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Owing to security concerns following the terror attacks in Paris, travel companies in India have witnessed 25-40 per cent cancellation in bookings to the city, with tourists opting for alternative destinations.
“There has been a big drop in leisure bookings as people have deferred their plans or chosen alternative destinations. Overall, we have seen around 20-25 per cent cancellations for Europe bookings, most of them on account of the Paris tragedy,” Yatra.com President Sharat Dhall told BusinessLine .
According to Yatra, every year, 4-5 lakh Indian travellers visit France, which is a favoured tourist destination.
“Many tourists who opted for two-week Europe packages have cancelled France as part of the itinerary and are now planning to go to Switzerland instead. We have witnessed 40 per cent cancellations post the tragedy,” said Subhash Goyal, Chairman of STIC Travels Group.
MakeMyTrip, however, said that while it has received queries, there has been no cancelation or drop in fresh bookings.
Said the company’s Chief Business Officer - Holidays, Ranjeet Oak: “We are closely monitoring the situation in France and are in constant connect with our concerned customers. All our packages are in place as per schedule. Further, we are in touch with the Embassy and, as of now, we have not received any formal notification from them regarding any suspension.”
Asian tourist arrivals to France rose 12.9 per cent in 2012-13. According to French government data, 84.7 million foreign tourists visited the country in 2013. It is targeting 100 million foreign tourists a year by 2020. Earnings loss
“It is extremely difficult to estimate the actual earnings loss on account of reduced tourism, but it is likely to be quite significant in the short term as fewer tourists means a hit to the entire ecosystem of services like restaurants, hotels, taxis, entertainment, shopping, etc,” Yatra’s Dhall added.
However, a destination like France will take no time to bounce back, Goyal added. MakeMyTrip too sees no adverse impact on tourism in the long term.
“We don’t think that these kinds of attacks have a long-term effect on any destination unless the situation becomes a prolonged one,” Dhall added.
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