Flight cancellations jump on flu fears

New Delhi: The swine flu scare is set to dwarf the dramatic turnaround in air travel caused by the SARS epidemic in 2002. In two days since news of the disease broke in India, the rate of cancellation for international travel—both in and out of India—has jumped. Airlines said it's too early to comment, but Amadeus—one of the biggest technology providers for ticketing—said there's been a 2-4% increase in cancellations and it could rise further in the coming days.
    "Because of this flu, we have seen a jump in cancellations for international travel transactions made in India over the past two days. The overall picture could get worse in May,'' said Amadeus MD Ankur Bhatia. This comes on top of a 5% decline in bookings this April over the same period last year.
    This is the worst news that the travel and hospitality sector could have got at this time. Thanks to the global slowdown, hotels in Delhi and other metros are reporting very low occupancy levels. In Delhi, for instance, big hotels with 400 and more rooms are seeing a 30-25% dip in occupancy while the smaller ones with half that capacity are just about half full. Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation CEO Kapil Kaul said while it was difficult to estimate the damage to the travel industry, the impact on outbound travel would be "significant''. TNN

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A TIME TO TRAVEL

Reshmi R Dasgupta

FOR the first time in quite a while, the traveller is truly king. As summer approaches, the chill of recession is still making the tourism, airline and hospitality industries shiver; the result is betterthan-ever-before deals for you and me.
    Five star hotels have toned down their astronomical rates , and are offering — along with budget hotels — a slew of extras in the form of meals, excursions and activities for families. Airline companies are following suit with some of the lowest deals in recent memory, for both domestic and overseas destinations. It’s only logocla, given that both western and eastern places of tourist interest, are pitching for the elusive traveller!And Indians have the natural advantage of a choice of local destinations!
    The wise should check out all the travel information available and attend the fairs which have begun — ET Travel’s fair just concluded — to get an idea of the best possible deals. Indeed, one of the trends being noticed by the industry is that people downsized by the current crisis, are actually using their new free time in judicious travel. Nothing extravagant, of course, as any money has to be very carefully spent now, but it is the best way to de-stress!
    With the general elections scheduled to get over just as schools get into the summer break in May, this is the time to book those tickets and rooms for the lowest rates.

 

 

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Travel bookings for IPL take off

 WITH four days left for the Indian Premier League (IPL) to kick off, travel bookings for South Africa, which were initially slow, seem to have picked up. Bookings are largely being driven by corporate travellers, according to travel companies, even as tour operators lock horns to garner volumes through a price war. “Nearly 70% of the bookings have come from corporates that are either sponsoring the teams or looking to combine IPL with business meetings or offsites for their employees,” said SOTC senior vice president (special tours) P Srinivas. There are some bookings from individual cricket buffs and their families, he added. SOTC is one of the tour operators offering special packages for the IPL series.
    The price war between various tour operators has ensured that a three-night trip to Johannesburg ranges from Rs 44,900 - 49,000 per person and includes accommodation, match tickets, visa charges, breakfast, air fare and match venue transfers. The same trip would have earlier cost anywhere between Rs 65,000 and Rs 90,000.
    “Nearly 10,000 Indians travelled to South Africa for the World Cup in 2003. Even with such a short time to arrange a trip, we expect at least 6,000-7,000 Indians to travel and watch the IPL matches. We anticipate demand to peak before the semi-finals and final in late May,” said Thomas Cook India president (marketing) Nalini Gupta. She added that the demand for Johannesburg packages is much higher as matches would be held largely in the city.
    Most travellers are opting for 3 night/4 day trips, with some individual travellers even choosing a single-day package to watch the final. The demand for semi-finals and finals is the highest. Tour operators believe there could be a last-minute rush for tickets as IPL frenzy gains momentum. A cricket buff wishing to watch the semi-finals and final (May 22-24) will have to shell out at least Rs 63,500 per person, including match tickets, accommodation, transport, breakfast, air tickets and visa processing charges.
    South African Airways (SAA) is flying the bigger Airbus 340 aircraft especially for IPL and is providing direct connectivity between the two countries.

