‘This is the best time to travel to Europe’

A panel of travel experts, discussing the ongoing recession, find out that many Indians are still travelling. While honeymooners and niche segments are seeking out their destinations abroad in large numbers, the salaried class too is not shying away from undertaking journeys. Moreover, Indian travellers have changed. While first-time travellers prefer southeast Asia, seasoned travellers want Paris beyond the Eiffel Tower. They are looking at Michelin-star restaurants and the vineyards of Provence. Excerpts from a lively conversation on Indians and travel, moderated by DNA.

DNA: Four months ago, there was doom and gloom everywhere. But now that we’re at the holiday season, what’s the travel scene looking like?
Manoharan: Corporate movement is down in the region and elsewhere. As far as leisure is concerned, the crisis in Thailand has affected all of us. Southeast Asia is seen as one destination so if Thailand is out of the equation, then it is not automatic that, say, Malaysia will get the benefit. People combine other destinations, they combine Malaysia with China, Macau. Agents are happy because they get the numbers and people see new destinations. Incentives are required to get people out, from all the ancillary industries as well such as air fares, hotel rates.

Kiran Islania: 26/11 and the economic downturn had affected us but now it’s picked up and travel is on. We have a lot of international and domestic trips. I guess there’s not much of an impact on us, though we had thought it might. As of now, the summer holidays are packed.

Sheetal Munshaw: I will second what Manoharan said about incentives. In any event, Europe is for high-end travellers and in the current scenario, clearly job retention is more important and people are not thinking of holidays. Groups will see a slight dip. But we’ve put our bets on Free Independent Travellers (FITs) - we’ve focused on them for the last four years. In that sense, we’re not affected. Individual travellers might cut down from two to three times a year, but do a good holiday and that’s what we are banking on. There is a lot of expectation out of India this year as unlike the West, the country has seen a certain growth. I don’t see a slump. Our priority is the luxury and FIT segments and I don’t see that market down

DNA: What do you mean by all eyes on India and emerging markets? Special packages, rates & hellp?
Sheetal: There are special rates for India. Rooms need to fill up. Hoteliers see it as instead of rooms going empty, it’s better to break even. Special offers, deals are happening. What I mean is in comparison with other markets, there is more expectation from India.

Kiran Nambiar: New Zealand has had a good run and globally and movies like the Lord of the Rings rocketed NZ’s profile upwards from 2003 onwards. Many Bollywood movies were also shot there from 1999 to 2003. There has been a slowdown since September 2008. From India’s point of view, there is a growth decline from September to February but the slowdown is due to lack of confidence. When the stock markets are down, even millionaires feel poorer. But the cricket series between India and New Zealand, a 44-day long tour was very good for us. March saw an 18% growth from India and we hope the trends continue.

Abhilasha Jain: We had a good run in the past five years. We have done 20% plus consistently. Our visa numbers are good. Leisure is up but not business travel. There’s cautious optimism. Perhaps the trend is changing from long to short-haul. People in Australia go from a 10-day to 5-day holiday, opt for a 3-star hotel instead of 5. But if they plan a holiday, they take it. We will continue to do 10% plus through summer.

Veena Patil: My view is different All the trends mentioned do exist and are working. With oil prices up, tax, economic slowdown and then attacks, then oil prices down and now influenza,... everything was working against tourism. But we found that people want to travel. We were actually trying to find out what people want. We looked for product mixed and niche segments. Something should work whatever the scenario. Honeymooners travel in large numbers - that’s a recession-free product. We came out with a ladies’ tour. These are actually saviours in these difficult times. Long and short-haul are both working. I am confused about the Southeast Asia sector, which is down by 20%. Europe is up. This was not expected. We thought Europe would be down. There is a little worry of the market from July to August. All of us have to survive that.

