Indian tourists, who were sitting on the fence, will start bookings for their choice of international destination
With the winter holiday season just a few weeks away, strengthening of the Indian rupee to Rs 69.85 against the US dollar couldn't have come at a better time for the travel industry.
Indian tourists, who were sitting on the fence, will start bookings for their choice of international destination.
Rajeev Kale, president and country head - leisure and MICE, Thomas Cook India, said the upside, with an appreciation at current levels, will see a resurgence of positive sentiment towards holidays and higher travel spends. "Our forward pipeline is already reflecting a very encouraging growth of 20-25%. The current exchange scenario allows for additional consumer spends via add-on tours, extended stays, on-ground elements that include dining, shopping, experiences. And the timing couldn't be better-during the booking window for both year-end and summer 2019, thus giving further impetus to the outbound tourism sector," said Kale.
The rupee touched a three-month high of 69.78 in intra-day trading on Thursday, the level last seen on August 27, 2018. Experts see this as a big turnaround as the unit had hit a record low of 74.48 against a dollar on October 11 this year. In fact, after taking into account Thursday's big gain of 77 paise, the rupee has recovered about 6% from its record low.
According to Karan Anand, head - relationships, Cox & Kings Ltd, the strengthening of the rupee in the last couple of days will lead to savings of a few percentage points for those intending to travel on a holiday overseas. "Those who are planning to book a holiday will benefit from the recent development. Our bookings for the upcoming winter vacation are growing at a healthy pace and we see that continuing as per our estimates," said Anand. However, he added that based on their booking trends for the last few months, the fluctuation of the rupee is not expected to influence the choice of a destination.
Fresh outbound holiday bookings are expected to gain the most as the cost of booking a holiday package, accommodation, expenses on sightseeing, shopping and other out-of-the-pocket spends will be lower. Outbound tourists who've already booked will also save on account of expenses not included in the holiday package, considering the low cost of buying the US dollar at current levels.
Daniel D'souza - head of sales, India and NRI markets and e-commerce, SOTC Travel, said with Christmas and New Year around, customer sentiments have further improved, giving impetus to outbound tourism. "Compared to the same period last year, there has been an approximately 20% increase in our overall growth for winter 2018. Having launched our summer products (Summer 2019) early this year, our forwards are displaying a vibrant growth of over 20%, led by long-haul destinations like Europe, USA, Japan and Australia-New Zealand."
Echoing the sentiments, Iqbal Mulla, chief counsel at Global Tourism Council (GTC), a tourism consultancy firm, said the development is likely to help tourists seeking international travel. "There will definitely be some improvements in outbound tourism," he said. However, he added that the current developments could be temporary due to factors like upcoming elections and it may change in the near future.
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