Cox & Kings appoints Classic Vacations as PSA in Sri Lanka

Cox & Kings Head of Relationships Karan Anand, Expolanka Group CEO/Executive Director Hanif Yusoof and Cox & Kings Asia Pacific and Middle East Combined Buying Group Vice President Sanjeet Joher

Cox and Kings Ltd., the leading holidays and education travel group with operations in 23 countries, has appointed Classic Vacations as its Preferred Sales Agent (PSA) in Sri Lanka to promote and sell outbound holidays from Sri Lanka. Classic Vacations is one of the leading luxury vacation travel companies from the country. 

Cox & Kings Ltd. is a well-known name in India with a presence across more than 150 locations within the country and is a very strong inbound player as well. Globally, they have an excellent network in Europe, Middle East, USA, Australia and New Zealand which will enable Classic Vacations to leverage on their strength.  

Speaking on the occasion, Karan Anand, Head, Relationships, Cox and Kings said, “We are delighted to partner with Classic Vacations who are specialists  in the luxury space and we will support their endeavour to increase outbound tourism from Sri Lanka.’’

The total number of Sri Lankans travellers overseas is more than 1.3 million and the market is growing by at least 15 per cent year on year.  

Suresh Mendis, CEO of Classic Travel, said: “We are proud to be associated with the Cox & Kings brand in Sri Lanka. With years of experience on innovative customer satisfaction that they have gathered in the Indian market, we feel that the Cox & Kings and Classic Vacations partnership will grow from strength to strength in the very near future.”

Cox & Kings Ltd. (CKL) is one of the longest established travel company in the world since 1758. Headquartered in India, it is the leading holidays and education travel group with operations in 23 countries across four continents. In India, Cox & Kings has presence in 149 cities across the country.

A premium brand in all travel related services, the business can be broadly categorised as leisure travel, corporate travel, education and activity travel, MICE, trade fairs, visa processing and foreign exchange.

CKL is amongst the largest players with its range of specialist options. Innovative packaging, pricing and marketing have been the hallmarks of its success over the years. 

In India, the company has a robust domestic business under the brand name Bharat Deko and is a leading MICE operator out of India. CKL is amongst the major Foreign Exchange providers in the country. The Outbound Tours are segregated into Duniya Dekho (escorted tours), FlexiHols (customised tours), Luxury Escapades (unique and luxurious travel) and NRI (catering to Indians across the world).

CKL also owns Holidaybreak, an education and activity travel group based in UK. It has more than 15 long-established and widely recognised brands. Holidaybreak provides educational and activity trips for school children; worldwide adventure holidays; short breaks in the UK and Europe. Holidaybreak also has a subsidiary in Meininger. It currently operates 16 hotels in Europe with a total of 7,025 beds in 10 European cities. 

Over the years the company has won many awards that stand testimony to its excellent service. Recent awards include ‘Favourite Outbound Tour Operator’ awarded by the Outlook Traveller Awards 2014 to Cox & Kings India, ‘India’s Leading Tour Operator’ and ‘India’s Leading Travel Agency’ awarded by the World Travel Awards 2013, ‘Best UK Operator’ awarded by The Travel Weekly Awards 2013 to Superbreak, ‘Best Company providing Foreign Exchange in India’ awarded by the CNBC Awaaz Travel Awards 2013.

CKL is one of the founding members of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), and are members of premier industry associations namely the Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI), the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO), European Tour Operators Association (ETOA), and the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA). 

Classic Travel Ltd., incorporated in 1994, is an IATA accredited travel agent based in Sri Lanka. A member of the prestigious Expolanka Group of Companies, Classic Travel specialises in providing a total travel solution to both the corporate and leisure markets. 

During the past few years, Classic Travel has been able to maintain market leadership through continuous innovation of services. Whilst being strategically located in the heart of Colombo with branches in World Trade Centre, Hambantota, Galle, Ratnapura, Katunayake and Bangladesh and also in the Maldives, Classic Travel is the only travel agent in Sri Lanka to be open 24 hours, 365 days of the year. Travellers can call or walk in anytime to obtain flight information, purchase air tickets, book hotels or even just to discuss their future holiday travel plans.