Rupee depreciation has not affected travel plans

Anand Menon, Vice president and Head – Leisure Businesses, FCM Travel Solutions, Indian subsidiary of Flight Centre Travel Group, Australia, talking about the newest trend Fly-Cruise said that Rupee depreciation has had no affect no travel plans.

“Diwali is the time when the peak season begins. In fact, the real booking season starts from Dusshera / Diwali till Sakranti / Pongal until it starts again in March. This time around as well, travelers across India are in for a super long weekend, yet again. The 5-day holiday from 07 to 11 November 2018 is suitable for the new-age Indian traveller to not just de-stress but also explore the ‘Fly-cruise’ trend.

At Travel Tours, our leisure business has grown by 24-26% during the festive period. Amongst international destinations, popular countries such as Singapore, Bali, Dubai (along with Abu Dhabi), Turkey, Egypt, Australia & New Zealand have escalated to an impressive uptake. Our International Holidays Team has witnessed a strong increase in its Europe queries as well – up by animpressive 38% in 2018. We have curated special Europe group packages with unique and engaging holiday options for India’s travelers. This include new experiences like Cruise on Lake Lucerne in Switzerland and the fastest transit train from London to Paris in Europe via Eurostar.

Rupee depreciation has not affected Festive travel plans necessarily. While the dollar component does go down, travelers’ expenditures do not. For example, travelers now opt for the same destination but for a shorter duration.

This Diwali cruises have also been extremely popular. In fact, we have witnessed ‘fly-cruise’ as an increasing trend where the focus shifts from cruise being a part of the travel to becoming the main experience, with airfare and hotel taking a smaller percentage in the itinerary. Popular destinations with fly-cruise experiences include Singapore, Hong Kong and Thailand.”