With heavy snowfall in Europe, outbound tourists this season have been forced to turn to warmer climes in the southern hemisphere. And countries like Australia and New Zealand are literally making hay while the sun shines, with a 40-45 per cent rise in bookings from India.
Of the net outbound winter tourists from India, around 10 per cent usually vacation at European destinations. But with Arctic conditions crippling most of the continent, tour operators across the country are seeing a 40-50 per cent drop in bookings for European holidays.
Many flights to Europe were cancelled over the Christmas weekend, with passengers stuck at airport terminals for hours, even days. London’s Heathrow airport, one of the world’s busiest, was among the worst hit. Since mid-December, hundreds of flights were cancelled at Heathrow alone after 12.7 cm (five inches) of snow in an hour. Snow has also stalled road and rail traffic across Europe.
Delhi-based tour operator Dolphin Tours & Travels said 5-10 per cent of outbound leisure tourists go to Europe in winter and the most popular destinations are Switzerland, France and the UK — countries that have hard hit by snow this year. It said many have cancelled their bookings.
“This year, due to the cold wave in Europe, we have seen a 40 per cent increase in cancellations, especially in the leisure segment. Many tourists looking to travel to Europe for New Year have rescheduled their plans,” reiterated Keyur Joshi, co-founder and COO of Makemytrip.com.
It’s not surprising, then, that Australia and New Zealand are proving to be hot destinations for year-end vacationers this year, say tour operators. Other sought-after destinations are Egypt, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and the seaside resorts of Phuket in Thailand, and Langkawi and Penang in Malaysia.
“People have a five- to six-day window in mind during which they plan their travel. As unprecedented snowfall this year has hit air and road traffic in Europe, many don’t want to risk flight cancellations and are switching to Southeast Asian destinations instead," said Sanjeev Chhajer, vice-president, Cox & Kings.
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Chhajer said although bookings for European holidays are not usually very high at this time of the year, bookings have almost come down to nil. In comparison, bookings for Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asian destinations are up by 40-45 per cent.
But has this shift to Southeast Asian and Australian destinations hit operator margins? While a European holiday typically costs around Rs 80,000 to Rs 1 lakh per person, a Southeast Asia trip would set one back by only half those amounts.
While none of the operators admitted that business has been hit due to a shift in destinations, Chhajer pointed out: "People who travel to Europe usually have a budget in mind. Those that have cancelled their European bookings for warmer destinations are staying true to their budgets and opting for a more luxurious holiday like taking a cruise or booking expensive resorts."
According to Sabina Chopra, co-founder and Executive Vice-President-Operations at Yatra.com, the switch to warmer destinations has also made Southeast Asian holiday packages more expensive this season.
A few other trends have also been seen as a result of the travel restrictions brought on by Europe’s weather. Says Sanjay Shah, a travel tour operator with Ahmedabad-based Flamingo travels: "I am losing a lot of NRI travellers, who have non-refundable tickets booked to European destinations.”