Cox & Kings ties up with Emirates Group for visa processing

Reuters: Tour operator Cox & Kings Ltd has tied up with the UAE-based Emirates Group to provide visa processing services for Indians travelling to Dubai and Sharjah.

The unit, Cox and Kings Global Services, has partnered with DNATA, a part of Emirates Group, and Cox & Kings has set up 11 cities across India to expand this facility.

Dubai, a middle-east business hub, typically sees around 650,000 Indians travelling to the city every year, almost half of them being labour class workers.

The rest include business travellers and tourists, a segment the firm is keen to tap, said Sanjay Bhaduri, CEO of Cox & Kings Global Services.

He said the number of Indians travelling to or transiting through this region was growing at 15-20 percent annually.

The company did not give a revenue projection arising out of the contract with Emirates Group.

The Indian outbound travel market could expand to $35-$40 billion over the next five years from the current $12 billion buoyed by a rapidly growing organised tourism market.

Outbound operations current contribute around 76 percent of Cox & Kings consolidated revenue.