Could India also mean luxury?
A definite and a resounding yes! This could be an opportune time for our travel advisors to realign themselves to this new oncoming wave of domestic tourism. A key ingredient for this would be to finely decode the customer's aspirations to the T and ensur
If you can’t go outside, go inside. This profound line became the lockdown tagline for many of us who reached the point of being stir-crazy. Perhaps this could also double up as the mantra for tourism post COVID-19. For something that has remained in the confines of ‘budget travel’ can now enter the realms of ‘luxury’. But how? We speak to three experts who were outbound market. I think this is the first time that the Indian travel industry can reposition itself dynamically to create the paradigm that is necessary for that domestic traveller to look at India as their next luxury holiday destination,” he says.
Sharma shares an anecdote that involves watching Netflix with his daughter. “We watch this series called Buddha that showcases all the places that Buddha travelled to during his spiritual journey. That makes me ask myself, ‘How can we spend 10 days on the Buddhist Circuit?’ But when I look around there are hardly any Indian domestic tour operators that are packaging the Buddhist circuit. I think this is opening doors to big opportunities for us as tour operators,” Sharma adds.
Circuit training
Why is it that the circuits or packages available for the inbound tourists are not available for the Indian domestic traveller, asks Sharma. “There is a need to bring our circuits back to the forefront. Domestic tourism should not be positioned just as a weekend package. We should make it a five or six-day package whether it is religious, wildlife, or experiential in nature. We need to mix and match, add standalone hotels in the itinerary. Trust me, we don’t have to fear the online giants. We have to work with them,” he says.
Bringing hotels into the fold…
“And why have we positioned domestic tourism in a twostar three- star hotel bracket?
This is the time to unshackle it completely. There is no reason why our hotels – and we have very fine hotel chains – are not included in these packages. Indian hospitality is par excellence. It has the best talents in the world and the experiences they provide is absolutely stunning,” the travel agent- turned- hotelier adds.
He also attempts to debunk the myth that luxury tourism in India is expensive. “I think it is about perception. When we talk about luxury tourism in Europe and Asia, the rates are extremely high. Even before Covid-19, you could still rent a really good five-star hotel in India for US$
400 a night which anywhere in the world would not be less than US$ 800-1,000 a night. So it is a complete misnomer that the Indian luxury product is expensive,” Sharma adds.
Sharma’s argument brings into focus the need to get high-end hotels, who until now had been creating their own packages and selling them separately, to work with travel agents in creating these luxury packages. “As a hotelier, I’m always thinking of ways to keep the guest inside my hotel at all times. But I need
…And airlines too
With more than two decades of experience in aviation industry,
Chief Strategy & Revenue Officer, IndiGo, reminisces how he (when at Air Sahara) more than 20 years ago joint hands with Arjun Sharma to create a air-hotel package for Goa. “We did 5,000 passengers in just over three month during the monsoon. It was a revolutionary step in those days. We have forgotten to package those things today,” Kumar adds.
Sanjay Kumar,
However, he has a different take on what luxury would mean in terms of air travel. “In my opinion, there is nothing like luxury as far as domestic air travel is concerned. We believe that any product which is safe, reliable, on time, and affordable is luxury. If we can scratch even a two to three per cent of the total domestic market, and make air travel a part of their journey that would be great. Right now, these travellers are taking their own transportation, or trains, or buses. But if we can create an ecosystem for them which is
Kumar says, adding that Indigo has 63 destinations across the network of which 25-30 destinations have been launched in the last two years.
He also revealed his airline’s openness in creating a luxury package around a popular circuit along with hotels and travel agents. Praising Modi’s timely ‘Dekho Apna Desh’ campaign that encourages Indian nationals to travel to at least 15 destinations by 2022, Kumar said that we need to realise the potential for this market. “In fact, Covid-19 has created a new opportunity for us all. There is a new segment that we as an industry can tap for luxury products. Replying to what Arjun Sharma mentioned earlier, IndiGo already provides excellent connections to the entire Buddhist Circuit – Gaya, Banaras, Gorakhpur, Allahabad, Patna, Ranchi, the entire belt,” he shares.
Redefining luxury
Executive Director, Bird Group which owns Roseate Hotels and Resorts, echoes the need to re-look at the context of luxury. “I don't know when and how travel will resume. But when we do start