TravTalk India Online Magazine
The summer vacation has recently concluded and the monsoon is on a rise. India Travel Award winners review the growth and targets in the summer and monsoon season.
Manas Dwivedi
Best Business Travel Agency — Wayanad Silverwoods Resort (South 2018)
Summers have always has been one of the best seasons for us and this year also, it was no different. It really helped us in starting the new financial year with a bang, feels Dr Jaya Benny, Director, Silverwoods Resorts. She further explains, “Wayanad is famous for its monsoon and lush greenery. This is a great time for rain-watchers like Arab tourists as well as for Ayurveda treatments. Usually, Indian tourists are averse to such heavy rains. So naturally, our target customers are from Gulf regions, and we expect a good turn-around of Arab tourists.”
Best Business Travel Agency — Osaka Air Travels (South 2018)
On the ongoing travel trend, P B Boss, Managing Director, Osaka Air Travels feels, “Kerala mostly witnesses a decrease in inbound tourism during the summer season because of high temperatures. Hence, there was a decrease of 3.2 per cent in tourism traffic from outside India, especially Europe. Outbreak of Nipah virus was the only hurdle but quick action by the Kerala government prevented major issues. There is still some uncertainty about the monsoon season as Kerala is currently overwhelmed with unexpected heavy rainfall. I hope that as soon as it dries out, tourism activities will improve.”
Best Green Resort — Mango Mist Resort (South 2018)
Summer season was good for us. We have comfortably achieved our targets as we already crossed our budgeted numbers in the last three months. As such, there is no specific plan for the monsoon season,” says Mani Varma, General Manager, Mango Mist Resort. On the monsoon season, he says, “Right now, large numbers of our guests are from the IT and electronic cities. Group bookings are doing well for us with some IT companies taking services from our resort. We don’t have many travellers coming to our resort in the monsoon season.”
Best Travel Insurance Provider — Trawelltag Cover-More (South 2018)
Sharing the details about his plan, Ravi Ancheril, AVP, Kerala Karnataka Retail Sales tells, “The summer season was really good. We experienced a reasonable amount of growth. After crunching numbers, we almost had 20-25 per cent growth in comparison to last year. For the monsoon season, we have planned out a different strategy altogether. For that, we have kept a modest target of achieving 15-20 per cent growth over last year. We are in the final process of working it out and expecting a very good season ahead.”
Best Family Resort — Esthell- The Village Resort (South 2018)
“The season was reasonably well. Amid hot summers, the expected guest bookings were less and hence, we couldn’t achieve our targets. The hotel industry is constantly growing and giving us tough competition,” says D Devadas, Vice President, Esthell Hotels & Resorts. On expansion, he says, “We are expanding our room inventory while adding more activities in the resort. We are also introducing different packages for families. Our strategy is to attract more youngsters to use our vast outdoor and sports activities.”
Best Luxury Tour Operator- Outbound — Mercury Travels (West 2017)
Focusing on her company’s performance, Nagsri Prasad Sashidhar, Head-Outbound Holidays, Mercury Travels says, “Personally, the season has not been bad for us. We have seen growth in our offbeat track experiences and in the revenues of each file, as the focus was more on quality. During the summer season, we have more families and kids travelling while in the monsoons, we have families travelling whose kids are in the international schools. We also have couples travelling during the monsoons. Small groups and MiCE also show movement during the monsoons.”
Best Boutique Resort — The Leaf Munnar (South 2018)
Jolly James, General Manager, The Leaf Munnar, says that his resort experienced a fruitful summer season. “In comparison to last year, we have had a great season. This year, the monsoon is on a higher side in Munnar due to which we didn’t had much occupancy in the last two months. Looking at the upcoming Neelakurinji blossoming season, which only happens once in every 12 years, we are looking forward to a great season ahead. We are also expanding and the new area will be ready by next season.”
Best Luxury Hotel — Shangri-La Hotel Bengaluru (South 2018)
Reviewing the hotel’s business in key seasons, Rajan Malhotra, Director—Sales & Marketing, Shangri-La Bengaluru says, Bengaluru enjoys a flat season throughout the year but some key MiCE events are a good opportunity to spike RevPar throughout the city. We are continuing to ramp up the ADR and occupancy.” On the upcoming monsoon season, he explains, “In the next quarter, we will be predominantly dependent on corporate movement and we plan to capitalise this opportunity to market our services on various platforms including digital and print media.”
