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Going abroad is fast catching up with the urban Hyderabadi. With package tours offering a good deal and `travel now, pay later schemes', more and more people are availing of these tours to fulfil their dream of visiting foreign lands, writes SUDHEENDRA PUTTY.
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THE PICTURESQUE splendour of the snow-capped Alps and the green meadows of Switzerland and Austria reverberating with the `Sound of Music', the old vestiges at Rome and Athens, the tulips and windmills at The Netherlands, the canals of Venice and Amsterdam, the museums at Paris and London housing priceless antiquities and objets d'art, the lofty cathedrals of Paris, Rome, Milan, Bonn, Vienna, the gardens at London, the river cruises on the Seine, Danube, Rhine, the Vienna Woods, the historical monuments all over, the shopping at London and Paris... these are just a few attractions that Europe enchants tourists with. If this is just a sample of what the Occident has to offer, the Orient has equally exotic destinations - Bali, Bangkok, Japan, Korea, China... Australia, New Zealand and the U.S.A. are today popular destinations worldwide. Come April end and the season starts for flying out of India to the cool environs of Europe at a feverish pace. Sojourns in the East are cruises on the sea which people undertake. It is the time of the year when schools are closed and the families plan vacations for summer.
Forget Ooty, Kodaikanal, Shimla, Kulu-Manali - now the hotspots are outside the frontiers of India. Leisure travel - outside the country is a trend that is steadily picking up in the last few years - a true reflection of the changing lifestyle of the average Hyderabadi and the higher disposable surplus in the hands of the corporate executive. And cashing in on this new, emerging phenomenon is the leisure tour operating companies. All one needs is to pack a few bags and embark on visiting places which one has dreamt of - these dreams are easier to realise now thanks to package tours which offer exciting trips and don't pinch the purse too much.
The last couple of years has seen a steady increase in the number of people travelling abroad for leisure. "Between April and May over 100 people have taken our various packages and we expect it to go up even further in the coming weeks. A few years ago, this figure would have been 15-20 in the same months and would have not crossed 50 in the peak period," says Tanuja Pandey Manager, Thomas Cook.
More and more leisure package tours are being designed to suit the needs, likes and the pockets of the traveller. Europe, the Far East, Australia and New Zealand have emerged the clear favourites. Md. Ishaq Pasha, Executive, Leisure travel, Raj Tours and Travels, says, "U.K., France,
Switzerland and Austria are favoured by many. The Far East too was a major attraction, but SARS has hit business hard this year. But for it, business to countries like Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong would have been very brisk. Switzerland has always remained the paradise on earth and is the ultimate destination for honeymoons." The response to the package tours has been very impressive and the tour operating companies too have taken every effort to make it as memorable and exciting as possible.
A large number of people today prefer to take the readymade packages for a variety of reasons. For one, there are no hassles of running around and they are tailor made to suit the needs. "They have a well-planned itinerary and make good arrangements. There are generally no hiccups in the programme," says Kishore Rao, Senior Consultant with Satyam who took a few package tours in the recent past. The tours are being packaged so attractively (aggressively?) that few are able to resist it. There seems a concerted effort to offer the best services to the customer to the extent that quite a few customers are recommending the packages to their friends; the packages are affordable and attractive. Says Tanuja Pandey, "Our costs are comprehensive and there are no hidden costs for the customer. It includes cost of travel, visas, food and even medical insurance." Most tour operators also have a well-trained tour manager to escort the travellers and it is all very professional. The duration of the tour ranges anywhere from 6 days to 21 days and the costs too vary accordingly from a few tens of thousands to a couple of lakhs. While an exclusive tour of London can be for three days and two nights, it may take as much as three weeks for a sojourn around the continent.
Finance, which used to be the major stumbling block in the past is no longer a hassle. Many MNCs today sponsor their top managers for overseas vacations. Exceptional performers in the service and retail industry too today enjoy overseas travel at the cost of their employers. Besides, there are lots of loans for the taking. Also, many of the tour operating companies have strategic tie-ups with banks to provide instant finance to help you "travel now and pay later". Says P Madhusudhan, Asst. Manager, Leisure travel, Cox and Kings, "we, for instance, have an arrangement with ICICI Bank to provide finance. Repayment options can be worked out in consultation with the bank
for periods between 12 and 24 months. It is of course, subject to the discretion of the bank, but the option is there today." Thomas Cook too has a tie up with Citibank where financing at 0 per cent interest rates may be worked out for a tenor of six months. Then, there are those like Kishore Rao who could encash a few ESOPs for financing their travel. Explains Tanuja Pandey, "what all this has done is that it has provided more options to the customer. Moreover, the culture and thinking is also changing. Many companies have fixed holidays as well." Adds Ravi Kiran, employed with an MNC , "this is undoubtedly a reflection of the change in the priorities of spending and an increasing propensity of the corporate honchos to spend on leisure travel. This was unheard of in Hyderabad even a few years ago." True. When one considers the kind of people making a beeline for overseas travel - software professionals, managers at MNCs and those from the trading and business community.
For the business and trading class, it is more a question of one-upmanship. Says Ishaq Pasha, "if one shopkeeper says he has travelled to Mauritius, the other will travel to London just to stamp his superiority in the clan."
If people are today spending over a lakh of rupees for a week or fortnight abroad, it shows the intent to enjoy life to the fullest. A section of society - one that is considerably moving north and helped by the numerous MNCs in town - is keen on spending like there is no tomorrow. Several of these companies also send their employees to the U.S. or U.K. for short stints to train them. For these 20 plus somethings, it is a real dream come true and apparently, they would like this dream to be happening as often as possible. There are some who are planning to write the CPA exams just because that can take them to the U.S. Some craze that!
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