More Indians to travel abroad this season
by M.M.Khanna
This year the number of Indians travelling abroad will be increased by 15 to 20%. With ensuing vacations, most of the Holiday planners are tempting employees of the business community and elite gentry of each city. Though the most popular destinations remain South and far East Asia, because of attractive prices, people are looking at more exotic locations like New Zealand, China, Spain, Turkey and Switzerland.
About 5.5 million Indians undertook International travel last year, a growth of 20% over the previous year. ‘There is no doubt that South Asia will be a hot destination because of its value for money ratio.
“We are getting huge bookings and queries from the people who want to visit China and New Zealand,’ says Select Vacations managing director Rati Shroff. Abercromble & Kent India M.D Vikram Madhok feels that though Europe remains the popular destination, lot of queries are pouring in for East Africa , South Africa and Egypt. Union Tourism Minister Renuka Choudhry feels that India needs to market itself more internally.
“Many Indians are travelling abroad and this is despite the fact that we have many exotic destinations within the country like various places in the northeast of India. We will try and sell these domestic destinations to Indians travelling abroad,” says Choudhury.
Increase in connectivity and falling fares combined with rising disposable incomes have given an impetus to outbound travel. The number of Indians travelling abroad is much higher compared to the 3 million tourists visiting India.
March 25, 2005
Posted in: India