Outbound travel from Goa growing at 15-18%: Anand

HERALD: What prompted you to promote Great Britain as a destination this year, do you select specific destinations every year?

KARAN ANAND: Cox & Kings, with its wide network and offerings, collaborated with Great Britain to come up with three themes that centred around cuisine, experiential travel and rail journeys. The evolved Indian traveler who has been to Great Britain needs to be provided with an array of products to make him travel to the destination once again. How do you do it? Our research indicated that these three themes can form the basis of a campaign that will entice him to look at the destination with a different perspective.  This newly evolved traveler is mobile and is savvy. Through this campaign, we are enticing the traveler to consider Great Britain for its variety of offerings.

HERALD: What are the kind of numbers you generate from Goa for a destination like Great Britain?

KA: We do not disclose numbers but in percentage terms, we have seen a growth of 15-20 percent of people from the state travelling to GB.

HERALD: How has the outbound market from Goa been in general this year?

KA: Outbound market from Goa is promising. The top draw for this summer is European destinations. A majority of them prefer to travel on group holidays, where they see four to five countries on one trip. Cruise is another area that is growing and people from Goa fly to Hong Kong, Singapore and the Mediterranean to board cruise ships for a three to five-night cruise experience.

The other destinations that are popular are Dubai, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore. Vietnam is slowly picking up. We have also seen a number of Goans opting for Australia and New Zealand as well.

HERALD: Has there been growth over last year in the Goa market?

KA: It is a small market but it is growing at 15-18 percent every year. There is a huge Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR), market from Goa to overseas destinations as there is a huge diaspora from Goa in various countries. Even this fuels the demand for travel overseas. Second, disposable incomes are rising and this encourages people to travel overseas. A large number of international flights operate from Goa to overseas destinations and this makes travel even more convenient for the residents. Airlines also introduce attractive fares to stimulate the demand and Goans have taken advantage of such offers. We see this market evolving in the years ahead.

HERALD: Is this promotion also an attempt to promote the world cup cricket tournament scheduled in England next year

KA: No.

HERALD: What are the trends emerging in the outbound industry in the country and in the State?

KA: For Indians travelling overseas, there was never a better time than it is today. More than 50 countries have Visa on Arrival or Visa Free option for Indian travelers. Some countries such as Philippines and Dubai give you a Visa on Arrival if you have a valid Schengen visa. The procedures are being simplified and according to the recent Economic Survey of India, over 20 million Indians travelled overseas in 2016 and we believe that by the end of 2017, this number would have touched at least 22 to 23 million. The ease of obtaining a visa has also shortened the lead time when it comes to planning a vacation. 

Finally, Gone are the days when travelers from Tier 2 cities would have to travel long distances to the nearest international airport to take a flight overseas be it Dubai, Bangkok, Singapore or Kuala Lumpur. The increase in international flight operations from airports in Tier 2 cities like Lucknow, Goa, Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Kochi has fuelled the demand for outbound travel. The growth generated from these Tier 2 cities stands at between 15 to 20 percent and these are catered by full-service carriers such as Emirates, Etihad and also LCCs such as Tiger Air, Silk Air and Thai Smile. The advent of LCCs from these airports has also brought down the fares quite significantly.