Twenty-two-year-old Vaibhav Manchanda can barely contain his excitement. An executive with the Delhi team of the Indian Super League (ISL, the 8-city Indian football league set to kick off in September 2014), Vaibhav was surprised by his father, who arranged the trip to Brazil for him and his brother to watch the World Cup as a graduation gift. “I’ve been thinking about somehow making it for one of the matches for the past year,” says Vaibhav, “But I never dreamed I would be able to watch the final.”
Not many Indians may have the luck of watching the final in Rio de Janeiro, but more than 1,800 have travelled to watch the World Cup over the past month. “Interest in FIFA has grown with an increase of approximately 15-20 per cent in travellers going for FIFA 2014 in Brazil as against FIFA 2010 in South Africa. We had over a few hundred corporates who have travelled for FIFA,” said Karan Anand, Head-Relationships, Cox & Kings Ltd, the Official Hospitality Partner for FIFA 2014.
The Brazilian Embassy has issued a record number of visas, free of cost for world cup goers, says Chief Consular Officer Guillherme Fitzgibbon.
And that’s not all that was new. “Whilst metros like Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata have traditionally accounted for the bulk of our sports tourism bookings, we have witnessed encouraging demand from places like Bhopal, Chandigarh, Indore, Coimbatore and Hyderabad,” says travel giant Thomas Cook(India)’s Sr. Vice-President Shibani Phadkar,
Each of them will end up spending between Rs. 2-5 lakh for the ticket, a minimum of Rs.1 lakh on the tour, and each match ticket costs at least Rs. 70,000. Even so, for many Indians, it is a chance they have been saving for: like Kolkata couple, Pannalal (81) and Chaitali (71), who are attending their 9th World Cup, and have forgone many treats, like their favourite fish, just so they could afford this one in Brazil, which they call “the mecca of football.”
Worried by the numbers of Indians who may be first-time tourists in Brazil, the Indian Embassy in Brasilia has issued a travel advisory, especially warning Indians about theft and other crime. It doesn’t bother Vaibhav Manchanda, who says the thrill makes up that kind of risk. “Delhi is hardly the world’s safest city,” he adds. What does worry him, however, is that the thrill of the final will be dimmed now that the home team Brazil has crashed out. “The mood just won’t be the same,” he says, “I hope the visiting fans will make up the loss of cheering in the host crowd though.”
