Thomas cook (India) Limited has inaugurated a new foreign exchange outlet in Guwahati on April 7, 2026, strengthening its footprint in the Northeast Indian market. The strategic expansion recognizes Guwahati's emergence as the gateway to Northeast India and a fast-growing hub for business and outbound travel, aligning with the company's focus on high-growth regional markets.

Network Expansion in Assam

With this new addition, Thomas Cook India now operates three locations across Assam, including its existing presence at the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport (LGBIA). The expansion reflects the company's commitment to increasing consumer access to foreign exchange services across Assam and the wider Northeast region.

Comprehensive Product Portfolio

The new Guwahati outlet offers a complete range of foreign exchange services designed to meet diverse customer needs:

Prepaid Travel Cards

The outlet provides multiple prepaid card options in partnership with Mastercard and Visa:

• Holidays: Borderless Travel prepaid multi-currency card with 12 global currencies
• Business Travel: FX Enterprise card, India's first Eco-Friendly Forex prepaid card
• Overseas Education: Study Buddy card for students
• Thomas Cook One Currency Card: India's first prepaid card with zero cross currency conversion fees

Additional Services

• Currency Exchange: 26 global destination currencies
• Overseas Education Forex: University/tuition fee transfers, living expenses, discounted air fares, excess baggage, and insurance
• Overseas Remittances: Send Money Abroad service covering over 120 countries

Market Opportunity and Digital Integration

Guwahati presents significant growth potential with approximately 6 lakh passport holders, indicating a sizeable and expanding traveller base. The city has witnessed steady foreign exchange demand growth, supported by increasing outbound leisure travel, a growing student segment, and strong business activity. The company has observed consistent increases in walk-in enquiries, website traffic, and call-centre referrals from Guwahati and the larger Northeast region.

The new outlet exemplifies Thomas Cook India's omnichannel "phygital" strategy, seamlessly integrating physical retail stores with digital platforms. Customers can initiate forex transactions in-store and complete them online, or begin digitally and finish with in-store assistance, ensuring flexibility and personalized support.

Digital Innovation Portfolio

The company's digital capabilities include:

• Forex App (B2C) and FX Mate (B2B) platforms
• V-KYC capabilities for streamlined verification
• Forex on WhatsApp service offering 24x7 access
• Live rate checks and end-to-end transaction capabilities

Leadership Perspective

Mr. Deepesh Varma, Chief Business Officer - Foreign Exchange at Thomas Cook (India) Limited, emphasized Guwahati's potential as a high-growth forex market. He highlighted the city's role as Northeast India's gateway, citing increasing outbound leisure and student travel, rising passport penetration, and growing digital adoption as key growth drivers.

Company Overview

Thomas Cook (India) Limited, established in 1881, operates as India's leading omnichannel travel company. The company's foreign exchange business serves over 1 million customers annually through its website, FX Now app, call centre, and 125+ forex stores across 69 metros and tier 2-4 cities nationwide. The company maintains its "Ghar pe Forex" commitment, providing doorstep delivery within 2 hours.

Thomas Cook India Limited has received a credit rating reaffirmation from CRISIL, with the rating agency maintaining its 'CRISIL AA/Stable' long-term rating and 'CRISIL A1+' short-term rating. The reaffirmation covers total bank loan facilities of Rs 433 crore and reflects the company's strong market position and robust parent support. The company issued an official press release on April 1, 2026, highlighting this achievement as the highest rating for a travel & tourism company in India.

Official Press Release and Regulatory Compliance

Thomas Cook India formally communicated the rating reaffirmation to stock exchanges through a press release dated April 1, 2026, in compliance with Regulation 30 of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015. The communication was signed by Amit J. Parekh, Company Secretary and Compliance Officer, and sent to both BSE Limited (Scrip Code: 500413) and National Stock Exchange of India Limited (Scrip Code: THOMASCOOK).

Rating Details and Coverage

CRISIL's rating action encompasses multiple facilities and instruments across Thomas Cook India's financing structure. The reaffirmation underscores the Group's resilient business model, strong financial profile and consistent operational performance, even amidst a dynamic and evolving global environment.

Financial Performance Highlights

Thomas Cook India demonstrated resilient financial performance in the first nine months of fiscal 2026, with revenue growth of 7.4% year-on-year to Rs 6,628 crore. This growth was driven by robust demand across key travel segments, including destination management services, outbound leisure, MICE and corporate travel.

The travel segment continues to remain the primary growth driver, contributing over 75% of total revenues. The company maintains a strong liquidity position with cash and bank balances of approximately Rs 2,346 crore as of February 2026, including significant unencumbered reserves.

Management Commentary and Strategic Outlook

Mr. Mahesh Iyer, Managing Director & CEO of Thomas Cook India Limited, commented on the rating reaffirmation: "CRISIL's reaffirmation of Thomas Cook India Limited's credit ratings at 'AA/Stable/A1+' underscores the strength and resilience of TCIL's business model & recognises the Group's consistent business performance, strong fundamentals, diversified portfolio, prudent financial management as well as the strong support from our parent, Fairfax Financial Holdings."

The company's ongoing structural cost optimisation initiatives have enhanced operating efficiencies, resulting in healthy margins and improved return on capital employed. While margins witnessed marginal moderation due to macroeconomic and geopolitical disruptions, overall profitability remains stable, supported by disciplined cost management and operational agility.

Key Rating Strengths and Risk Factors

CRISIL highlighted several factors supporting the rating reaffirmation, including strong support from parent Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd, which holds 63.83% shareholding through Fairbridge Capital (Mauritius) Limited. Thomas Cook India maintains a dominant market position, particularly in the foreign exchange prepaid card segment with approximately one-third market share.

The rating agency acknowledged the impact of ongoing Middle East conflicts on travel demand and the company's proposed demerger of its resorts and resort management business into Sterling Holiday Resorts Ltd. Post-demerger, consolidated revenue and EBIT are expected to be lower by 5-8% and 20-30% respectively, though the overall credit risk profile is expected to remain robust.