Archive: January 26, 2023

OYO halves stay prices for Hockey World Cup in Bhubaneshwar and Rourkela

January 27, 2023, Bhubaneshwar. Global hospitality technology platform OYO has offered a 50% discount on stay across all its hotels in Bhubaneshwar and Rourkela for Hockey World Cup. The scheme is valid for the entire duration of the tournament from January 13-29, 2023. Approximately 80 OYO hotels are covered under this scheme in these two cities. More than 1500 rooms will be available to accommodate the guests.

Odisha is hosting the international event for the second consecutive time, the previous one having been held in Bhubaneswar in 2018. Steel City Rourkela will be the fourth Indian city to organise the event. The matches will be held at two venues – Birsa Mundra Hockey Stadium in Rourkela and Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar. Divided into four groups of four teams each, a total of 16 teams this year are vying for the World Cup trophy. The host country, India, has been placed in Group D along with England, Spain, and Wales. Thousands of spectators from all around the world are expected to visit Bhubaneshwar and Rourkela for this mega hockey tournament.

To avail of this discount, guests can download the OYO App, click on the red ‘Nearby’ icon to discover a valid participating hotel, select the coupon code ‘HockeyWC’ and hit the Book Now button. They can also resolve their queries quickly with OYO’s 24*7 chatbot – Yo! Chat.

There are many hotels such as Hotel Swain Heritage, Hill Side Aqua, Aditya International, Prime Residency and Hotel Bhinna Sakhala in Bhubaneshwar and Hotel Priyal Amrit Sagar and The Prestige Tridev in Rourkela located in close proximity to the stadiums making it convenient for the guests to stay and enjoy scintillating hockey matches throughout the tournament.

Speaking on the occasion, Kavikrut, Chief Growth Officer, OYO said “We are so proud that Bhubaneswar and Rourkela are hosting the Hockey world cup. We recognise the passion for the sport and have always done our bit to support it. We are offering special prices to encourage more and more people to watch these matches in the stadiums”.

The initiative has been taken to celebrate the spirit of hockey and also play a small role in making this event a grand success. OYO has been associated with major sports tournament in the country such as Khelo India Youth Games, Rajasthan Rural Olympics and Sardar Patel National Divyang T20 Cup.

SOTC Travel expands retail network in Mumbai

Mumbai, January 26, 2023: On the occasion of National Tourism Day, SOTC Travel, a leading omnichannel travel and Tourism Company inaugurated its new retail store in Andheri West. The outlet was inaugurated by Mr. Vishal Suri, Managing Director, SOTC Travel Limited. The new outlet will serve as a hub for nearby areas of Lokhandwala, Juhu, Versova, Santacruz, and Vile Parle as well. With this, SOTC’s network strength increases to eight stores in Mumbai (3 retail and 5 franchise) reiterating the Company’s strategic focus to expand its footprint in the city. Andheri West is an upmarket locality and forms an important source market for SOTC Travel, offering the company a range of valuable segments like Gen New age travelers, millennials, families, couples and business owners.

SOTC Travel’s customer insights from Mumbai and Maharashtra indicate brisk demand of over 25% v/s pre-pandemic with customers displaying a growing interest in experiential holidays, spiritual getaways, group escorted holidays, domestic cruises, safaris, and biking trips. To cater to the discerning travelers from the region, SOTC Travel has expanded its portfolio of customized holidays and introduced a special array of luxury and premium holidays, this is in addition to the Company’s highly popular group escorted tours – international and domestic.
To boost demand, SOTC Travel has also introduced offers like Early Bird discounts, a complimentary cruise experience on Europe Holidays. Additionally, the Company also offers ready-to-book and customized air-inclusive holidays with Air Arabia, Emirates Holidays, and Vistara Getaways.

