TravTalk India Online Magazine
According to global data provider OAG, India’s domestic capacity increased from -30% to -23% in a month in terms of domestic market seats, making it the third-largest market after China and the US. With domestic inquiries trickling in, travel agents and tour operators are thinking of newer itineraries and destinations to encourage their clients to book.
Jay Bhatia, Director, Tulsidas Khimji Holidays
We saw domestic bookings commence a week prior to Diwali, although nothing substantial. In the last two months our team had done around 30 bookings averaging 5-7 nights each. Summer itineraries this year are expected to be around 15-18 days, to destinations in the Northeast, Kullu, Manali, Shimla, Coorg, Ooty and Kerala including the backwaters and Munnar. Many flights to Odisha have also commenced, so we are sure to see a tilt towards that state, too.
Shivadatta Wagle, Director, Meandering Vacations
We were predominantly into international bookings. However, we have been getting a steady streak of enquiries for domestic travel. Initially it was for weekends and driveable locations only. But, over the last few days, we are seeing enquiries for longer itineraries for the states which have spelt clarity on travel SOPs. Corporates are still in slumber though and may take another six months to revive. All states should formalise a common SOP to gather momentum.
Hasan Patel, Director, Tripjack
Weekend holidays are where we are seeing maximum uptick. To ease bookings, we have curated a list of popular destinations and hotels across categories and budgets, and made them available under a ‘Weekend Deals’ tab on our website. Destinations like Goa, Udaipur, Jaipur, Shimla and Alibaug are among the favourites.Travel has started mostly with FITs, but there is a fair portion of families as well. But, trip durations are on average shorter. However, we take this as a sign of gradual revival.
Tina Kanuga, Director, Bathija Travels
The market is bouncing back but slowly with the domestic market, and we have made substantial bookings in the past few months. People are looking at extended weekends using Ro-Ro ferries to Alibaug to reside in five-bedroom villas with private pools. North India is also popular as people have realised they can experience snow in Shimla, Kullu-Manali and Srinagar – these destinations are seeing full flights and no hotels available!
Arijit Purkayastha, CEO, Koyeli Tours & Travels
Domestic and sustainable travel is slowly picking up in the Northeast. We have handled a few FIT tours ranging from 3-6 nights covering either Assam and Meghalaya, or Arunachal Pradesh, or Tripura in the last two months. We have also noticed that travellers from Assam are booking through tour operators. So far, four families from Assam on different dates have taken a day-long tour to such places or with a night stay, through us. We are hopeful that tourism will revive, albeit with a change.
Randhir Singh Vaghela, VP, Garha Tours & Travels
We have operated 14-odd files till now which is a start, but we have a long way to go. It is more of weekend movement and there are hardly any long-itinerary movements at the moment. Destinations that are drivable within 4-6 hours are popular. Self-driving FITs and families have started travelling, but package tours are yet to pick up. Most tourists taking self-driven trips are visiting Rajasthan (Udaipur, Kumbhalgarh and Mount Abu).
Rajeev Kale, President & Country Head, Holidays, MICE, Visa, Thomas Cook (India)
Indians are displaying a keen interest in domestic travel with 52 per cent respondents of our second edition of
Holiday Readiness Report (December 2020) indicating their preference for a domestic holiday in 2021. We have witnessed a 30 per cent growth in bookings over the last two months, to domestic destinations with a healthy mix of travel for weekend or extended weekend breaks as also longer duration holidays ranging from 6-8 days. While customers had earlier restricted their bookings to close-to-home staycations, we are now seeing a shift to flight-inclusive holidays, indicative of growing consumer confidence in air travel.
Benazir Nazar, CEO, Akbar Holidays
Everyone needs a break and with various states opening their borders for tourism, we did see a good increase in domestic bookings. We curated various itineraries, fixed and customised, including experiential travel, suited for both luxury and budgeted travel. There has been a good increase in destinations like Kashmir, Kerala, Northeast, Rajasthan and Goa. Each of these destinations has a lot to offer from skiing, hiking and backwaters to safaris and beaches. Families, millennials, corporates and even solo travellers are travelling. We have also operated M!CE groups in Mumbai, Rajasthan, and two more to be operated in Goa. The market is definitely bouncing back. I am foreseeing revenge travel once people are vaccinated.
Pradip Lulla, CMD, Cupid Travels
According to me, though domestic tourism has picked up, it hasn’t to the extent we thought it would. Also, the report for December 2020 for domestic flights showed a fall of about 46 per cent compared to last year. So I think that though it was a holiday season, there was a sort of apprehension among travellers because of reports of infection rates and also the quarantine procedures in certain states. Also, the RT-PCR tests hampered domestic movement. Goa has been very popular not just from Maharashtra but from other states as well, but lots of people travel to nearby places as well by road.
Inputs by Hazel Jain
