As air fares soar, Indians decide to holiday near home

NEW DELHI: Indians dismayed by the year-end surge in international airfares aren’t cancelling holiday travel plans — they are just not going too far away. Most are opting for domestic and short-haul overseas destinations, according to online travel agencies and operators.

There’s been a 15-20% jump in advance bookings for destinations such as Goa, Udaipur and Jaipur from the year earlier as an increase in winter schedule capacity has resulted in a decline in some domestic fares. Advance bookings for international destinations like Singapore, Colombo, Bangkok, Dubai, Mauritius and Malaysia are up 10-12%. Meanwhile, operators said homestays and villas have gained in popularity over top hotels this holiday season with travellers looking to save on costs.

Goa, Dubai, Udaipur, Jaipur, Bangkok, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur are the top trending holiday destinations, according to ixigo, while locales such as Dubai, Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Colombo are receiving maximum bookings on Paytm Travel.

“With Christmas and New Year vacations right around the corner, we have witnessed a 15-20% jump in advance bookings for domestic destinations,” said Aloke Bajpai, cofounder, ixigo. “An increase in capacity for the winter schedule has resulted in a 20% decline in domestic airfares. This has encouraged families, couples and millennials to opt for short domestic getaways over international vacations this year.”

Fares on key routes to the US and Europe are up almost threefold following the grounding of Jet Airways, which was the second-largest international carrier from India until it stopped flying in April, ET had reported on December 3. Compared with this, average fares to short-haul international destinations are up just 10-12%, according to ixigo. Some routes are actually cheaper — average one-way fares to destinations such as Dubai and Kuala Lumpur are down to Rs 16,695 and Rs 11,381, from Rs 16,818 and Rs 15,163, respectively, at the same time last year.

“We have seen an uptick in demand for short-haul international destinations such as Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Bali and Dubai,” said Sabina Chopra, cofounder and COO, corporate travel and head of industry relations at Yatra-.com. “Compared to last year, there is a 63% growth in booking enquires for domestic destinations including Goa, Kerala, Coorg, Pondicherry and Orchha.