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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