Contact Details
SOTC Holiday World
Unit 40 A-wing, Building No. 8 Ground floor Laxmi Business Park,
Laxmi Industrial Estate Link Road, Opposite Sab TV Lane
Andheri West – 400053

Mr. Daniel D’souza President & Country Head – Of holidays, SOTC Travel said, “Mumbai and Maharashtra have been key source markets for us at SOTC, and we see a strong continuum – over 3x growth in demand since the pandemic. We are delighted to open our new retail outlet in Andheri West’s upmarket commercial cum residential area to target HNI families, couples, business owners; also Gen Z, millennials/young professionals. Our expanded portfolio of holidays has something for everyone – from customized holidays to luxury and premium holidays, also group escorted tours. We extend a warm welcome to our customers, and we look forward to planning their next holiday with us.”

Top international and domestic destinations in demand – Europe’s Switzerland, France, Finland, Austria, Iceland; Turkiye, Australia, United Kingdom, USA (for visa holding customers), Japan, South Korea, Arctic, Abu Dhabi, Maldives, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore; also Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Goa, Andamans, Kerala, North East; and Bhutan, Sri Lanka in the Indian subcontinent.

SOTC Travel’s new outlet offers end-to-end travel solutions with an array of services, including International & Domestic Holidays (Group tours, Personalised Holidays, Cruises, etc.), Value Added Services like Travel Insurance; Visa Services, etc.

Celebrating the Culinary Heritage of Indian Cuisine @ Novotel Hyderabad Convention Centre

On the occasion of the 74th Republic Day, the Novotel Hyderabad Convention Centre will host a special lunch to honour the rich culinary heritage of Indian cuisine and pay tribute to the spirit of true patriotism. Enjoy the diversity of tastes & flavours and soak yourself in nationalist fervour.

Where: Food Exchange at Novotel Hyderabad Convention Centre, Hyderabad, Telangana.

When: 26th January, Time- 12:30 PM to 3:30 PM

eMudhra Limited reports another quarter of healthy revenue growth at 39.1% y-o-y,4.2% qo-q with EBITDA margin at 35.9%

Bengaluru, India – January 25, 2023: eMudhra Limited (BSE: 543533, NSE: EMUDHRA), a digital trust, digital security and paperless transformation solution provider, today announced its financial results for the Third Quarter of FY23 ended on December 31, 2022 as approved by its Board of Directors.

Commenting on the second quarter results, V.Srinivasan, Executive Chairman, eMudhra Limited said, “We are pleased to report another quarter of consistent performance with revenue growth of 39.1% % y-o-y and PAT growth of 46.0% y-o-y. During the quarter, the EBITDA margins stood at 35.9% and PAT margins stood at 24.4%.

Key Financial Highlights (Consolidated) 

On trust services, we continue to focus on driving growth through direct sales to retail customers through our online channels and by acquiring and engaging with a larger set of partners who directly deal with end customers. To this end, we will invest in technology and marketing to drive direct customer acquisition. Similarly, we remain focussed on growing eSign and SSL business as more use cases around paperless transformation and cyber security in the government and private sector get implemented.

On Enterprise Solutions, we continue to see healthy demand in India and International markets. In India, the recent amendments to the IT Act allowing property transactions and power of attorney to be digitally signed is giving impetus to newer use cases. In International markets, we continue to pursue opportunities that are greenfield, where customers engage with us from the outset to run paperless transformation programs or for bettering their cyber security posture and where customers are looking for cost optimization as part of their overall cyber security and digital transformation goals. We continue to invest in both technology R&D and sales teams to pursue these opportunities meaningfully.

I am also pleased to announce that eMudhra has been recognized as a “Great Place to Work” by the Great Place to Work institute which is a confirmation of our organization’s culture.”

Key Project Wins

•  Acquisition of a significant customer (a large State-owned entity that is a trusted service and eStamping provider) in the Indonesian market for driving eSignature and eStamping use cases with the introduction of Mobile based digital signatures in the Indonesian market
•  Rollout of our Certificate Discovery product for a very large public sector Bank in India that will enable key and certificate lifecycle management across users, devices etc allowing the bank to secure their infrastructure using PKI technology.

