Eastern Europe finds favour with India
Contd. from page 8
We have seen South America as an emerging destination among Indian travellers. Destinations like Chile, Peru, Argentina and Brazil have started to create a buzz in the market as Indians are now done with the run-of-the-mill destinations in South-East Asia and are seeking newer places for a holiday. Pune has emerged as a top source market for outbound travel from the western region, with other cities like Satara, Nashik and Aurangabad following in its stride. In 2017, Eastern European destinations remained a popular choice, like Czech Republic, Croatia, Slovenia, etc.
Outbound tourism is being driven by smaller cities like Bhopal, Meerut, Lucknow and Ghaziabad for leisure travel, while Amritsar and Muzaffarpur are driving MICE and incentive business. Indian travellers are seeking new destinations, but the most popular ones still remain short-haul destinations like Thailand, Macau, Sri Lanka, Singapore and Dubai. Almaty saw an increased demand for celebrations like bachelorettes, anniversaries and birthdays. Eastern Europe also saw many Indian travellers this year, with Croatia, Prague, Bratislava, Budapest, Slovakia being the highlight. Wine tours and gourmet trails are becoming popular in Italy. Ibiza in Spain is also coming up among party-goers while Seychelles and Maldives are gaining interest amongst beach lovers and honeymooners.
We have seen a growing interest towards CIS countries like Tajikistan, Georgia and Armenia this year. This increase in interest is mainly because people are now looking for new destinations and also, the CIS region offers short-duration flights, consequently serving as quick getaways from the usual destinations. Seychelles has done well as a beach destination while Thailand and Maldives have continued to charm Indians. Sri Lanka and Almaty have picked up for both MICE and leisure segments. East Africa is also a destination that Indians are now shifting to. In terms of Tier-II and Tier-III markets, cities like Surat, Ahmedabad, Baroda, Indore, Kanpur, Jaipur and Udaipur have become hubs for outbound travel. The trend is growing demand for experiential travel.
Europe continues to remain as the most popular travel destination amongst Indian travellers and also sold the maximum due to high demand. However, there is a shift in the destinations that travellers are now seeking within Europe. We observed that people travelled to the lesser explored regions in Italy like Amalfi Coast, Capri and Monte Carlo. Croatia and Montenegro have also done well this year. For the upcoming season, Almaty has gained interest and the usually popular destinations will grow further. One important trend this year has been cruise tourism. In terms of Tier-II and III cities, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and other cities in Punjab are driving the outbound travel segment from India.
CIS countries like Kazakhstan, Armenia, Baku, Almaty, Tashkent and Kyrgyzstan have picked up the most for us in 2017. These destinations are doing well because they’re value for money and have proven to be good in business. This summer season Mauritius topped the charts for us followed by Dubai. There are multiple attractions that have opened in Dubai which continue to attract Indians coupled with cheap promotional air fares. In the coming season, we are hoping for increase in traffic to Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Reunion Island. Smaller cities are also picking up, like Bhopal, Agra, Gorakhpur, Lucknow and Kanpur, and more cities are expected to emerge.
This summer, Indians mostly visited Dubai, destinations in the Far East, the UK, US, Canada and Europe. The dominant reason for this trend was noted to be cheap air fares offered by various airlines. South America is also picking up for clients who want something new. The upcoming months will witness wedding travel season. Given the growing interest for destination weddings, we have some projects for Turkey, Mexico, Italy and Spain, etc. Thailand, Cancún in Mexico and Antalya in Turkey are also very popular destination for Indian weddings. For the honeymooners, Mauritus, Maldives and Bali are first choices.