 

 

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HOTELS SLASH TARIFFS BY 30%

IF YOU’RE planning vacations in India this summer, you will be getting the bang for your buck. Following a big drop in occupancy levels, major hotel chains across the country are planning to reduce room tariffs by 25-30%, reports Raja Awasthi from New Delhi. Hotels in all metros have had just about 35-40% occupancy in the last one quarter.

 

 

 

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Buy-1-get-1-free booster shot for medical tourism

THE tourism ministry is finalising a scheme wherein a tourist visiting India for a particular medical treatment will be offered an additional treatment free of cost for a smaller ailment. The scheme will be part of the schemes implemented by the government to increase foreign tourist arrivals in the backdrop of the global slowdown, a senior official in the tourism ministry said.
    The ministry is
in advance discussion with all major hospital chains such as Apollo, Manipal, Moolchand, Fortis and Wockhardt to offer the complementary treatment.
    “Now, foreign medical tourists would be offered one additional treatment for free. Almost all major hospitals have expressed their interest in partnering with us,” tourism secretary Sujit Banerjee told ET.
    As per the plan, medical tourists coming for a surgery or any other major treatment in the country would be offered a smaller additional treatment for free. For example, a patient coming for a bypass surgery could be offered a complementary skin treatment or something similar according to the patient’s preference.
    Foreign tourist arrivals in the country has been hit hard by the recessionary trend all across the world. The number of foreign tourists visiting India has been in the negative territory since November last year. Tourist arrivals picked up slightly in February, thanks to various promotional schemes launched by the government along with airlines, tour operators and hoteliers.
    Under the existing promotional scheme, a companion of a foreign tourist gets free air passage provided they fly with Jet Airways, Kingfisher and Air India. The tour package also provides extended stay in hotels across the country and complimentary sightseeing tours to rural eco-holiday destinations. The tourism ministry has also roped in spa centre operators into the scheme. The measures are part of the government’s ‘Visit India 2009’ plan. The bookings under the proposed scheme beginning this month will continue till the end of the year.
    The tourism ministry has set a target of doubling the number of foreign tourists arrivals to the country by the end of 2010. It has launched road shows in various source countries such as the US, the UK, Canada and Australia to increase the number of visitors.
    nirbhay.kumar1@timesgroup.com 

 

 

 

 

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Hotels may feel the heat this summer

THE gloom in the tourism industry is likely to continue with holiday traffic expected to be down 30% this summer season. This is despite the fact that most hotels have reduced prices for leisure destinations by 30-40%.
    Sarovar Hotels executive director Ajay Bakaya said Indians are still not warming up to the idea of a holiday due to the economic environment. "Occupancies across locations have dropped by 20-25%. The summer vacations are also not expected to see many families make their travel plans," he added. Sarovar Hotels is the franchisee for Carlson Hotels' brands in India such as the Park Inn and Park Plaza and has its own branded hotels.
    An executive with a travel company, who didn't wish to be named, said the advance bookings for the summer season have been lower than anticipated.
    With tourists putting their India travel plans on the backburner, most hotels are trying to woo Indian families. For instance, the Leela Kempinski Hotels and Resorts has slashed rates for destinations such as Kovalam and Goa by 15-20%, with room only (meal excluded) packages starting at Rs 8,970 - 9,270 for two nights.
    Others such as the Trident Hotels are offering value-added holiday packages. Trident has low-priced packages for cities such as Agra, Kochi, Jaipur and Udaipur priced between Rs 14,000 and Rs 18,500 for a two-night stay. Oberoi Group president Rattan Keswani said the hotel group anticipates a 10-12% increase in contribution from domestic travellers this season.
    A senior executive with the Leela said that despite discounted packages for foreign destinations, Indians are preferring to go for short breaks to domestic destinations. "If one chooses to go for foreign destinations, it requires more time and one ends up spending more money. Domestic destinations means one can travel over a long weekend at discounted rates," he said.
    Added Thomas Cook managing director Madhavan Menon: "The number of Indians opting for foreign packages for the industry this year, over last year, is anticipated to see a marginal growth." The travel company recently floated packages as cheap as Rs 49,999 to woo Indians to go to South Africa to watch the upcoming India Premier League matches.