out for new

destinations for the incentive trips. Our Endeavour is to be ahead of the

competition at all times and product innovation is one way of doing that. We have

promoted new destinations at different points of times which have traditionally

never been thought of for a MICE trip. E.g. Jordan, Japan, Macau, Canada.

Moreover, within the same destinations, we have managed to change the product

mix by changing the venues for Gala Dinner (at cruise, Desert Safari etc.) or

including some exotic sightseeings or providing some out of the box team

building activities or in any other way.

Wide Reach: We are confident of providing our customers with the best of the

services at any destination that they wish to visit. This is due to the vast resources

of the company and due to the number of trusted business partners that we have all

over the world.

One Stop Shop for MICE needs/Integrated travel services: Its our firm beliefthat once the customer enters one of our offices, all his travel needs will be catered

to. We provide the customer with the forex services, insurance cover and a travel

card. Moreover, we can service their visa requirements better than any other tour

operator because of our goodwill and the relationships that we have with the

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various embassies/consulates. We have the ability to provide the customer with a

360 degree experience on a consistent basis.

Work with Play: This is particularly true in case of the corporates who have an

offsite for a conference/meeting. We ensure that after a hard days work, they have

a relaxed and fun filled evening. This can be done by sending them on a night

cruise or by treating them to a Gala Dinner with free flow of liquor and a Live DJ.

In one of the cases, we had sent a couple of VJs and RJs (RJ Taraana) from India

who made sure that everyone from the group was involved in the fun activities.

Foreign Exchange

Thomas Cook has been granted an authorized dealers' license (category II) by RBI

to deal in foreign exchange through its designated branches. Under this license, we

have been, inter-alia, granted permission to undertake the following activities:

1. Retail purchases of foreign currencies and travelers cheques.

2. Bulk purchases/sales of foreign currencies from/to authorized dealers,

money changers and franchisees.

3. Release / remittance of foreign exchange for the following activities:

a. Private Visits

b. Remittance by tour operators/travel agents to overseas agents/

principals/ hotels

c. Business Travel (including for Central and State Government

officials)

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d. Fee for participation in global conferences and specialized training

e. Payment of crew wages

f. Film Shooting

g. Medical Treatment abroad

h. Overseas Education

i. Remittance under educational tie up arrangements with universities

abroad

j. Maintenance of close relatives abroad

k. Stall rentals and participation fees in connection with participation in

overseas exhibitions / fairs

4. Import and export of foreign currency and export of encashed Traveler's

Cheques

5. Maintenance of foreign currency accounts with banks abroad and

undertaking forex cover operations in India and abroad.

The activities permitted by RBI are carried out only at the specific locations

permitted by RBI. As an Authorized Dealer, we are a member of the Foreign

Exchange Dealers Association of India.

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Our Company provides the foreign exchange and payment solutions for:

Individual travelers

Foreign exchange for leisure outbound travelers

Foreign Exchange for migration, employment, medical treatment

Remittances for students studying abroad, gift remittances etc

Encashment services & inward remittances for inbound tourists

visiting India, Non Resident / Resident Indians.

Corporates

Travel money and remittances for business travelers.

Onsite support for inbound tour conferences.

Film production houses traveling for shoots abroad.

Remittances of tour proceeds for tour operators.

Institutions

Bulk purchases and sales of foreign currencies from Banks, Non Bank

Retailers and Money Changers.

Our business model revolves around leveraging its position as an Authorized

Dealer with systems, ability and experience of handling large volumes of forex

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transactions for both wholesale and retail customers in a highly cost-efficient

manner.

Foreign Exchange - Products and Services

As an Authorized Dealer, our services includes wholesale and retail purchase and

sale of currency notes, Purchase and Sale of Traveler Cheques ("TC"), pre paid

international cards, inbound and outbound remittances and Money Transfers

("MT"). Some of our products and services are:

Purchase and Sale of currency notes in 26 destination currencies

Purchase and Sale of foreign currency denominated travelers cheques

Thomas Cook Global Money Card and Citibank World Money Card as

prepaid cards, which is a convenient way to carry money overseas

Foreign Currency Drafts

Wire transfer of Funds

Remittance of money into India through Money Gram

Cash Advances against International Credit Card

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Network

Our strong network enables us to attract large wholesale clients such as public andprivate sector banks, FFMC's and RMC's to use our services. We have a strong

network of approximately 160 offices in 55 cities and 100 RMCs & Hotel

Franchisee.

Our Company has foreign exchange counters at the international airports of

Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Cochin and Trivandrum which are open

24 hours and 365 days a year to cater to the needs of the international travelers.

