Published on : Wednesday, December 26, 2018
Indian travellers don’t mind braving the winter chill, going by data from travel companies and hotels that indicate a rising preference for colder destinations.
The bookings for Europe have surged and demand within India is for snowclad destinations such as Manali, Sonmarg, Patnitop, Kufri and Auli. These destinations didn’t have much pickup last year due to the late arrival of snow.
“This year these destinations are seeing a surge in bookings by at least 15 to 20%. Hotel tariffs have not gone up significantly due to increase in supply, and traditional destinations such as Goa, Dubai, Kerala and Rajasthan also continue to be top favourites,” said Karan Anand, head of relationships at Cox & Kings.
The hill stations around Delhi NCR are also gaining in popularity, said Sharat Dhall, chief operating officer, B2C, Yatra.com. “Snow is aspirational for a lot of people. Shimla has already seen its first snowfall. There is an uptick in bookings for hill stations and Europe in the winters is also getting popular,” he said.
Travel service providers such as SOTC have introduced experiences such as Crossing Arctic Circle, visits to the Santa Claus village in Finland and New Year packages with fireworks in Stockholm. Also on offer are visits to a husky and reindeer farm complete with sleigh rides.
“With an increasing number of Indians investing in unique holiday experiences, there has been a significant rise in queries and bookings for the winter season,” said Daniel D’Souza, head of sales for India and NRI markets at SOTC.
India’s biggest online travel agency (OTA) MakeMyTrip said winter travel has witnessed a spurt, with 15% of all travellers looking at international destinations. “As the fastestgrowing large economy and with a burgeoning middle class, there has been a substantial increase in the number of people travelling during Christmas and New Year. Being a one-stop travel shop, we have witnessed growth of about 25% more Indians opting to travel during this period,” said Saujanya Shrivastava, group chief marketing offeicer at Make my Trip.
“There has been a remarkable year-on-year 85% growth in travel bookings from tier II-IIIcities for international travel.”
Switzerland and Norway are among the hottest international destinations for MakeMyTrip, each growing 18% year on year.
Tags: Airline News, India, Indian holiday