Demand for travel bookings surges beyond pre-Covid levels
Swati.Mathur@timesgroup.com
New Delhi:08.10.2021
A steady increase in Covid vaccination, combined with easing of travel restrictions and the ensuing festive season, have led to a surge in demand for travel that service providers say is even higher than pre-Covid levels.
TOI spoke to multiple players including Thomas Cook India Ltd (TCIL), SOTC Travel Ltd, MMT, Booking.com and Yatra and each said bookings for travel in the last quarter of 2021 have been witnessing a big surge.
A joint survey of 2,500 customers by TCIL and SOTC, showed the UAE, particularly the ongoing Dubai Expo 2020, to be the biggest drivers of demand for international travel in the coming months. A similar assessment of travel appetite by Booking.com, on the other hand, found the UAE, France and UK, Switzerland and Italy were the top five international destinations picked by Indian travellers between October 1 and November 30.
The TCIL survey also said that almost 77% of its surveyed customers were keen on international travel, and that apart from the Dubai Expo 2020, venues of IPL and T20 World Cup matches have been good crowd pullers too.
The pent-up demand for travel also seems to be impacting holiday durations and budgets, with most willing to loosen their purse strings for a chance to set out again. A majority of travellers appeared keen to take week-long breaks at least, while budgets, TCIL said, ranged for anything between ₹70,000 (for a four-night trip) to upwards of ₹2,50,000 per person for luxury packages.
TCIL’s Rajeev Kale said customer response has also prompted his company to tailor demand-based curated products.
Full report on www.toi.in
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