We avoid the beaten track? In Switzerland, we rented a car and drove all over the country. We stayed at a tiny ski resort on the Swiss-French border, where if you take the ski lift, you?ll be in France in five minutes!? says Divya Ramachandran, vice-president, Helios & Matheson Information Technology.
Yes, the Indian traveller is no longer satisfied with sightseeing and shopping. She no longer wants to be herded in groups, doing the touristy things and prefers to go beyond the usual. Trekking, paragliding, scuba-diving is what drives today?s globetrotter to places which may not be on every tourist?s itinerary. A tour of a private distillery in Scotland, driving across Tuscany in a Ferrari or a cruise on the Nile gets the adrenaline pumping.
Says Ritu Sharma, country manager, Switzerland Tourism, ?Indians now are well-travelled and more aware ? they now want to also include local culture, sample local cuisine and specialities and make their visit more comprehensive in one country rather than do all of Europe in one trip.?
Altogether, 8.3 million Indians travelled abroad in 2006-07, with the figure set to touch 16.3 million by 2011. Says Clement Wong, Euromonitor?s Travel and Tourism account manager: ?Indian tourists are big spenders and as such are a boost to the tourism revenues of any country.? Euromonitor forecasts that outgoing tourism expenditure from India will grow by over 25.7% to reach $21 billion by 2011.
More and more Indians are now travelling on their own, and often with friends and family, rather than in organised groups. Indians now want more control of their holiday, which is not really possible in the package tour. ?Whenever I go for a long holiday, I prefer to travel alone. This way I can do the things I want to ? click photographs, gaze at the monuments, go for long walks,? says Sonali Dutta, vice-president, corporate affairs, Bry-Air Asia Pvt Ltd. The wanderlust in her took her to Egypt for six days recently, where she was able to fulfill a childhood dream of seeing the Sphinx. ?I had gone to Dubai on work, and from there I flew to Egypt. The entire trip cost me just Rs 25,000, thanks to a RCI Travel Club exchange holiday that was coming up,? she says.
Quite a number of countries have set up their tourist offices in India to target this globe-trotting Indian. Agrees Karim Mekachera, director, Maison de la France, ?The individual traveller is our target customer. He stays in five-star hotels, samples French wine and perfumes, checks out the golf course.?
The rupee appreciation is also giving a fillip to Indians wanting to travel, encouraging them to try untested waters. Typically what was earlier seen as the pursuit of niche travellers is now open to the masses as well ? be it golf or spa tourism, vacations at boutique properties, helicopter rides, yacht holidays etc. For example, this year Destination Mauritius offered its Mauritius Magical Luxurious Vacations, where a clear distinction was the presence of high-end resorts and activities like helicopter rides, submarine rides, priced at Rs 49,995 for six nights and seven days.
?The most direct impact of the rupee appreciation as against the dollar will be in terms of Indian travellers having greater spending power to splurge while on vacations abroad. Also the price proposition of travel packages to the US, Europe and south-east Asian countries is now 10-15% more competitive as compared to last year?s package costs,? says Kavi Ghei, director, TRAC Representations, which promotes tourism boards of various countries in India. While booking packages, travellers have to intelligently check on the conversion component of the rupee as against the dollar undertaken by the Indian tour operator, especially while buying the packages in INR, he explains. These travellers can now scout for special competitive packages and ask for new value add-ons. This factor has also been a major catalyst in growing markets from tier-II cities. Agrees Abhilasha Jain, country manager, Tourism Australia, ?The Indian traveller may now look at an additional night in surrounding areas of main cities such as Sydney, which might include a night in Port Stephens or Blue mountains.?
The US has been impacted the most by the rupee appreciation. In 2006-07, a 5-night package cost approximately Rs 41,000 per person on twin share. The same package would now cost Rs 37,000. ?We expect a year-on-year increase of 10-20% in the number of tourists visiting the US,? says Sachin Bhatia, CMO & co-founder, MakeMyTrip.com.
Indians want to travel just about everywhere. The options range from countries like France, Spain, Italy and Greece. At the same time, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Kenya, Egypt, Australia and New Zealand too are attracting Indian travellers. ?Far East and Australia are favourites this season but surprisingly Europe is also being visited. The response to our European Super Saver was very encouraging and we see a trend that would take shape in the years to come,? says Arup Sen, executive director, Cox & Kings. Points out Bernhard Stingl, Deluxe Travel Europe: ?In the deluxe travel industry, most tours are customised, as a high-end client does not like to have a standard tour. We have customers who would rather explore a city on their own and others, who would like to have some help from one of our professional guides and limousine drivers.?
Ramachandran has the last word on this: ?What makes each journey rich and memorable is not so much the place we visit, but the people we meet. We make friends amongst locals and learn more about the culture and history over a cup of coffee than what any guided tour could possibly hope to achieve.?