Other Business Highlights

•  Launch of trust services in Kenya with a focus on driving adoption of digital signatures in the initial set of use cases in eGovernance and BFSI
•  Significant enhancements to our online portals and technology to ease partner enrolments, fulfillment and end customer acquisition and offer superior customer support through 360- a degree view of the customer and personalized marketing
•  Expansion of Sales teams including leadership hire in the North American market and on-ground teams in select countries in the Middle East and African markets

Thomas Cook India & SOTC Travel launch an extensive range of India Holidays

Mumbai, January 26, 2023: On the occasion of National Tourism Day, Thomas Cook (India) Limited – India’s leading omnichannel travel services company and its Group Company, SOTC Travel, have reiterated their Domestic Tourism focus. The Companies have expanded their India Holidays portfolio to showcase fresh new locales, engaging
experiences, unique accommodations, spiritual & wellness getaways and domestic cruises in addition to culture and
heritage holidays. The range extends from value to luxury vacations, with attractive deals to inspire demand.

Thomas Cook & SOTC’s sustained initiatives during the pandemic have led to a strong resurgence in domestic tourism. Further, the Companies’ consumer insights continue to reflect high demand of over 40% for their India Holidays. What is noteworthy is that this demand is emerging from not just India’s metros and mini-metros, but also
tier 2-3 cities. This formed the rationale for the Companies’ extended India portfolio.

Thomas Cook and SOTC’s India Holidays has been carefully designed to cater to customers across every segment, from Gen Z to Gen S (seniors). From adventure experiences (including trekking, hiking, camping, biking, safaris, river rafting, and paragliding); wellness getaways incorporating yoga/hydrotherapy/Ayurveda; spiritual journeys and
gastronomy, the Companies have designed an impressive portfolio of products that offers immersive experiences.

Luxury and ‘Affordable Luxury’ have been a key focus area, with inclusions like the Palace on Wheels; unique accommodation in jungle lodges/tree houses or havelis, uber-luxury resorts, glamping, and more. Thomas Cook & SOTC have emerged as top sellers of India cruises (Cordelia), with over 6000 customers booked since travel restart.
The Companies have witnessed a discernible trend of customers booking mono destinations with longer stays and
hence the Companies have focused on in-depth exploration with state-specific itineraries via their India Extravaganza Holidays.

Thomas Cook & SOTC’s product range showcases India’s hidden gems: surreal landscapes of Kashmir’s Gurez and
Doodhpathari valleys, Chenab Bridge – the world’s highest rail bridge or Dal Lake’s floating post office; Arunachal
Pradesh’s Damro – the longest hanging bridge, Ziro Valley and majestic monasteries of Tawang; Maharashtra’s Lonar
Lake – a meteoric marvel and Meghalaya’s awe-inspiring living root bridges. For wellness and rejuvenation, India’s
choices are plentiful: Kerala’s Ayurveda, yoga in the Himalayas to Tibetan medicinal therapy in Uttarakhand.

Mr. Rajeev Kale, President & Country Head – Holidays, MICE, Visa, Thomas Cook (India) Limited said, “India’s fascinating diversity offers a wealth of experiences to every traveler. Our India Holidays portfolio has been
designed to inspire customers to explore our country’s myriad facets– be it culture, cuisine, local traditions or landscapes. Her hidden gems include quaint offbeat locales, spiritual sojourns, wellness getaways, outdoor-adventure experiences, and more. India is waiting to be explored and our India Holidays portfolio is intended to inspire Indians to set off on a voyage of discovery. And we’ve added special deals and exciting offers – to make for a truly attractive value proposition.”

Mr. Daniel D’souza President & Country Head – Holidays, SOTC Travel Limited said, “India’s landscapes are as enchantingly varied as her culture. Our exciting range of India Holidays offers unique and offbeat experiences: wildlife to beaches and backwaters, adventure, luxury getaways, cruises, and spiritual holidays – quality time in scenic settings. We invite our customers to discover the diverse experiences our beautiful country has to offer.”