Despite slowdown in the economy, the hospitality industry in India is reporting a significant revival in occupancy rates and the tourism trade is expecting over 20 lakhs tourists to make voyage to renowned tourist destinations of North India, followed by South for Christmas & New Year celebrations, reveals the ASSOCHAM latest survey.The preferred destinations include – Shimla, Kinnaur, Lahaul and districts of Spiti, Chamba, Kangra, Mandi Nainital, Kullu, Manali, Massourie, Dalhousie, Kufri, Kashmir valley in winters with snowfall being the main attraction. Rajasthan, as always, will remain a favourite and places like Udaipur, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Bikaner etc will see a mix of domestic and foreign tourists. Besides, the top destinations in south would include Ooty, Mysore, Pondicherry, Rameshwaram and Goa, Mahabaleshwar in west, according to just concluded survey conducted by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).
ASSOCHAM carried out the survey in ten major cities like Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Thiruvanathpuram and Ahemdabad and interacted with as many as 4,500 people included frequent travellers, professionals, travel trade and the agents booking foreign tourists.
ACCORDING TO THE ESTIMATES MADE BY THE ASSOCHAM BASED ON FEEDBACK
RECEIVED FROM VARIOUS TOUR OPERATORS, BOOKINGS FOR CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR EVE’S CELEBRATIONS HAVE ALREADY BEGUN.
Of the 4,500 participants 68 per cent preferred to visit parts of northern India to enjoy their New Year festivities as the region is likely to witness mild snowfall on the New Year’s Eve 2014. On the other hand, almost 28 per cent potential travellers preferred to visit coastal
regions of Goa, Pudducherry, Kerala, Thiruvananthpuram, Rameshwaram etc and about 10 per cent desired to visit areas like Ooty, Mahabaleshwar, highlights the survey.
The travel trade is showing signs of revival as are witnessed by improvement in bookings. Expressing their views, the hoteliers in the region said that they are witnessing improved bookings both from domestic and overseas travelers, adds the survey.
Releasing the findings of ASSOCHAM survey, Chamber’s Secretary General, Mr. D.S. Rawat said, “there is steady increase in hotel occupancy mostly in North India and other traditional tourist destinations. Festive season and pick up in economy should be given credit for improvement in hotel occupancy and the hotels are cashing in on buoyant festive”.
He further said, resort regions of Goa, Pondicherry, world-famous backwaters of Kerala and other coastal areas, apart from hilly states of Uttrakhand, Himachal Pradesh would see the tourist rush with tour operators offering top-up freebies etc.
The impact is already being seen by way 35-40% increase in tariffs for hotel accommodations as food & beverage costs are also running up by nearly 30-35%, from the bottom witnessed last year.
The survey further point out, the tourist movement would start from the second half of December, mostly for the domestic tourists while foreign travellers would be seen increasing from the end of November itself.
During last Christmas, Goa happened to be highly congested tourist spot because it provided competitive tariffs. This year, the trend is more towards tourist spots that are comparatively cheaper as tariffs for hotels accommodation have jumped up by nearly 35-40% with food and beverages cost also going up by nearly 20-25% in larger towns and
metros.
It is not only the party buffs who are planning holidays during the New Year but also many families that are going on pilgrimage. Tirupati, Gurvayoor, Mantralayam, Dharmasthala, Kukke Subramanya, Kollur, Sringeri, Horanadu and other pilgrim centres in the south are the favourites for many families for the New Year holiday, adds the survey.
India’s tourist industry is booming due to a rush of foreign tourists and increased travel by Indians to domestic destinations. With the great potential available and the development initiatives taken by the government, Indian Inbound Tourism has shown a substantial growth in 2012-13, said Mr. Rawat.
“The increase in the number of travellers for the New Year has kept the cash register ringing, bringing smiles back in the travel and hospitality trade. The popular tourist destinations have reported good bookings for the year-end over the previous year”, added Mr. Rawat.
FINDINGS OF SURVEY ARE:
The aforesaid findings are condensed at a random survey conducted by the associated chambers of commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) in which approximately 4,500 executives poured their responses on their preference for holiday trip.
Around 55 per cent of the respondents fall under the age bracket of 20-29 years, followed by 30-39 years (26 per cent), 40-49 years (16 per cent), 50-59 years (2 per cent) and 60-69 years (approx. 1 per cent).
The report was able to target corporate employees from 18 broad sectors, with maximum share contributed by employees from IT/ITeS sector (17 per cent) followed by financial services (11 per cent) includes banking sector, stock brokerage house, insurance sector, financial consultancy and chartered accountants. Employees working in engineering and telecom sector contributed 9 per cent and 8 per cent respectively. Nearly 6 per
cent of the employees belonged from market research/KPO and media background each. Management, FMCG and Infrastructure sector employees share is 5 per cent each. Respondents from power and real estate sector contributed 4 per cent each. Employees from education and food& beverages sector provided a share of 3 per cent each. Advertising, manufacturing and textiles employees offered a share of 2 per cent each
in the results.
The survey found that majority of family going on a holiday between end of December 2013 and beginning of January 2014 will nearly spend an average of Rs 15,000 to 30,000 on the trip which is about 30 per cent less than last year budget. Even the duration of the holiday planned is down to an average 3 nights this season from 4 to 6 nights last year.
The survey points out that nearly 52% of the upmarket professionals and business persons from Delhi-NCR have planned their ‘FAMILY TRIPS’ this year. Around 15% of respondents have set aside higher budgets trips to Goa, Kerala, Andaman & Nicobar and Rajasthan, the survey found. A Meager share of the respondent has planned their holiday for international trip like Singapore, Malaysia etc.
PREFERRED DESTINATIONS: Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Thiruvanathpuram and Ahemdabad
NORTH: Shimla, Kinnaur, Lahaul and districts of Spiti, Chamba, Kangra, Mandi
Nainital, Kullu, Manali, Massourie, Dalhousie, Kufri, Kashmir valley, Chandigarh, Panchkula, Udaipur, Jaipur
SOUTH :Mysore, Pondicherry, Rameshwaram
WEST :Goa, Mahabaleshwar
INDIAN INBOUND TOURISM :35-40% (Increase)
INDIAN OUTBOUND TOURISM :20-25% (decrease)