April 18 2016, 18.18 PM IST || Pocket News Alert
Chandigarh, April 18, 2016:Thomas Cook (India) Ltd., India’s leading integrated travel and travel related financial services company, has announced new roles and additional portfolios for its Senior Leadership Team. Below is a list detailing the changes along with brief profiles.
Mr. Mahesh Iyer – Chief Operating Officer, Thomas Cook (India) Ltd
In his 21 year journey from Management Trainee to Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Iyer has contributed significantly to the Foreign Exchange business (across functions of operations, products, projects, airports and commercial) and the Visa & Passport vertical. Prior to his elevation as COO, Mr. Iyer was responsible for the overall strategy for the company, in addition to its Foreign Exchange business. As COO, Mr. Iyer would oversee day to day business management of Thomas Cook India in addition to managing visa and foreign exchange business in India, Mauritius & Sri Lanka. He holds a Masters degree in Marketing Management from JBIMS and has successfully completed a Business Management degree from IIM-Calcutta.
Mr. Rajeev D. Kale – President & Country Head - Leisure Travel, MICE, Thomas Cook (India) Ltd
Mr. Rajeev Kale having begun his career as management trainee at The Taj President Hotel in 1991, moved to Cox & Kings in 1993. His 14 year stint witnessed rapid growth, from Jr. Executive to Senior General Manager. Mr. Kale joined Thomas Cook (India) Ltd. in 2007 as Head of MICE. He has played a pioneering role in setting up MICE operations for the organization andin building it into a highly successful business. Mr. Kale’s expertise is backed by over 22 years of experience in a diversity of travel and finance verticals, including credit control, accounts, costing, contracting, product management, operations, sales and MICE. Today, Mr. Kale’s expanded portfolio covers the Company’s extensive travel business lines- across outbound leisure, MICE, Domestic and Events. Mr. Kale has completed his graduation in Commerce from MVLU College (Mumbai University)
Mr. Abraham Alapatt – President & Group Head - Marketing, Service Quality, Financial Services & Innovation, Thomas Cook (India) Ltd
Mr. Alapatt is an MBA in Marketing & International Marketing with over 20 years of professional experience at senior strategic levels across the varied domains of Brand building/advertising, corporate communication, PR/media relations, internal communication, customer service & web-technology.
During the course of his professional journey, he has headed marketing teams at 2 leading advertising agencies, including Ogilvy & Mather, an international internet solution provider start-up, Reliance Capital, DCB Bank and Future Generali before joining Thomas Cook India in 2012. Mr. Alapatt’s expanded portfolio includesleading the Group’s innovation, marketing/brand,customer service and financial servicesinitiatives.
Mr. Amit Madhan – President & Group Head - Technology & Shared Services, Thomas Cook (India) Ltd
In a career spanning over 16 years, Mr. Madhan has worked extensively in the Financial Services industry, as also the eCommerce space.He was a founder member of ICICI Lombard and is credited with having set up icicilombard.com- the pioneering eCommerce portal in the insurance space. Mr. Madhanjoined Thomas Cook (India) Ltd in 2012 and is currentlyresponsible for a portfolio encompassingIT, E-business & shared services centre (which includes backend operation of HR, Finance & Accounts, IT & procurement) for the travel brands of the group. Post an Economics Honours from Delhi University, Amit has done his MBA from Sydenham College, Mumbai.
