The Hindu Business Line : Year-end break sees more Indians packing up travel bags

New Delhi, Dec. 9 If you are planning to travel for the upcoming Christmas and New Year holiday and have not made a reservation as yet, it may be a good idea to just stay home. Most international traditional favourites such as Thailand, Singapore and Dubai are in demand this year also. Besides, Indians are also exploring more of India this year.

Says the Chief Executive Officer and Founder, MakeMyTrip.com, Mr Deep Kalra, “There is usually a surge in outbound traffic to short-haul destinations for the year-end break. This year we are witnessing an increasing demand for domestic destinations such as Kerala, Himachal and Uttarakhand in the long haul segment, and Jaipur, Agra, Shimla, Manali and Mussoorie for those wanting to travel short distances. Goa as ever remains the all-time favourite round the year.”

‘Adventurous travellers’

The seasoned travellers are becoming more adventurous when it comes to international travel as well, with Eastern European countries such as Poland, Hungary and Uzbekistan in Central Asia becoming popular choices.

Adds Mr Arup Sen, Executive Director, Cox & Kings India Ltd, “The interesting trend this year is that travel to Europe has gone up this winter and people are keen to stay back there and enjoy Christmas.”

According to Mr Sen, some of the other destinations popular with Indians this Christmas season are Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand for short-haul breaks, and Australia and New Zealand for those planning a longer break.

30% increase

Little wonder then that the industry is witnessing a 30 per cent increase in travel between October and December this year vis-À-vis last year. And this, when prices have not changed significantly for holiday packages despite the weakening dollar . “The airfares may have gone up, but the land component has gone down; so the net effect is the same,” says Mr Kalra.

Among the many factors guiding this boom is the convenience of booking online. Industry estimates say that Rs 5,400 crore worth of travel was bought online this year, with the online market expected to grow to Rs 10,000 crore by 2008.

But the thumb rule as always is to book well in time. Otherwise your predicament will be the same as that of one Chief Executive Officer of a leading travel firm when he decided two weeks ago to spend New Year in Phuket. He found no five-star hotel rooms either there or in London and eventually had to settle for Dubai and that too for a room in the seventh five-star hotel that he tried!