Sonalee Vaz: The political situation is a worry. But India is a resilient market - last to stop and first to start. The trend is for long haul but we’re lucky that people prefer short haul and total value for money destinations. In spite of the political discontent -- which has settled down now -- we’ve had many inquiries.  Things are getting back to normal. People will always travel but will reduce the number of days and hotel size. The recession is India is not like what I’ve seen in Berlin or London. Most airlines have cut flights to India but Thai, Cathay, Jet have stepped up their services and come up with fantastic offers.

DNA: Southeast Asia may have some kind of drop, but don’t people see it as an easier, cheaper destination than many places within India?
Abhilasha: It is also due to segmentation. The aam aadmi has got impacted, but people of a certain kind do have money. They have money to go to Australia and Europe and they’re not impacted. People also have choices today. He may have kept money aside or budgeted for a holiday.

Sheetal: He is getting better for value today. The salaried are not impacted by the recession. They still need to get away and are getting better deals today. Travel has climbed up the priority list. In fact, this is the best time to travel to Europe.

Veena: It is like an addiction, Indians going overseas. Now it is a lifestyle.

Manoharan: It’s basically supply and demand. This is a good time to travel. The deals are good. When oil prices came down, airlines were hedging with their fares. Now the hedging is over, they have to fill up their seats. We’re now looking at travellers from tier 2 and 3 cities in India. They want to go abroad. But before they go on the long haul market, they look at Southeast Asia and go in a group. The first time traveller wants familiarity, to feel like home with your own people around you. They learn how to travel, eat in hotel buffets and understand other cultures before they venture further. Basically, they become confident in the third phase of travelling. Have money, stay in the best. Once he knows how to travel, he no longer wants people like himself around. He wants to enjoy the holiday, see more.

Veena: Southeast Asia is like a training ground for first-time travellers in a group. We do get repeat visitors, but we have different experiences for them - spas, luxury, wild life and so on. It doesn’t happen with Europe, people will not go to the same destinations there. Though, Paris, London and Switzerland are a different matter.

Sonalee: It’s not just a stepping stone but also a repeat destination. People want to see again and again. Thailand may be for the shopping, Singapore for the water parks, Malaysia for theme parks. I feel that Southeast Asia is a repeat destination and makes it very popular.

DNA: So, you are catering to two different kinds of travellers?
Sheetal: Earlier, Paris meant the Eiffel tower for travellers. Now it’s changing. We have discerning travellers, and France has a diversity of products to offer beaches, vineyards, shopping, the Alps, Paris. You can really segment the market. People want different experiences. They go to Provence, to the vineyards, even to Normandy and Brittany. They ask us for the Michelen-star restaurants. Group travellers mature and that is my target audience.

Kiran Nambiar: The first kind of traveller is growing. Air Malaysia flies from Kuala Lumpur to Thiruchirapalli now. The advent of low cost airlines changed Europe and India is waiting for that to happen. You have to capture first time travellers and repeat travellers. The time to travel is now - New Zealand fares have fallen. Also, the NZ dollar has fallen. It was the first country to go into recession and the first to come up. Now packages are cheaper. We do not have serious competition in adventure tourism. It’s the easiest place to drive. New Zealand has invented bungee jumping, skydiving and so on. It appeals to younger travellers. Honeymoon go bungee jumping.

Manoharan: I was in Bhubaneswar at a travel agent’s office. A guy walked in, speaking in Oriya, and booked a tour. When I heard that 12 of them were going to Brazil for a holiday during carnival, via France, I almost dropped dead. The ticket price alone would have been close to Rs 2 lakh each. The financial crisis not seeped through to tier 2 and 3 cities. MNCs have cut down but Indian companies are doing well. A Pune-based company has taken 200 people to Scotland for a junket. Local companies are not affected.

Abhilasha: Niche segments are particularly recession resistant. The Indian traveller has evolved. For Australia, in the past two years, November and December have been equal to summer figures. December is as big as May and this is a huge shift in trends. People ask why should we wait for our summer holidays when Australia at its best during its summer.

Kiran Islania: I agree that travel has become a necessity. It’s the same for children. Parents want them to travel. We are seeing our niche programmes grow and they are referral programmes. When kids go on our holidays, parents are planning their own holidays.