Our Company also has a round-the clock Foreign Exchange counter at the New

Delhi Railway Station.

Thomas Cook Credit Card

Our Company offers Thomas Cook credit card in association with ICICI Bank

Limited. Our Company and ICICI Bank are marketing and issuing a co-branded

credit card to the customers for using the same at various Master Card retail

merchant establishments for availing benefits attached to the said card. The card

has been devised as part of loyalty program for the products of the company with

benefits attached to spend through the card at Thomas Cook outlets.

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Salient Features:

Thomas Cook Titanium MasterCard features in brief:

The card has been specially designed for frequent travelers.

Attractive 6 reward points for each spend of Rs.100 on the card on Thomas

Cook products

- Free Delivery of Foreign Exchange within city limits

Rs. 5,000 discount on any Thomas Cook GIT product

1 Free Air ticket to a domestic destination on the issuance of new card

Complimentary travel inconvenience insurance policy

Access to MasterCard travel lounges at Airports across the world

Redemption of reward points for Thomas Cook holiday packages, hotel

stays, air tickets, airline upgrades, etc

Conversion of Thomas Cook reward points to frequent flyer miles - convert

the reward points earned on card to frequent flyer miles on select domestic

airlines.

Positioned as a comprehensive travel card

Assured gifts for the joining fees - free air ticket / discount voucher

Higher reward points for card swipes at Our Company's outlets

Redemption of reward points against Thomas Cook products encouraged

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Travel Insurance

Insurance business of being carried out through our 100% subsidiary - Thomas

Cook Insurance Services (I) Ltd. ("TCISL"). TCISL is a corporate agent of Tata

AIG General Insurance Company Limited. TCISL entered insurance distribution in

2001 and offers the following products and services:

1. "Travel Care" (Overseas Travel Insurance) - Travel Care offers security

for travelers which covers travel insurance, hospitalization, loss of

documents, Repatriation of Remains, emergency Cash Advance or any other

crises which requires assistance.

2. "Family Care" - An Overseas travel Insurance cover for entire family of 4-

5 persons with single overall sum insured.

3. "Scholar Care" (Overseas Student Insurance) - A customized product for

all students studying abroad which ensures timely assistance in case of

unexpected surprises in a foreign land.

4. Corporate Care (Overseas Corporate Travel Insurance) - For

Companies where employees travel abroad frequently on work, we have

customized group policies. All foreign trips undertaken by employees in a

year are covered under a single policy.

TCISL provides all insurance products at all our outlets, leveraging on ability tocross sell insurance products to our Travel and Forex customers.

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1.3 PROBLEMS OF THE ORGANISATION

. Low capital investment by the partners

. Costly as compared to services provided

. No discount provided

. No branches in different states

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DATA ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION

ANALYSIS OF DATA

Analysis refers to the computation of certain measures along with Searching

for pattern of relationship that exit among data groups. Analysis of data in a

general way involves a number of closely related operations, which are performed

with the purpose of summarizing that they answer the research question.

INTERPRETATION

It refers to the task of drawing inference from the collected facts after an

analytical or experimental study in fact it is a search for broader meaning of

research findings. The task of interpretation has two major aspects via, the offer of

established continuing in research through linking the result of a given study with

those of another. The established some explanatory concepts. In one sense

interpretation is concerned with relationship with the collected data of the study to

include the result of other research, theory and hypothesis. The interpretation is

the device through which the factor that seems to explain what been observed by

research in the course of the study can be better understood and it also provides the

oriental conception, which Can serve as guide forfeiture research.

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Table 4.1 Responses of the Customers Regarding the Knowledge about

Thomas cook.

AlternativeNo. Of

Respondents% Of Respondents

News Paper 53 17.67

TV 22 7.33

Word Of Mouth 195 65

Leaf Lets 30 10

Total 300 100

Chart 4.1

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Interpretation:

The above table 4.1 and chart 4.1 states that 65 percentages of the customers

came to know about Thomas cook through word of mouth. It shows that company

is spreading without spending budget on other aspects.

Table 4.2 Opinion of the Customers Regarding the Frequency of Visit to

Thomas cook

Alternative No. Of Respondents % Of Respondent

Regularly 126 42

Often 144 48

No Visit 30 10

Total 300 100

Chart 4.2

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Interpretation:

The above table 4.1 and chart 4.1 states that 90 percentages of the customers

visiting Thomas cook frequently. it shows customers are loyal to towards Thomas

cook.

