Dreaming of the perfect Swiss holiday or the self-drive vacation in Australia? This may not be the right time with the depreciating rupee making international travel costlier. However, Indian travellers are taking the extra effort to make their dream vacation a reality.
Going by the trends, Indian travellers are searching harder for the best travel deals available online to offset the impact of rupee depreciation. Online travel portals such as Expedia, ClearTrip and Yatra.com have found a significant increase in online traffic with users planning their own foreign tours and working out ways to reduce their costs.
A study done by travel portal wego.co.in reveals Indians are still travelling, but adjusting their options within the same category of accommodation and examining airlines for the smallest variances in airfare rather than cancelling travel plans. “Travellers are cutting short the duration of vacation. But the bookings to international destinations have remained steady. There is a continued rise in the number of people travelling to South East Asian destinations,” said Mr Manmeet Ahluwalia of Expedia India. Searches through Wego.co.in have seen an increase to destinations such as Bangkok, Singapore, Dubai, Sydney and New York despite currency concerns.
Leisure travel is focussed on off-season Southeast Asian destinations and has responded well to deals. “Most people are looking at cheaper options in hotels,” said Mr Jackson Fernandez, Wego General Manager for India.
Yatra.com has also witnessed a 15 per cent growth in the overall online traffic. “We have seen a significant growth in traffic to Southeast Asian destinations which has gone up by 25 per cent,” said Mr Pratik Mazumdar, Head of Marketing and Strategy Alliance, Yatra.com.
In Bangkok, 12 months ago the rupee was under Rs 1.5 to the Thai Baht, which has gone up to Rs 1.7 now. Regardless, hotel bookings in Bangkok have gone up by two per cent (as a percentage of the total for international destinations) and the volume has doubled on Wego. Phuket, particularly Pattaya, is enjoying much more attention due to low season prices and airfares that are half the cost of those to Bali, say online travel portals. Pattaya has risen from under one to a strong four per cent of international hotel bookings.
In Singapore, where the exchange rate has fallen from Rs 36 to Rs 43 to the Singapore dollar over the last year, bookings through wego.co.in have gone up by 110 per cent.
Australia has also seen an impressive growth in bookings through online portals. Hotel bookings for Sydney through wego.co.in have gone up by four times this year. Similarly, Yatra.com has seen a 30 per cent growth in online bookings to Australian destinations.