Travel industry on downward spiral, woos tourists

With inflation at a 13-year high and ATF prices continuing their upward trend, the already-struggling travel industry is facing the heat.

“The peak season is coming to an end. In the peak season we have seen a drop of 10 to 15 per cent already in number - a drop of 30 per cent in actual terms if we add the growth that we were expecting,” says Director, TRAC, Kavi Ghei.

Comparing the number of outbound tourists from India for April 2007 with April 2008, both Singapore and Hong Kong saw a fall of close to 50 per cent.
Malaysia, on the other hand, witnessed a sharp fall of close to 80 per cent after a great year in 2007.

The worst hit is again the aam-aadmi.

“Yes, there is a slowdown - the niche traveller will still travel - the effect has impacted the middle level,” says Destination Manager, Sri Lanka Tourism, Maadhuri Verma.
With the situation nowhere close to improving, tourism boards are going all out to woo the Indian traveller.

“For the lean season, we are taking measures like: joint promotions with airlines, hotels partnership and facilities like visa on arrival,” says Director, Tourism Malaysia, Manoharan.
After taking toll on long haul destinations like the US or the UK, rising fuel prices and inflationary pressure are now targetting short haul destination like Malaysia and Singapore with an evident slowdown in the travel industry.

And this is just another facet of the impending economic slowdown.