epages News [Travel Agents, June 2003]

• Strong euro burns a big hole in holiday budget
• Timeshare travel up by six percent
• Domestic tourists fuel demand
• Thomas Cook to tap markets in the Far East
• Nepal pulls out all stops to attract Indian tourists
• Hotel, tourism on a roll since April
• Tourism Finance Corporations net grows 21%
• Back to Travel Agents Archives

Strong euro burns a big hole in holiday budget

Jun 06, 2003: Bangalore: The strengthening Euro has pushed up the price of European holiday packages by 5-6% this summer since most travel companies contracted deals in Euro. Even shopping expenses have increased for Indians who are crazy about things ‘phoren’. SOTC — a Kuoni division is among the few exceptions to the Euro contracts as it has worked out its packages in dollars. But even SOTC says that the next round of holidays may cost 5-10% more because of the Euro appreciation against the dollar. SOTC was fortunate to buy the hotel rooms and other services in dollars. Hence, it was selling the same in dollars to its customers here. But possibly in the next round it would be Euro deals which can mean some additional outgo for the Indian tourist. However, European hotel rates have softened a little which can partly offset the impact of a stronger Euro.

Incidentally, the trade expects the leisure travel market to partially bounce back this winter. The trade has possibly done only 70% of last year’s business this season. While international holiday travel cancellations have been substantial, the rise in business traffic has negated some of the damage done. The dull mood among holidaymakers is universal with people preferring to travel to nearby destinations instead of flying far. While US continue to draw big numbers from India, pure leisure travel is on the decline. However, the total traffic stays up because of people going on work, visiting friends and relatives, others who hold green cards or long term visas etc.

Timeshare travel up by six percent

Jun 06, 2003: Bangalore: The number of Timeshare holidaymakers is on the rise this year, showing a 6% growth during January to May. The current summer had such a sudden surge in demand in India that the Timeshare Exchange had to lease resort space from the open market. Through the year, the company expects double-digit growth in the number of holiday makers. RCI is also talking to leading hotels in the far-east to block rooms at very attractive rates for the Timeshare members. Since the region is still trying to recover from the fallout of SARS on its travel and hospitality business, RCI is taking advantage of the opportunity, negotiating bulk rates, which will be better than the prices that individual guests get.

RCI India has 47,000 members and 52 resorts affiliated to its exchange programme. Till SARS hit South Asia, particularly China, the India members were going in droves to this region. Meanwhile, the number of Timeshare members heading to overseas resorts increased from 35% to 40% this year, while the rest opted for Indian destinations. Interestingly, US continue to be the most popular foreign holiday location for Indians, with Orlando (DisneyWorld) and Las Vegas topping the list. South Asian locations like Malaysia were also patronised.

Domestic tourists fuel demand

Jun 07, 2003: Mumbai: Bed, breakfast and much more, like you’d only dreamt of. Leading hotel chains are providing up to 60% discounts at the Taj group, though, the discounts are less. Hotel industry officials said that though international travel had not picked up, most hotels had good occupancy rates, thanks to hefty discounts. This summer, the domestic traveller has fuelled demand across cities and leisure destinations. Amongst the leisure destinations, Goa has emerged as the leading tourist destination. Hotels in Goa have had occupancies exceeding 70% in the last two months. Some Goa hotels have come up with attractive packages.

The Radisson White Sands, a new five-star resort, has packages beginning from Rs 20,000 per couple for 3 nights and 4 days. This works out to Rs 10,000 per person spread over 3-4 days which includes frills like free transfers and meals. According to officials, most five-star hotels in Goa have highly discounted and attractive packages are being offered. The increase in the number of domestic tourists, has forced hotels to advertise discounted rates in order to better their market shares. Travel operators and corporate clients earlier had access to huge discounts on published tariffs but walk-in clients had to pay the high tariff rates. It’s a different story now. Virtually anyone can check-in at a discounted rate. Rates for some corporates, are however even lower than the published discounts.

