Yearend trips: Airfares shoot up

Yearend trips: Airfares shoot up

Hotel Tariffs Surge 40% In Hotspots

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Ahmedabad:22.12.2021

Airfares to key destinations including Goa, Delhi, Mumbai, Jaisalmer, Jaipur, Dehradun, and Bengaluru have skyrocketed about ten days ahead of the New Year’s Eve. With the eve falling on Friday, it will be a long weekend and people have planned their break accordingly to their favourite watering holes and party destinations. Despite the worries about the Omicron variant of Covid-19, plans for long weekend getaways are intact and consequently airfares have surged by a whopping 120% to certain destinations.

Anuj Pathak, the president of Tour Operators & Travel Agents Association of Gujarat (TAG), said: “Bookings are good this time despite concerns over the Omicron variant.” He added: “Those looking for driveable destinations are headed to Udaipur, Mount Abu, Kumbhalgarh, and Jodhpur.” He went on to say: “Whereas many other travellers are booking tickets to Goa, Jaisalmer, Jaipur, and even Jammu & Kashmir, owing to which airfares have surged.” In fact, some travellers have picked international destinations. “Places such as Dubai and Maldives are hot favourites and people are booking a three-night-four-day package to these destinations,” said Manish Sharma, chairman, Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI), Gujarat. “Travellers are more confident this time around and are shelling out Rs 60,000 to Rs 1 lakh per person.” With more professionals working from home and the long weekend in perfect sync, people from across the city have chosen to travel out. Airfares have spiked 50-120% depending on the destination, even when booked about ten days in advance.

“With the dynamic pricing policy in place and limited connectivity to certain destinations, airfares have shot up,” Pathak said.

In fact, even hotel tariffs have surged across all these destinations. Ankit Bajaj, secretary, TAFI Gujarat, said: “People want to travel as many could not due to the Covid-19 outbreak last year.” Bajaj added: “With more demand, hotel tariffs across popular resorts as well as four-star and five-star properties have increased by at least 40%.” Industry sources said that road trips are increasingly being preferred for travel. “Road trips are usually a hit for the New Year eve getaways. However, this year, there is a dearth of cars,” said Virendra Shah, chairman, Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), Gujarat. “With the wedding season kicking in and the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit around the corner, the availability of cars is a concern and cab fares have surged.”