ITV

Tag: Gen Z travel India

  • Kartik Aaryan boards Thomas Cook’s borderless card campaign with youth appeal

    Kartik Aaryan boards Thomas Cook’s borderless card campaign with youth appeal

    MUMBAI: Thomas Cook (India) Limited has just dialled up the charm—and the Gen Z appeal—by roping in Hindi cinema heartthrob Kartik Aaryan as the brand ambassador for its foreign exchange business. The move, announced on 3 April 2025, is part of a strategic push to woo India’s youth with its freshly launched Borderless Travel Card.

    The card is a slick multi-currency prepaid solution designed to make international travel less of a hassle and more of a flex. And who better to headline that message than the actor who already lives rent-free in the hearts of millennials and Gen Z? “I am excited to work with Thomas Cook India—a brand that is synonymous with not just pioneering travel but also innovative and youthful agility,” said Aaryan.

    Kicking things off is a playful new campaign featuring Aaryan himself, where he explains forex woes to a fellow traveller while flaunting the Borderless Travel Card like it’s the ultimate travel hack. Think multiple cards, currencies and SIMs? Nah. This one card claims to do it all, and Aaryan is the guy telling you exactly why.

    Thomas Cook EVP – foreign exchange, Deepesh Varma backed the move with data-driven confidence, “Our research reflects significant opportunity from Young India, and we are already witnessing an encouraging uptick in demand. Kartik is the perfect fit to inspire and address this powerful segment.”

    The campaign will run across digital, social and connected TV platforms, ensuring every scroll and swipe gets a dose of Kartik’s forex finesse. For Thomas Cook, this isn’t just another ambassador play—it’s a bid to capture the imagination (and wallet) of India’s new-age traveller.

    The Borderless Travel Card follows in the footsteps of Thomas Cook’s earlier successes like Study Buddy for students and EnterpriseFX for business travellers. With travel back on the agenda and wanderlust in full swing, the timing couldn’t be more pitch-perfect.

  • Uber hits the accelerator on teen independence with rides made for Gen Z

    Uber hits the accelerator on teen independence with rides made for Gen Z

    MUMBAI: When the school bell rings and the parental cab service is running late (again), Uber has now entered the chat. In a bold new move to appeal to both helicopter parents and freedom-craving teens, Uber India launched ‘Uber for Teens’ on April 2, 2025. The service now operates across 37 Indian cities, including Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, and even Bhubaneswar—because, let’s face it, teenagers everywhere need a lift.

    Built for those aged 13 to 17, the product is pitched as the perfect mix of parental peace of mind and teenage cool. “We recognise the unique transportation challenges faced by teenagers and their families in India,” said Uber India and South Asia president Prabhjeet Singh. “With Uber for Teens, we are committed to addressing these challenges by providing a service that parents can trust, and that teens will find easy and cool to use.”

    And Uber’s not winging this. The service comes wrapped in a triple safety bow—GPS tracking, real-time ride updates, and an in-app emergency button. Parents can monitor the entire ride, from door to destination, with the kind of surveillance previously reserved for spy movies.

    Setting it up is simple: parents invite their teen via the app, the teen adds the parent as a guardian, and voila—your teenager is now mobile, but watched like a hawk. Guardians can also book rides for their kids, turning the Uber app into the ultimate remote-control chauffeur.

    Uber backed this move with some serious homework. In a recent survey, 92 per cent of Indian parents said their teens had missed out on activities due to lack of transport. A whopping 72 per cent cited safety as their top concern. Meanwhile, 93 per cent admitted they’d happily jump on a secure rideshare option for their teens, with 64 per cent saying they’d use it regularly. And let’s be honest, they’d probably rate it five stars for convenience alone.

    Whether it’s getting to football practice, tuition class, or a BFF’s birthday bash, Uber for Teens promises a ride experience that’s teen-tested and parent-approved. For families juggling work, life, and teen drama—this might just be the app they never knew they needed.