Thomas Cook to tap markets in the Far East

Jun 07, 2003: Bangalore: Forex and travel major Thomas Cook has dropped its move to acquire the 175 room Holiday Inn in Goa. Instead, it is exploring opportunities for taking an international position in far-east markets like Thailand, besides reviving its interest in operating international charters out of India under its vertical integration plan. Thomas Cook initially looked at three hotels in Goa, namely Majorda Beach Resort, Holiday Inn and Kenilworth. Typically, the travel company was making 1,500-1,700 bookings a day for close to six months in a year. Hence, it made sense to acquire a hotel to access better rates and also keep a tighter control on quality standards. Thomas Cook AG, the Germany-based parent company which holds 60% equity in the India venture, has nearly 75,000 hotel rooms across different tourist locations in the world.

Thomas Cook India is also keen to expand its footprint in regional markets in Asia. China is another market which is being studied. The strength of the Thomas Cook brand name enables the company to spread its wings in new markets. Thomas Cook India expects to grow by at least 30% this year over last year, despite the slowdown and net a turnover of Rs 140-150 crore. Around 55% of the earnings will come from forex business.

Nepal pulls out all stops to attract Indian tourists

Jun 11, 2003: New Delhi: The Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), the nodal body for promotion of tourism into the Himalayan kingdom, has taken up a focused programme to increase the inflow of tourists from its key market India. In a two-point strategy NTB will start new campaigns reassuring people that Nepal is completely safe for tourists. Also, it plans to take advantage of the global SARS fears as tourist arrivals into Nepal have gone up. The new segments that NTB will be targeting is religious tourist and adventure tourist. Holiday makers is another huge segment. In association with the leading hotels of Nepal, NTB has started a summer promotion campaign in major cities of India.

The board has also come out with new packages starting at Rs 3,999 per person which gives a 3 night/4 day stay at the leading 5-star hotels along with sightseeing options. In addition, there are other tailor-made packages for every type of tourist. Indian tourists are also coming to Nepal due to the effect of SARS in other countries, particularly the South East Asian region. The packages include the Indian Airlines holiday package to summer get-away, launched in participation with the Nepal Tourism Board and five star hotels of Nepal. Despite the SARS fears which hit global tourist flows, Nepal has seen an increase in tourist arrivals from key markets like the UK, Australia and New Zealand which performed positively.

Hotel, tourism on a roll since April

Jun 24, 2003: Mumbai: The tourism and hospitality industry is seeing an upturn in its fortunes this summer. Hotels usually go empty in the summer months. But the three months beginning April ‘03 have been different for most hotels, which have seen high occupancy levels. According to hospitality consulting firm HVS International, Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi are topping the charts, with occupancies ranging from 60% to 80%. In leisure destinations, Goa, followed by Kerala and Rajasthan, are going packed. Room rates have come down and helped to increase volumes. The SARS outbreak has helped hotels fill up their rooms, as domestic tourist traffic to the Far East has been diverted to destinations within the country. A lot of international traffic has also been diverted to India. Business travel too has helped drive up the numbers; industry officials say that business traffic is up 20 % compared to last year.

Hotels in Mumbai are experiencing occupancy levels of 65%, against a level of 50% at the same time last year. Average room rates (ARR) for Mumbai this quarter is Rs 4,100, against Rs 4,900 last year. Bangalore has been the best performing city in terms of ARR and occupancy. Hotels such as The Taj, Oberoi and Le Meridien have had occupancies exceeding 80%. Bangalore has topped in ARR and occupancy rates in the last three months. Occupancy levels are up to 76% from 72% and room rates have inched upto Rs 4,500 from Rs 4,300. Compared to Mumbai and Bangalore, hotels in Delhi have had a marginal growth in occupancies at 57% against 56% last year. However, the top-end hotels are doing better owing to discounts.

Tourism Finance Corporations net grows 21%

Jun 28, 2003: Tourism Finance Corporations of India has registered 21% growth in net profit for the year ending March 31. The net profit has gone up to Rs 9.71 crore this year in comparison to Rs 8 crore last year. The capital adequacy ratio has also increased to 19.75% in comparison to 18.46% last year. This is against the prudential norm of 9% set by RBI.

Profit before provision and taxes for the FI increased by 88% from Rs 1.09 crore last year to Rs 2.05 crore this year. The improved result was on account of reduction of the interest expenses and greater emphasis in recovery of dues. The company has also increased its provision for bad assets from Rs 1.09 crore to Rs 2.05 crore.