Time to ‘Go Domestic’

Sharing a few words of positivity during a period of mostly dejection is Saurabh Tuteja, General Secretary, Enterprising Travel Agents Association (North India).

Being at home for almost five months now, everyone is looking for a change. When the world is still fighting a negative mindset and insecurities, people are indeed looking for the first opportunity to break the monotony and take small holiday breaks. Let it be a weekend to a drivable location or a drive to a hill station, which is of course a safer location in these COVID times. Here comes the bigger responsibility for the tourism sector to play. We can’t forget that the world is opening not because it’s now 100 per cent safe, but it’s the need of the hour to bring life back on track, to support a dying economy. It becomes really important to check how safe a destination and property are before being suggested to the client. The next couple of months will surely see some movement happening, and the key to success is ‘Go Domestic’.

This is the time to move the steering to beautiful local destinations, drivable destinations to begin with. This is surely the perfect time to get the right value of a client’s money, with most domestic properties offering massive discounts to fill their rooms. Luxury properties are available at nearly 40-50 per cent discount and that surely gives an opportunity to clients to upgrade their holiday. It is indeed a time when your aspirations of staying in a palace property or utmost luxury becomes affordable at a much lower price. With packages including pick and drop from home, which may be a few hours’ drive, by luxury cars to inclusion of all meals and private pools at a certain price, clients would surely love to indulge. I personally believe that this is the time to explore offbeat destinations that are close to nature and activities that are in sync with the current need of social distancing, such as trekking, mountaineering, wildlife camping, wellness, etc. The idea of picking up a nice wellness resort in the lap of nature with a smaller inventory of rooms is like nirvana. Yes, people are hesitant to move out, so we need to check, recheck and then assure them that the place they are going is safe to stay, eat in and roam around in.

It is so interesting to see that our industry has understood the need of the hour. Innovative SOPs are being prepared by leading players in the trade to ensure that domestic tourism gains the confidence of the guest and can act as a stress buster for them to move ahead in life. With a major shift towards safety of guests, it is definitely a positive sign for the industry to open and welcome the world. This is the perfect time to go domestic and tell the world that ‘We are open’.

Luxury properties are available at nearly

40-50% discount; clients can upgrade

their holiday”

(The article has been written by Saurabh Tuteja, General Secretary, Enterprising Travel Agents Association (North India), the views expressed are the author’s personal views.)