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Near is far and far is near this winter holiday season. Hot favourite nearby international destinations like Thailand, Sri Lanka and Malaysia have become ‘visa mukt’ for desi travellers, pushing airfares to new highs. On the other hand, almost all international airlines (barring US) have resumed India connections in full force now and desi carriers have added flights abroad this winter that has led to fares to Europe and North America stop defying gravity.
As a result, while Delhi-Phuket economy return this Yuletide starts at INR 50,000 (much more than than an average INR 30,000 few months back), Delhi-London begin at INR 70,000 (much less than almost INR 90-95,000 this summer).
“In comparison to last year, all international airlines are operational for routes like Delhi-Dubai, or Saudi and to London, hence airfares for these sectors are down by 20-25 per cent. On the other hand, airfares for popular Southeast Asian destinations like Vietnam, Thailand & Malaysia have more than doubled in comparison to last year for this period,” a spokesperson for travel portal Yatra says.
Travel Agents Federation of India VP Anil Kalsi says there is a “serious” demand for both domestic and international destinations this winter holiday. But “southeast Asia is the flavour of the season. Going visa free makes a lot of difference. Thai e-visa, for instance, used to cost about INR 7,500. For a family of four that meant visa cost of INR 30,000. With that gone (and cheaper hotels), the demand has gone up for visa free destinations. For this reason, Malaysian Airlines’ recent sale saw a lot of takers,” Kalsi said, adding, “India is rocking.”
“Visa on arrival/easy and quick visa destinations are witnessing 30-40 per cent higher demand including Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Dubai & Abu Dhabi,” said Daniel D’Souza, SOTC Travel’s president and country head.
Apart from seasonal travel, the wedding season has added to the demand leading to hiked hotel charges and airfares. Yatra Online senior VP (flights & hotel business) Bharatt Malik said: “Room tariffs are up by 20-25 per cent due to bulk bookings related to wedding season. Hotel bookings have doubled, and airfares surge by 40-50 per cent closer to travel dates.”
Boosted by visa-free entry into some of the top holiday destinations, a large numbers of tourists from Kolkata are heading to south-east Asian countries like Malaysia and Thailand alongside Sri Lanka, during the coming year-end holiday window as well as during off season, say travel agents in the city.
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