Mr. RambhauKenkare- President & Group Head - Legal, Secretarial & Administration, Thomas Cook (India) Ltd
Mr. Rambhau R. Kenkare joined Thomas Cook in 1998, and is responsible for Secretarial, Legal, Corporate Governance, Regulatory, Compliance and Administration related matters of the Company and its subsidiaries in India, Hong Kong, Mauritius and Sri Lanka and its branches/ representative offices in USA (New York), Spain (Barcelona & Madrid), UK (London), Japan (Tokyo & Osaka ), Germany (Frankfurt), Nepal (Kathmandu), China (Beijing), South Korea (Seoul), Russia (Moscow ), Argentina, Dubai, Canada and France. His career of over 26 years has covered industry domains of travel, courier & cargo airline, passenger airline and manufacturing with Blue Dart Express Limited, Blue Dart Aviation Limited, Damania Airways Limited and Ceat Limited. Mr. Kenkare is a commerce & law graduate post which he became a Fellow Member (FCS) of The Institute of Company Secretaries of India, an Associate Member of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries & Administrators, London (ACIS), and is a Member of The Indian Council of Arbitration (MICA) and The Society of Corporate Secretaries & Governance Professionals, USA
Ms. Mona Cheriyan – President & Group Head - Human Resources, Thomas Cook (India) Ltd
In a career spanning over 30 years, Ms. Cheriyan started her work life as Associate Professor at Sophia College before moving on to NIIT as a Sr. Systems Executive. Her foray into the Human Resources domain began as a Training Officer with the ESSAR Group, followed by tenure of 16 years with Oracle Financial Services Software Ltd. At Thomas Cook India, Ms. Cheriyan’s mandate as President & Group Head of Human Resources,includes strategy, leadership development, employee engagement and HR functions at the Group level. Ms. Cheriyan is also entrusted with developing talent for the organization and the Industry viathe Company’s education and training vertical, “Centre of Learning”.Ms. Cheriyan is a Graduate of the Arts discipline from Osmania University. She also holds a Diploma in Hotel Administration and Food Technology, from the Sophia Polytechnic, and an Honors Diploma in Systems Management from NIIT Limited
Mr. Indiver Rastogi – President & Country Head - Corporate Travel, Thomas Cook (India) Ltd
Mr. Rastogi is President & country Head for global business travel, he overseas global business travel operation for Thomas Cook India Ltd, including strategy , business growth , relationship & service operations. He has been instrumental in setting up global operations for Thomas Cook India. With over a decade of experience in Aviation, Travel Distribution and Corporate Travel Management, Mr. Rastogi has been associated with companies such as EGL-Eagle Global Logistics, Air France and American Express across various roles ofsales, customer relationships and service delivery. Mr. Rastogi will lead the global enterprise business in India &overseas and build global alliances for the Company’s business travel vertical.He has also served as the Non-Executive Director for South West Asia, Africa and Middle East at ITP Travel – International Travel Partnership. Mr. Rastogi holds a masters degree in logistics and supply chain management from European University.
Mr. Madhavan Menon, Chairman & Managing Director, Thomas Cook (India) Ltd said, “Key to our success at Thomas Cook India has been our exceptional people, guided by the expertise and passion of our strong leadership team. We have set our sights on a powerful growth trajectory and to accomplish this we have realigned and enhanced the roles of our leadership team to provide vision, strategic focus and direction to the road map ahead.”
Mr Menon added, “I have complete confidence in our dynamic leadership team and wish them every success in our delivery of business excellence and customer delight.”
About Thomas Cook (India) Limited:Thomas Cook (India) Ltd (TCIL) is the leading integrated travel and travel related financial services company in the country offering a broad spectrum of services that include Foreign Exchange, Corporate Travel, MICE, Leisure Travel, Insurance, Visa & Passport services and E-Business. The company set up its first office in India in 1881.
TCIL’s footprint (exclusive of its subsidiaries) currently extends to over 227 locations (including 20 airport counters) in 91 cities across India, Mauritius & Sri Lanka and is supported by a strong partner network of 114 Gold Circle Partners and 112 Preferred Sales Agents in over 130 cities across India.
ICRA upgraded the long term rating of Thomas Cook (India) Limited’s non-convertible debenture programme to ‘ICRA AA/Stable’. CRISIL has assigned a long term rating of ‘CRISIL AA-/ stable‘ to the non-convertible debenture programme and long term banking facilities, and a short term rating of CRISIL A1+ to TCIL’s banking facilities. Further, ICRA has assigned a rating of ‘ICRA AA-/Stable’ to the company’s preference share programme.
Thomas Cook (India) Ltd has been voted as Favourite Outbound Tour Operator at the Outlook Traveller Awards 2015, Best Tour Operator - Outbound at the CNBC AWAAZ Travel Awards 2015, 2014 & 2013 and Best Company providing Foreign Exchange at the CNBC AWAAZ Travel Awards 2015 & 2014; felicitated with Diamond Award for Exemplary Achievements in Visa Issuance at the French Ambassador's Travel Awards Ceremony 2015; Thomas Cook India’s Travel Quest was honoured with a Gold Award at PATA Gold Awards 2015; honored as India's Leading Tour Operator 2014, World Travel Awards Asia & Australasia 2014, Favourite Tour Operator at the Condé Nast Traveller Readers' Travel Awards 2015 - 2011 ,recognized as a Consumer Superbrand 2013-14 & 2012-2013 and National Tourism Awards 2013-2014. Thomas Cook India’s Centre of Learning has received IATA accreditation as “Top 10 South Asia IATA Authorized Training Centers”2015, 2013 & 2012. For more information, please visit www.thomascook.in
Thomas Cook (India) Limited is promoted by Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Fairbridge Capital (Mauritius) Limited and its controlled affiliates. Fairbridge is responsible for the execution of acquisition and investment opportunities in the Indian subcontinent on behalf of the Fairfax family of companies.
About Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited:Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited is a financial services holding company based in Canada with a global presence in insurance and reinsurance, as well as joint ventures including ICICI Lombard (India). The Company, founded in 1985 by the present Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, PremWatsa, has over the past 30 years, demonstrated a strong and consistent financial track record. For the year ended December 31, 2015, Fairfax increased book value per share at a compounded annual growth rate of 20.4% since its inception with a corresponding compounded annual increase in share price 19.4% and had over US $41 billion of assets.
Fairfax is engaged in long term investments from its own resources, with a focus to delivering long term capital appreciation through a flexible and value oriented approach. Fairfax Financial Holdings through Thomas Cook (India) Ltd. owns 69.55% of the Quess Corp Limited (formerly IKYA Human Capital Solutions Limited), a provider of integrated business services and 100% of Sterling Holiday Resorts Limited (formerly Thomas Cook Insurance Services (India) Limited) engaged in time share and resort business.
About Quess Corp Limited (formerly IKYA Human Capital Solutions Limited): Quess Corp Limited is one of India’s leading integrated business services providers operating in four broad segments: Global Technology Solutions, People and Services, Integrated Facility Management and Industrial Asset Management. Headquartered in Bengaluru, it has a pan-India presence with 43 offices across 24 cities, as well as operations in North America, the Middle East and South East Asia. As of November 30, 2015, it employed over 118,000 employees.For further details on Quess Corp Ltd. please visit: http://www.quesscorp.com
About Sterling Holiday Resorts Limited: Sterling Holiday Resorts Limited, a pioneer in vacation ownership and a leading leisure hospitality company in India, was incorporated in 1986 with the vision of delivering great holiday experiences to Indian families. To achieve this vision, the company pioneered Vacation Ownership in India and set about building a network of leisure resorts at some of the best holiday destinations in India. Currently, Sterling Holidays has a total inventory of 1767 rooms spread across a network of 24 resorts in 21 scenic holiday destinations in India.
In pursuance of the Order of Hon’ble High Court, Bombay, dated 2nd July, 2015 sanctioning the Composite Scheme of Arrangement and Amalgamation between Sterling Holiday Resorts (India) Limited (SHRIL) and Thomas Cook Insurance Services (India) Limited (TCISIL) and Thomas Cook (India) Limited (TCIL) and their respective shareholders and creditors (Scheme), the time share and resort business division and undertaking of SHRIL was Demerged into TCISIL and the residual business of SHRIL was Amalgamated with TCIL.
Post implementation of composite scheme, Sterling Holiday Resorts Limited (formerly Thomas Cook Insurance Services (India) Limited) continued the time share and resort business.
The company also has 16 additional sites where it plans to add new resorts in the coming years. For more information visit:www.sterlingholidays.com
About SOTC Travel Services Pvt Ltd (formerly known as Kuoni Travel (India) Pvt. Ltd)&Kuoni Hong Kong: SOTC Travel Services Pvt Ltd (Formerly known as "Kuoni Travel (India) Pvt. Ltd.") is a step-down subsidiary of Fairfax Financial Holdings Group; held through two companies, its Indian listed subsidiary, Thomas Cook (India) Limited (TCIL) and TCIL's subsidiary Travel Corporation (India) Ltd. SOTC is a leading travel and tourism company active across various travel segments including Leisure Travel, Business Travel, Destination Management Services and Distribution Visa Marketing Services.
TCIL through its step down Subsidiary Horizon Travel Holdings (Hong Kong) Private Limited holds 100% stake in Kuoni Travel (China) Limited (Kuoni Hong Kong), which has an attractive business in the travel sector backed by a trusted brand name, and a stable and motivated professional management team. Kuoni Hong Kong is a premium outbound travel operator in Hong Kong