Table 4.3 Opinion of the Customers Regarding the Offers Announced In the

Thomas cook Outlet

58


Always 178 59.33

Often 120 40

Never 2 0.67

Total 300 100


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Chart 4.3

Interpretation:

It is evident from the above table 4.3 and chart 4.3 that majority of the

customers are able to understand and follow the offer announcements made inside

the Thomas cook Outlet

Table 4.4 Opinions of the Customers Regarding the Cleanliness in the Store


Excellent 67 22.33

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Good 145 48.33

Average 88 29.33

Total 300 100

Chart 4.4

Interpretation:

It is evident that from the above table 4.4 and chart 4.4 many customers

(nearly 71 percentages of customers) felt happy with regard to cleanliness in the

store.

Table 4.5 Opinion of the Customers Regarding the Announcements Made

inside the Thomas cook Outlet

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Chart 4.5

Interpretation:

61


Understandable 170 57

Not Understandable 90 30

Partially

Understandable 40 13

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It is evident from the above table 4.5 and graph 4.5 that majority of the

customers (57 percentages of customers) are able to understand and follow the

announcements made inside the Thomas cook Outlet.

Table 4.6 Opinion of the Customers Regarding the Inconvenience in the

Thomas cook Outlet

Chart 4.6

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Alternative No. Of Respondents % Of Respondents

Felt Inconvenient 96 32

Felt Non Inconvenient 180 60

No Respondent 24 8

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Interpretation:

It is evident from the above table 4.6 and graph 4.6 that states majority of

customers felt less inconvenience during their shopping in biz bazaar.

Table 4.7 Opinion of the Customers Regarding the Guidance of Staff during

the Shopping


Fully Satisfied 62 20.67

Partially Satisfied 127 42.33

Dissatisfied 81 27

Non Respondent 30 10

Total 300 100

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Chart 4.7

Interpretation:

It is evident from the above table 4.7 and graph 4.7 that majority of

customers partially satisfied with the guidance of staff during their shopping

Table 4.8 Opinion of the Customers Regarding the Offers Avail in the Store


Fully Satisfied 174 58

Partially Satisfied 90 30

Dissatisfied 20 6.66

Non Respondent 16 5.33

Total 300 100

Chart 4.8

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Interpretation:

The above table 4.8 and graph 4.8 clearly states that majority of the

customers felt happy with the offers avail in the store.

Table 4.9 Opinion of the Customers Regarding the Services required to

him/her


Always 167 55.67

At Times 60 20

Never 50 16.66


Total 300 100

Chart 4.9

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Interpretation:

It is evident from the above table 4.9 and graph 4.9 that customers always get

the goods required to them during their shopping.

Table 4.10 Opinion of the Customers Regarding the Maintenance of

Temperature in the Store


Comfortable 160 53.33

Uncomfortable 115 38.33


Total 300 100

Chart 4.10

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Interpretation:

It is evident from the above table 4.10 and graph 4.10 that customers are

satisfied with the overall shopping in Thomas cook.

Table 4.11 Opinion of the Customers Regarding the Quality of services at

Thomas cook


Fully Satisfied 147 49

Moderately

Satisfied 62 20.67

Dissatisfied 30 10


Total 300 100

Chart 4.11

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Interpretation:

It is evident from the above table 4.11 graph 4.11 that customers are highly

satisfied with the quality of products in Thomas cook.

Table 4.12 Opinion of the Customers Regarding the

Cashier Interaction Process at the Store


Excellent 31 10.33

Good 97 32.33

Poor 142 47.33

Non Respondent 30 10

Total 300 100

Chart 4.12

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Interpretation:

It is evident from the above table 4.12 and graph 4.12 that customers felt

poor regarding the cashier interaction during the shopping.

Table 4.13 Opinion of the Customers Regarding the Utility of Services

Provided By Thomas cook


Home Delivery 37 12.33

Exchange 82 27.33

Gift Wrapping 158 52.66

Baggage Counter 3 1


Total 300 100

Chart 4.13

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Interpretation:

It is evident from the above table4.13 and graph 4.13 that customers mostly

used gift wrapping service of Thomas cook.

Table 4.14 Opinion of the Customers Regarding the Big Day Offers at

Thomas cook


Excellent 110 36.66

Good 75 25

Poor 92 30.67


Total 300 100

Chart 4.14

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Interpretation:

It is evident from the above table 4.14 and graph 4.14 that customers felt

excellent with the big day offers of Thomas cook.

