While the peak summer travel season is over, those planning a trip to the London may end up making small savings if exchange rates favour the rupee, travel operators and portals said.
Sharat Dhall, President, Yatra.com said, “Brexit has resulted in a big drop in the value of the pound and if this trend remains then we could see a surge in leisure tourism to Britain, as it will become significantly cheaper. However, it is too early to establish that this drop will be sustained and we are yet to see any surge in travel bookings to the UK.”
Madhavan Menon, Chairman & Managing Director, Thomas Cook (India) Ltd, said it is too early to comment on the price of the tour packages due to the currency fluctuations. He said it takes about 30-40 days to get visas and so difficult to predict the immediate impact on prices of tour packages. “We have seen that in our group tours consumers usually combine European cities with the UK. So one will have to look at both the currencies to understand the impact,” he added.
Indian travellers avail for two separate visas to enter the UK and EU countries.
Rakshit Desai, Managing Director India, FCM travel Solutions and Flight Shop, said, “We don’t foresee very discernible impact at least till the next summer. However, for those planning a vacation in the immediate future, the exchange rates are expected to provide for 5-7 per cent savings in package costs.”
A spokesperson from MakeMyTrip said that the development is new and is still to unfold and thus it wouldn’t be ideal to speculate now. “The long-term impact on business travel and trade relations remains to be seen.”
On the issue of visa, Desai added, “We don’t see any immediate effect on ease of travel, since there are no changes in aspects like visa processes. It is probably in the next couple of years that any further developments on this front would play out.”
Moreover, a drop in the pound could also result in an increase in students from India choosing the UK as a destination as it will make education significantly cheaper there, Dhall added.
Purvita Chatterjeewrites from Mumbai
Visa processing issues still remain
While the cost of travel to the UK may seem relatively cheaper by 5-7 per cent with the sterling getting weaker against the rupee, Indian travellers are unlikely to make a beeline to Britain with immediate effect.
The Brexit impact in terms of accelerated travel is likely to be subdued since the UK is a premium long-haul destination where entry always requires a separate visa compared to the rest of the countries of the European Union. “Britain is considered a long haul premium destination for Indian travellers and even if the cost of travel drops by a few thousand rupees due to the Brexit, it does not seem to be the reason to travel immediately,’’ observes Abraham Alapatt, Chief Innovation Officer & Head – Marketing and Service Quality, Thomas Cook (India).
However, most travel companies believe that Brexit will assure steady inflow of all-year round business from the UK.
As Anil Khandelwal, CFO, Cox & Kings, observes, “The pound has depreciated against the rupee. This would mean that travel to the UK will be cheaper for Indian travellers. This will aid our outbound business for the remainder of the year. Our operations in the UK in both Leisure – International and Education, enjoy both revenues and costs in the same currency and hence there won’t be any impact from the currency movement.’’