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Cox & Kings opens Dubai office; eyes UAE travel market

DUBAI — Cox&Kings (C&K), a 249 year-old travel company with global operations, yesterday announced the opening its regional office in Dubai as part of a move to tap UAE's outbound leisure travel market estimated at two million journeys per annum.

Peter Kerkar, Global CEO, Cox&Kings, said the move also marks the firm's first foray into the Gulf region, where it sees vibrant growth in the outbound leisure travel sector.

The Dubai regional office, initially catering to the travel requirements of the UAE, seeks to serve around 80,000 customers in the first year.

“We have been sending clients to this exciting destination for over 20 years and have had various agents representing us to send clients overseas. Our product range is very diverse and caters to the particular needs of the local community as well as the expatriate community. We will also cater to the NRI market with specifically tailored tours which will take into account cultural preferences, food and the ability to travel with the finest Indian families worldwide,” Kerkar said.

The Dubai office, headed by Mahesh Ammanath, is fully operational.

He said the UAE, where the NRI segment showed a 40 per cent growth in outbound travel, is a very important market for its travel services and the company plans to promote a whole host of them using the B2B and B2C model that has been successfully implemented in other markets. "We will be focussing on the NRI and other expat segments, where the up trend will continue for the next four years."

Cox & Kings has also developed an online portal, which is a web enabled dynamic system that includes holidays, sightseeing, cars, hotels, transfers, insurance and other ancillary travel services. Most of the products and services are available on an online real time basis. It is backed by a 24x7 call centre. The online platform would also be made available in the UAE.

Among its many brands that C&K plans to introduce in the UAE market are"Duniya Dekho" (Group tours to Western and Eastern Europe, China, India, Egypt and Turkey), and Flexi Hol (for travellers who would like to design his own holiday). The options include weekend breaks, short city breaks, and long-haul breaks. A host of itineraries have been designed that are indicative.

He said Cox & Kings will also introduce its worldwide cultural and adventure programme, which it sells in the UK and USA. It will also feature its exclusive guest lecture program with guest lecturers such as Lord Hurd, Kate Adie, Sir Roy Hattersley among others.