Table 4.15 Opinion of the Customers Regarding the Overall Shopping

Experience in Thomas cook


Delighted 59 19.67

Satisfied 180 60

Dissatisfied 45 15


Total 300 100

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Chart 4.1

Interpretation:

It is evident from the above table 4.15 and graph 4.15 that customers are

satisfied with the overall shopping in Thomas cook.

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OBSERVATIONS

1. Many customers during survey felt a genuine need for a place of rest just

inside the Thomas cook Outlet.

2. Families coming along with infants and old age people complain of

inconvenience in this regard. Hence the organization needs to take up

address this in top priority.

3. Most of the customers during the survey have expressed frustration with

regard to the entrance. Hence it is suggested to the organization to place a

sign board on the main road giving them a clear cut direction.

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4. It has been observed during the survey many customers are not informed of

billing counters in each floor.

5. They complained of heavy rush and inconvenience at the billing counters.

Hence the organization needs to announce to the customers regarding the

presence of billing counters across each floor at regular intervals for a

couple of days of months till the customers become aware.

FINDINGS

65% of customers came to know about the Thomas cook through word of

mouth.

48% of customers are often visiting the Thomas cook.

59.33% of customers always hear the offers announced in the Thomas cook

Outlet.

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48.33% of customers felt good regarding the cleanliness in the store.

57% of customers understand the announcements made inside the Thomas

cook Outlet.

60% of the customers felt convenience in the retail out let during their

shopping.

42.33% of the customers partially satisfied with the guidance of the staff.

57% of the customers are fully satisfied with the offers avail in the store

55.67 % of the customers always get the goods required to them in Thomas

cook.

19.67% of the customers delighted with the shopping experience in Thomas

cook.

47.33% of the customers felt poor with the cashier interaction process in the

store.

SUGGESTIONS

1. Most of the customers during the survey opined that the organization should

enhance the quality of store brands or brands. Hence it is suggested to the

organization that it should enhance the quality of its products so as to offer a

better value for customers money.

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2. Product range is an important aspect that big retailers should focus sharply

on since customers expect them to be one-stop shop. Hence it is suggested to

the organization to introduce new brands in footwear and textile categories.

3. The role of salesmen is to make customers shopping experience a pleasant

one by helping him. However many customers complained that the sales

representatives are not aware of the current offers and discounts. Hence the

organization needs to put special focus on these aspects of sales

representative training.

CONCLUSION

Satisfaction is the level of a persons felt state resulting

from comparing a products perceived performance in relation to

the persons expectations. Customer satisfaction is the key

source for regular and improved revenue in the organization.

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Since most of the customers are satisfied with the products and

services provided by Thomas cook, the organization should

continue the same and should adopt the best practices in retailindustry.

QUESTIONNAIRE

A STUDY ON CUSTOMER SATISFACTION AT THOMAS COOK,

HYDERABAD

Name:

Address:

Contact:

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1. How did you come to know about Thomas cook?

(1)News paper (2) TV (3) Word of mouth (4) Leaf Lets.

2. How often do you visit Thomas cook?

(1)Regularly (2) often (3) no visit

3. Do you avail the offers announced in the Thomas cook Outlet?

(1) Always (2) Often (3) Never

4. How would you rate the cleanliness in our store?

(1) Excellent (2) Good (3) Average

5. Do you feel any inconvenience in the Thomas cook Outlet?

(1) Felt convenient (2) Felt Non Convenient (3) non

respondent

If yes specify

6. Are you satisfied with the guidance of our staff?

(1) Fully Satisfied (2) Partially Satisfied (3) Dissatisfied (4) non

respondent

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7. Are you satisfied with the offers avail in our store?

(1) Fully Satisfied (2) Partially Satisfied (3) Dissatisfied (4) non

respondent

8. Do you find the products that are required to you?

(1) Always (2) At times (3) Never (4) Non respondent

9. How would you rate the temperature maintained in our store?

(1) Comfortable (2) Uncomfortable (3) Non Respondent

10.Are you satisfied with the quality of products at Thomas cook?

(1)Highly Satisfied (2) Moderately Satisfied (3) Dissatisfied

(4) Non Respondent.

11.How would you find the cashier interaction process at our store?

(1) Excellent (2) Good (3) Poor (4) Non Respondent

12.How do you feel about the offers at Thomas cook?

(1) Excellent (2) Good (3) Poor (4) Non Respondent

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS

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NEWS PAPERS

The Hindu

Business Line

Business Standard

MAGZINES

Business Today

Business World

Business India

WEBSITES

Www.thomascook.in

Www.thomascook.com
http://www.thomascook.com/http://www.thomascook.com/

kishore project999999

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