March 10, 2026 | Team TDT
Thomas Cook (India) Limited and its group company SOTC Travel have entered into a strategic partnership with Booking.com to enhance accommodation options for Indian corporate travellers.
The collaboration aims to combine the breadth of consumer-level accommodation inventory with corporate travel controls, offering enterprises transparent pricing, policy compliance, and India-specific servicing within managed travel programmes.
Through this integration, Booking.com’s accommodation content is now live on the corporate booking tools used by Thomas Cook India and SOTC Travel, providing business clients access to over 31 million reported listings across more than 220 countries and territories. The inventory spans hotels, resorts, serviced apartments, homes and long-stay accommodation options suitable for corporate travellers.
The solution is integrated with enterprise travel approval systems and offers enterprise-specific pricing, loyalty benefits and real-time access through digital platforms, enabling corporate travel managers to maintain policy compliance while providing travellers greater flexibility.
Addressing Key Corporate Travel Needs
The programme has been designed to address core requirements highlighted by corporate travel managers and procurement heads, including wider accommodation choice while remaining within company travel policies, transparent invoicing with GST compliance, and improved traveller safety. Among the key features of the solution are:
Price transparency and invoicing
Property-issued invoices provide a clear audit trail for finance teams, helping eliminate hidden markups and ensuring GST compliance.
Segment-specific content curation
Accommodation options are curated for different corporate segments — SMEs, mid-market companies and large enterprises — with particular focus on Indian metros, emerging Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, and key global destinations.
Extensive domestic and international coverage
The platform offers accommodation access across more than 2,500 Indian cities and towns, complemented by Booking.com’s global inventory and long-stay options suited for extended corporate assignments.
Business-friendly accommodation options
Travellers gain access to properties with verified guest reviews and essential business amenities designed to support productivity during work trips.
Dedicated servicing model
A joint servicing framework allows support for booking modifications, clarifications and escalations, offering a higher level of assistance compared to standard online booking platforms.
Integrated policy controls
Corporate travel managers can manage budgets, approval workflows, credit limits and real-time policy updates through both desktop and mobile platforms.
Strengthening Managed Corporate Travel
Indiver Rastogi, President & Group Head, Global Business Travel, Thomas Cook (India) and SOTC Travel, said,
“Business travel programs today are evolving toward greater choice, flexibility and transparency. Through our partnership with Booking.com we are redefining accommodation access — expanding global choice while enhancing the compliance and servicing framework that enterprises require. By combining Booking.com’s breadth of inventory with Thomas Cook and SOTC’s managed corporate booking environment, along with future integration into our TravelOne platform, we are delivering policy control, price transparency and the level of service support that businesses demand. Our roadmap for this collaboration includes rate activation, long-stay solutions and city-wise safety clusters ensuring that travellers, travel managers and finance teams alike see tangible value.”
Mark van der Linden, VP Partnerships, Booking.com, said,
“As India’s business travel sector undergoes a significant digital transformation, corporate travellers are demanding the same diversity of choice and seamlessness they enjoy in their personal travels, but with the necessary guardrails of corporate compliance. This partnership with Thomas Cook India and SOTC Travel is a strategic step in making Booking.com’s extensive global inventory truly ‘enterprise-ready’ for the Indian market. By integrating our vast selection of accommodations with Thomas Cook and SOTC Travel’s robust online booking platforms, we are providing Indian businesses with a solution that prioritizes transparency, localised services and the flexibility today’s professionals require.”
Growing Convergence Between OTAs and Travel Management Companies
The partnership reflects a broader industry trend of closer collaboration between global online travel platforms and travel management companies, enabling businesses to access wider accommodation inventories while maintaining policy compliance, financial transparency and travel programme oversight.
For India’s corporate travel sector, the initiative highlights the increasing demand for technology-driven, flexible booking solutions that balance traveller choice with enterprise governance.
