New Year Celebrations in International Destinations Is Getting Cheaper Than the Domestic Destinations

Popular domestic destinations have been outclassed by the international holiday locales such as Thailand and Singapore, due to the cheaper international holiday packages. 

The New Year has just begun and most of the people from Delhi are opting to celebrate their New Year holidays outside the country. This year, people seem to be more attracted towards foreign destinations, which are no longer a luxury when compared to domestic ones.

The holiday packages to international destinations like Singapore, Dubai, Thailand and Malaysia, have lately become equally priced or even less expensive than the domestic holiday packages, in some cases.

Ravi Khureshi, who is a teacher and recently returned from visiting Thailand with his family, said “The holiday package came to my notice when I had almost finalized Goa. As it came to my notice that Thailand has several tourist attractions, better shopping options and more places to visit around Bangkok, that also at the same price as Goa, I chose it Goa. 

The flight tickets to Bangkok did not cross Rs 17,000 while the flight tickets to Goa were costing me around Rs 20,000." Further, he commented on the hotel standards, "A three-star room provided in Bangkok is much better than perhaps a four-star in Goa."

Arjun Dewan, a lawyer who recently visited Bangkok with his friends, had similar kind of experience. “When we were trying to choose between Goa and Thailand, the airfares came to our notice, which were not the same.  A round trip for Delhi to Goa was costing to around Rs 18,000 to Rs 20,000, whereas a Delhi-Bangkok round trip was costing us Rs 20,000.  

We further realized that a Goa trip around this time of the year will easily cost us around Rs 35, 000,” he said. He added, “With a bit of an addition to the amount we would have an excellent trip away from India. So we planned to visit Bangkok and Koh Samui. Still, we were a bit late in making the bookings, as if we had booked in advance, a trip to Bangkok would have cost us lesser than Goa or the Andaman Islands, during the festive season.”

Kerala, which is one of the top holiday destinations in India, has also lost its visitors to foreign destinations, all mainly because of the increasing rates of domestic holidays. Sritee Sharma, a doctor who went to Singapore with a friend for four days, said, "We had planned to visit Kerala, but instead chose Singapore, where we spent Rs 60,000 each. If we had not shopped there, the cost would have been lesser. The flight tickets to Kerala were over Rs 15,000 and hotel rooms were charging way above our budget."

Vikram Malhi, manager of South East Asia, Expedia, said, "We have noticed that people want to celebrate the year in newer destinations. The number of people leaving the city to celebrate the New Year has increased by 30-35%, compared to last year. 

The factors that are making international destinations more lucrative than the domestic ones are the increasing domestic prices, instability in the aviation sector and economical international airfares.” He adds that the downfall of the rupee has also prevented the Indians to visit far off destinations like US and Europe and instead choose upon the South East Asian destinations.

 Indians are now more preferring destinations like Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Hong Kong and Philippines. Frequent travelers are seeking for more exotic places like Koh Samui, Kota Kinabalu, Krabi, Hua Hin, Chiang Mai, Bintan and much more. At present, a Delhi-Goa round trip costs around Rs 20,000, whereas a Delhi to Bangkok round trip costs around Rs 25,000 and with such a marginal difference in rates, many people is opting for foreign destinations. 

Deepak Wadhwa, co-founder of We Are Holidays, an online travel company, said, "International holiday packages have definitely become cheaper. The most visited destination during the New Years, Goa, has higher rates. These soaring rates have prompted people to opt for other places. Adding to this, factors like low-cost airlines and better quality hotels at the same price have lead Indian travelers abroad.

A family comprising of four members can visit Thailand within around Rs 2 lakh. Mukesh Dehal, from World Destinations, spoke about the International Air Transport Association (IATA), said "In India, taxes on air tickets are much higher than the countries around it. With most of the airlines coming under IATA, except the ones of India, the taxes are higher over here.” 

He added, "The cost of a package to Goa would fall between 40-60 thousand and for Kerala, it would be 50-70 thousand. A domestic traveler will surely want to go to another country.”