Click for your trip! Increasing number of Indians are logging on to travel sites this season, which in turn, are offering special packages and freebies for those eager to pack their bags to the calm backwaters of Kerala, cool locales of Manali or the sunny sands of Pattaya in Thailand.
Sandeep Murthy, CEO of Cleartrip.com says, ?Leisure travel takes off in the festive season that leads to an organic growth of 12-15% in our business. We are able to augment this increase with the launch of special offers on air and hotel products.? The likes of Murthy are offering ?innovative? schemes. On his portal, for those bitten by the travel bug, Murthy is gifting Motorola mobile phones on booking two roundtrip Spicejet flights and a Sony Cybershot camera on two roundtrip Indigo flights. Gift vouchers are yet another attraction. Another portal, Ezeego1.com, has tied up with Air Deccan for special offers. On booking an Air Deccan ticket with ezeego1, the customer is entitled to get a second Air Deccan ticket absolutely free.
The portal also has a cash back offer, valid on a few domestic air tickets. Their ?Winter Holidays at a Steal? offers holiday packages for international destinations such as Bangkok and Pattaya, New Zealand, Sydney and other places as well, at a cheaper rate. Deep Kalra, founder and CEO of Makemytrip.com, agrees to excellent response during the festive season, but is concerned about airline capacity and availability of hotels. ?During the peak season, demand is up by 30-40%, and over the years, the gap between peak and off-peak season travel is narrowing down,? he explains. Makemytrip has exciting offers to make, too. The portal is gifting a microwave on the purchase of a holiday package above 20,000, and has other exciting holiday packages as well. Portals claim that they make the process of traveling much more easier, since tickets can be booked and most enquiries be made online, by those who wish to fly abroad or those who want to enjoy their holidays here in India.