Three things that are wrong with the Indian travel industry

It's summer vacation here in India, and soon will be in most of the tourist destinations in the Northern hemisphere. Pick up any newspaper, and you find advertisements that jump out at you: USA, Europe, South-East Asia, Exotic locales... You name it, and there are holiday packages available for those who dare (or should I say wish?) to go.

Well, vacations are no doubt a time to relax, enjoy, discover and well, splurge ( if you can afford it!). The average Indian vacation-eer has no doubt started dreaming big. Call it the boom resulting out of higher disposable incomes, the downtrend in the economy (making vacationing a higher priority than say, buying that dream home for which you pay through your nose), or just the urge to live in the moment!

All that's surely a good thing, for the traveller and of course, the travel industry at large - more tourists means more business, naturally. But look more closely and one has to wonder, what is the deal with the (oh, well,) travel deals?! Domestic Holiday Packages for a bare minimum 3N/4D type, typically start at 25,000+ INR, per person. So, for an average family of four, that's a cool 100,000INR! International Packages probably start in the 30 or 35,000 INR range, and what's worse, it's usually without airfare or visa fees, etc. I can see ads today for a vacation to HongKong or Singapore, that's nothing less that INR60,000/-. Per Person, that is!!

Sure, the rupee is losing its value, and more so, in comparison to the US Dollar, but is this really what good vacations (must) cost? Is this what is the perceived value? Personally, I think that that's just way too much. Yes, the dollar, and jet fuel and taxes have risen, and made hotels and air travel more expensive, but the question that we need to be asking is, what's a fair value deal for a holiday package? For those in the travel industry, the same question may be put as, 'What's the sweet spot for someone to take this package?' (assuming, they are in the business to gain and encourage more people to travel during the vacations).

I don't get the big deal (no pun intended) in pricing a package like so, and then trying to offer discounts and that too for the really 'lucky' handful who somehow 'qualify' for the "*Terms and Conditions/Conditions Apply" of almost all the special offers. It could be funny, but it's often frustrating and irritating. There's so little predictability in the whole deal. It makes planning that vacation so much harder.

So, here's my personal view (and others are free to opine differently) on 3 things that are just not right for the Indian Travel Industry:
1. Planning a family vacation is just too complicated
Surely, with bookings being possible online in the past few years, things have been getting better. Indian Railways, offering  online booking is no doubt a great advantage for many. Leading travel portals have also played a role in aggregating deals and bookings to help the traveler. But, this is only a means. What still remains a very time consuming exercise, is finding the 'right' deal, checking availability - the end-to-end stuff - and the uncertainty about inclusions/exclusions, and confidence in getting value for what you pay for.

2.If it's a family vacation package, why not treat it that way?
This one is not easy, as the 'best' price is not going to be the same for everyone. And, then there are indirect costs - the dollar-conversion, airport taxes, fuel surcharge, etc. A 3N/4D deal @ 25,000/- pp may be okay for some, but will definitely start to look attractive if the whole deal for a family of 3 or 4 could be offered as a real package at 50,000/- or 65,000/-!! What's the idea to still quote the rates as a 'per person' for a family vacation? (That's another thing which gets me: hotel rooms being charged on per-person basis, for double rooms or larger. But that's for another day's rambling)

3. Do not add time (and money) - add value
Many packages imply a "value" by extending the duration, to 7N/8N/10D/12N. But that's not cutting the deal (well, at least for me). It's harder to justify a whirlwind tour of 5, 7 or 10 places all packed into this kind of a package to possibly justify the 'value'. Apart from accumulating stamps on your passport, it's going to leave you quite exhausted. Offer some flexibility to fine-tune the duration, depending on the place and interests of the family.Itemize the tours and costs, and allow one to pick (even if it's from a set list of items).

Don't get me wrong - travel services are not an easy business for anyone to be in. Competition is not making things any easier. And, some travel service providers are trying hard to address some of these aspects through new and creative ways. But, a vacation is all about the value and we need to find better ways to ask and deliver value.

Happy holidays!