Patnaites prefer domestic holiday destinations

The sliding value of the rupee has led to domestic holiday destinations beginning to gain favour with Patnaites, as the cost foreign travel rises alarmingly. Summers are here but this once there seems to be a change in summer holiday plans for Patnaites. And it all has to do with the devaluation of the Indian rupee in the recent weeks. Turns out, the hike in the rates of the dollar, with the rupee oscillating between Rs 55 to Rs 56 against the US dollar over the past few weeks has led to a whopping 20% escalation in the cost of foreign travel. Patna's most popular 'within budget' holiday destination from past three years - the Southeast Asian countries will miss its yearly traffic. Going by estimates, an Indian tourist on an average has to now shell out 10-20 per cent more for trips to South East Asian destinations like Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. In the case of European nations and the US, costs haveescalated 25-30 per cent due to rupee volatility. Naturally then, Patnaites have chosen to explore their own country instead of the almost mandatory summer foreign tour. Instead, travel agents in the city claim that the Patnaites' favoured destination this summer vacation are Kashmir, Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh, Kerala, Goa and the Andaman islands. According to Sunil Prakash, a travel agent in the city, domestic travel bookings have seen a 15% rise this summer. "We had a few bookings for Thailand and Bali, but once the rupee began sliding hit even those bookings were cancelled. People came to us to seek advice and to calculate the cost of travel. And after all the permutations, domestic destinations have begun to gain favour. In fact, domestic travel has seen a minimum 16% rise." Domestic beach destinations like Port Blair and Goa are scoring over last year's popular holiday destinations - Phuket, Pattaya, Maldives and Bali. While travel agents say that 87% of the queries for honeymoon packages are for domestic destinations, almost 80% of those are even finalised for the same. "People are looking for right kind of substitutes for Pattaya and Bangkok, geographically," offers travel operator Sanjeev Singh, and adds, "An all-inclusive Thailand package that once cost you something between `17,000 and `23,000 per person, will now cost you between `22,000 and `27,000 per person. At the same time, an Andaman package can be had for anything between `15,000 to `20, 000 per person. So, Port Blair fits the bill for our customers." Rashmi Singh, who cancelled her summer Thailand trip is now flying to Kashmir for her summer vacation. Resigned to having been cheated out of her foreign sojourn, Rashmi rues, "It is not fair. You decide a budget and save money for travel and then suddenly the rupee devalues and spoils it all. I really couldn't add an extra `20,000 extra to my budget for Thailand! We are all disappointed. Nevertheless, we hope to make the most out of Kashmir."