Thomas Cook takes a quirky look at vacation-deprived Indians

The Indian tourism sector is growing at 7- 8 per cent annually, but ironically our country is the 4th most vacation deprived nation in the world. Indians are still very reluctant and subject to procrastination when it comes to taking a holiday. 

To fillip travel and holiday bookings, Thomas Cook India has launched the ‘Grand India Holiday Sale’ (GIHS) campaign again this year. While GIHS offers unmatched deals on vacation packages, the films encourage people to take a break from their all-important work lives, and that the world (read workplace) will not collapse if they went on a holiday. 

Created by Law & Kenneth Saatchi & Saatchi, the films are produced by Spotlight Films and directed by Amit Satyaveer Singh. The campaign will run primarily on digital – YouTube and Facebook – supported with print and outdoor. 

Elaborating on the campaign, Abraham Alapatt, President & Group Head – Marketing, Service Quality, Financial Services & Innovation, and Thomas Cook India, said, “The new films are a fun/quirky take on vacation deprived Indians and showcase our Thomas Cook Grand India Holiday Sale as the first step in encouraging people to think holidays with a slew of great offers/deals. The thinning of the divide between work and personal lives is an unfortunate reality today, which is why it’s important to just take-off once on a while and the good news is that we’ve begun to see more people doing this nowadays.” 

Debarjyo Nandi, Senior Vice President - Law & Kenneth Saatchi & Saatchi, added here, “Skipping or postponing holidays for work is a self-prophesised importance barometer. How many times have we thought or said something similar. Fact is we even believe it. We all see ourselves in these characters. That is what makes the films effective and entertaining.” 

The films have struck an instant chord with the audience with around 6 million views in two weeks since launch. 

Campaign credits:

Creative Agency: Law & Kenneth Saatchi & Saatchi

Creative Team: Rahul Nangia, Amol Dahanukar, Mayuresh Wagle, Pravin Margaj, Kanchan Kesari, Manvi Mahendru

Account Management: Debarjyo Nandi, Chandni Butta, Sohil Kothari

Agency Producer: Vijay Vigamal, Sudhindra Mishra

Director: Amit Satyaveer Singh

Production House: Spotlights

Production Team: Vishal Gala, Gauri Daswani, Raj Rambhia

DOP: Lawrence Dcunha

Music Composer: Anand Bajpai