The Hindu : Kerala News : Outbound tourist season set to begin by mid-March

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Feb 11, 2006

Kerala

Kerala

Outbound tourist season set to begin by mid-March

Staff Reporter

Travel companies launch aggressive marketing campaign

KOCHI: With the outbound tourist season in the country expected to begin by mid-March, major leisure travel companies and their franchisees in Kerala have embarked on an aggressive marketing campaign.

The competition between the companies to woo people is so much that a few of them have been engaging decoys (who pose as journalists, would be passengers and so on) to know the lucrative schemes being offered by competitors.

The outbound tourist season, which begins in mid-March, goes on well into the first week of May.

This is because the summer vacation, where children take a break from school, falls during this period.

The reason for the popularity of these tours is that package tours to some popular destinations are cheaper than travel within the country.

"Companies begin their marketing campaigns in January and February, since processing visa and other formalities take around 60 days," says Vasanth Patel, Kerala franchisee of Raj Travels and Tours.

"We offer a competitive package to Europe, with no hidden costs. No major sight-seeing destination has been let out from our list. Thus, a 24-day trip of countries in Europe comes for Rs.2.1 lakh per head, with a discount of Rs.24,000 this season. Our 10-day package tour of West Asia comes for Rs.47,000. One can go on these trips even in September, at the competitive rate that we offer now," he says.

The company's tour programme includes a ride in the TGV train, a P and O cruise, a visit to Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum and Eiffel Tower.

The increasing disposable income at the hands of people has given a boost to Indians undertaking outbound tours, says Nalina Pothuval of GNS Leisure Travels, the sales agent of Cox and Kings.

"Nowadays, people have begun to invest heavily in real estate. They sell off the land in, maybe two to three years, for double or triple the amount. These people do not mind unwinding in exotic locales abroad for a few thousand rupees. Travel has become a psychological need than a physical one. We have a package where a four-member family can visit Singapore and Malaysia for just Rs.1.5 lakh."

She added that the season has just started picking up and it would be too premature to say how it would fare this year.

Thomas Cook, another company offering holiday packages abroad, has come up with a `no-conditions apply' package this year.

They have European, American, Australian and New Zealand holiday packages.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail