PUNE: Now is the time to realize your dream of visiting the
Colosseum in Rome, the museums of Paris or the beautiful
tulip garden in Amsterdam. For, a
trip to Europe has become easy on the pocket. Thanks mainly to
depreciating value of Euro.
Travel to Europe has picked up this summer for the first time in three years with tourists from Pune making the most of this opportunity. Travel companies have reported about 40% surge in enquiries for Europe travel.
Return airfares to most destinations are under Rs 50,000 as against last year’s Rs 70,000. Travel companies in the city cited Euro depreciation (1 Euro now equals Rs 66.23) as the reason for drop in fares. Last year, one Euro was approximately equal to 80 rupees.
Nikhil Thakurdas, owner at Odyssey Tours and Travels, said that there has been a 40% increase in queries and bookings to Europe this summer. “The depreciation of Euro has made travel affordable. Also, return airfares this year are under Rs 50,000 per person in most carriers. Conversely, the airfares to Europe in 2013 summer hovered between Rs 60,000 and Rs 70,000 per person,” said Thakurdas, adding that the prevailing situation translates into an approximate 20% drop in trip cost.
Thakurdas said that off beat destinations like Croatia and the black forest region of Germany are becoming popular among travellers with some opting for self drive holidays, a new trend to explore Europe. “We had five bookings of 20 people for Croatia. These travellers opted for a self-drive holiday, something that is getting very popular among the well-travelled,” he added. His company alone has booked close to a 100 people for Europe this summer. Besides, the company is handling close to 70 inquiries right now.
Thakurdas said that many are adding Mediterranean cruise to their holiday plan. “The most popular cruises are for one week duration that depart from Barcelona, Venice and Rome. Amongst the 100 people that are booked, close to 40 have added Mediterranean cruise to their holiday plans,” he said.
Several European consulates have come up in Pune, which has made it convenient for Puneites to submit visa applications which were otherwise required to be sent to Mumbai or Delhi. This is another reason for people preferring Europe.
Mehboob Shaikh, director at Travel Elect Pvt Ltd, said, “The fall in value of Euro has made stay in Europe cheaper. Seasoned travelers have already been to places like Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia and are now exploring the west. In fact, we are also getting enquiries for Brussels, which was shown in a recent Bollywood film,” he said.
Karan Anand, head of relationships, Cox and Kings, said that Europe is becoming popular among second-time overseas travellers. “Many prefer to visit Europe during summer due to the pleasant weather. Our bookings have increased by 20% this season. Travellers are opting for group tours,” said Anand.
Switzerland, France, Netherlands and Italy are favourite, but not the United Kingdon because of high pound to rupee conversion.
Zelam Chaubal, director of Kesari MICE, Kesari Tours Pvt Ltd, expects to take about 10,000 people to Europe this year. “People are exploring off beat destinations such as Montrose and Scandinavia, besides the regular places. People who could not travel last year because of elections have saved enough to head out this summer,” said Chaubal.