The short summer breaks in Dubai, Bangkok, Singapore and other similar places have got more expensive. The airfares for these traditional holiday destinations have already gone up by 15-20% since last month and are likely to soar by next month.
?The fares are going up because it is the peak season. They (fares) are already up by 20%. However, the number of people travelling to these places is also growing in similar proportion. In May, the prices may rise further as that is the time when everybody from South to North India plans a vacation,? said Manmeet Ahluwalia, marketing head of Expedia India.
At present, a Delhi-Bangkok, Dubai, Singapore or even Hong Kong ticket for the next month will not cost less than R10,000. The prices can go over R40,000 a ticket, depending on the sector, airline and availability. The travel companies maintain that the 15-20% fare hike is inevitable. Thanks to the carriers? constraints to push up their capacities. According to industry experts, the traffic is likely to go up maximum on the traditional routes like South East Asia, US and Europe. For instance, India is among top five tourism-generating nations for Singapore. Of the total 13.2 million international tourists who visited Singapore in 2011, 8,69,000 were from India. Similarily, the Indian tourists arrivals in European destinations like Switzerland and Austria have gone up by 100% and 43% respectively.
Dubai, has already held roadshows to attract more Indian travellers after India topped for the strongest passenger growth at the Dubai International airport with over 51 million passengers last year. The continuous growth in tourists traffic is also an indication that there would not be much relief in terms of fare reduction.
?The outbound tourism is on a rise. Places like Dubai, Singapore are not only corporate destinations, a number of Indians are visiting these places for sheer luxury holidays. Compared with this, airlines are not able to add capacities, so the fare hike is unavoidable,? Rajji Rai of Travel Agents? Association of India said.
