“As of now, we see airfares for the year-end season being largely flat compared to last year for routes like Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines,” said Rajesh Magow, cofounder and group CEO of travel portal MakeMyTrip. “There is serious capacity coming in on certain routes, so even if the demand is rocking, we don’t expect the prices to go up steeply,” he added.
The same cannot be said about stay, though. Room rates in many popular leisure destinations are expected to increase by double digits as the new year comes in, with hotels seeing higher activity.
“Overall, we anticipate a nearly 15% average room rate growth in quarter four compared to the previous year, underscoring the strong travel sentiment and preference for premium stays across our portfolio,” said Nikhil Sharma, managing director and chief operating officer for South Asia at Radisson Hotel Group.
Average room rates at Radisson Resort & Spa Lonavala are currently 32% higher year-on-year, with continued double-digit growth expected through November and December, he said.
According to data shared by a travel major, December airfares to popular destinations like Vietnam and Dubai have increased by only single percentage points compared to last year.
Ticket prices to Australia — a popular destination for Indians in December — are the same as last year, the firm said.
In fact, the prices could be easing on some key routes.
“Data shows a dip in overall domestic and international fares this year, down 8.6% domestically and 5.4% internationally,” a Cleartrip spokesperson said.
Travellers are actively taking advantage of improved regional air connectivity for destinations like Vietnam and Sri Lanka, the person added.
SD Nandakumar, president and country head for holidays and corporate tours at SOTC Travel, said overall tour pricing has seen an increase of approximately 3-7% for domestic and short-haul destinations. “Considering Indians are true value seekers, we have launched attractive air inclusive tours for destinations like Thailand, Bali and Vietnam this winter to spur demand,” he said.
There has been a glut of deals over the last two months, with airlines trying to fill up seats as they add capacity, sometimes taking planes on short-term lease.
India’s largest airline IndiGo is inducting 10 aircraft on short-term lease and may add more, people aware of the development said.
Similarly, SpiceJet has started to induct planes and will add more than 20 planes to cater to the winter rush, industry insiders said.
Airlines normally lower fares to get more people to book tickets when demand slows, or competition stiffens.
There’s little question that competition has intensified on some routes, but airline executives said there is no sign that demand is waning.
Pieter Elbers, CEO of IndiGo, noted that the festive season has marked a good quarter for the airline for the last many years. “I have no reason to assume that this time it will not be a good quarter,” he said.
“To ensure we are well-positioned to meet strong and sustained demand, particularly through the peak travel season, we have taken steps to augment our fleet through additional damp lease arrangements,” Elbers said.
So, how do you plan your travel in the peak season without spending a bomb?
Book early, ahead of the season —that way, you can keep the travel cost low, industry executives said.
Airfares are notoriously volatile and never less so than during the holidays, which are among the busiest times to fly, noted Praveen Iyer, cofounder and chief commercial officer at Akasa Air. “If you plan in advance, if you book in advance, there are some amazing deals available,” he said. “Even now, if you book something for December 15 or December 20, there are very good fares.”
Rajeev Kale, president and country head for holidays, MICE and Visa at Thomas Cook (India) said attractive pricing (both airfares and land) are serving as powerful demand drivers.
“Interestingly, destinations like Japan and South Korea saw interest this autumn and fall inspite of airfares being higher by 20% in November. Fares to Central Asia’s Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Georgia are seeing a minor increase of 6% and coupled with convenient access and easy visa regimes, they make for an attractive option,” he added.
In short, if you’re planning a year-end getaway, book soon — or pay more.
