Tamil Nadu   

Now, holiday travel takes a hit

Chennai: Anjali Rajan is in the middle of last-minute wedding plans, criss-crossing the city to hand out her invitation cards. As she ticks off the items on her to-do list, however, one item still looms large. The young microbiologist, working in a private hospital, and her fiancé, who works in Dubai, had planned to honeymoon in Singapore after the wedding later this month. Their plans have now changed. “It was just too expensive, the travel, the hotel charges, everything. When we first planned to go there, it seemed ok, but now the costs are too high,” says Ms. Rajan. “Two days ago, we decided to change our destination to Bangkok. It appears to be the cheaper option.” Ms. Rajan and her fiancé are not alone, according to the city’s travel agents. Even travellers in the high disposable income bracket are starting to count the costs, with the result that Thailand has become the favoured outbound destination over the last six months. “The soaring costs have had an impact, especially on the demand for destinations like Hong Kong and Singapore. There has been an increase in travel to Thailand because of the value for money in a four-nights stay and sightseeing package tour covering islands near Bangkok and Pattaya,” explains V.S. Subramanian, Regional Manager for Jetair Tours. For others, the cost of flying overseas is too much to afford. Higher jet fuel prices have forced airlines to cut flights and hike fares, putting them out of reach of most people.

Domestic tourism and rail travel are easier on the pocket. Travel to Goa, Kerala, Darjeeling, Kulu and Manali have picked up over the summer, according to travel agents.

The popularity of weekend hotspots in and around Chennai have also increased manifold. “Our boating yards at Mudaliarkuppam, Muttukadu and other TTDC hill resorts and beach resorts are becoming big draws," says N. Ravi, public relations manager of the Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation (TTDC).

Places such as Kancheepuram, Mahabalipuram and hill towns in the State have become favoured destinations for celebrating wedding anniversaries, birthday bashes, and family re-unions.

To encourage this trend of exploring one’s own backyard, the TTDC is even offering an eight-day Tamil Nadu package tour, said Mr. Ravi. Smart Chennai-ites are mixing work and pleasure to make the most out of their travel plans. R. Natesan, branch manager of the City Union Bank, was in Thailand with his colleagues last month. “We were a group of 10 bank managers who went to Bangkok, including Pattaya, for a short holiday. The trip was part of an incentive scheme for achieving a set target,” he says.

There has been a marked rise in public sector company employees using their leave travel allowance to travel to places such as Port Blair, says Mr. Subramaniam. Such cruises give the feel of international travel, but with a domestic price tag. Media professional Deepa Anand found that even such trips can end up being expensive. She wanted to explore Europe after a summer work trip to Germany, but had to prune her plans. “When I first started planning this trip in January, Paris was high on my agenda and I was able to get rooms at 60 euros a day. By the time I was booking tickets in March, the rates had doubled. Since I didn’t know anyone in Paris, I had to cancel,” she says.

She did manage to visit London and Amsterdam, “staying with my brother’s friend,” and with a former colleague. Even then, the trip left her broke; she ended up selling her car after coming back.

Many travellers are finding that long-planned holiday schedules are costing more than what they bargained for, but still go ahead. “People who have made plans to travel abroad are not going to change them even if the rates go up, because re-scheduling costs much more. Air Mauritius recently had an overnight fuel surcharge of more than Rs 1000 per ticket, but nobody postponed their holiday plans,” says M.K. Ajit Kumar, Vice-President-Marketing of Hi Tours.

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