Dumping Shimla for Switzerland?

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">AHMEDABAD: Tour operators in Gujarat are finally feeling good. The footloose Gujarati traveller has really taken fancy for affordable Europe sojourns, after being cheated of his vacation last year because of the Iraq war and the SARS outbreak.<br /><br />Wooing the Gujarati globetrotter with package deals as low as Rs 36,000 per person for a single destination two night stay to a 10-night European stay at Rs 70,000 per person is turning out to be quite easy.<br /><br />According to tour operators, after the 75 per cent decline in outbound traffic last year, the unprecedented rush to hit the cold climes of Europe has forced them to double their capacity as they have almost mopped up their entire six months of booking for the January-June period in the first two months of the year itself.<br /><br />"We are almost 800 passengers ahead of what we were at this time last year," says an excited Shreya Gupta, regional manager, Shree Raj Travels & Tours, adding, "we have already started holding airline seats for tours starting in April because the market is moving very fast and we don’t want to take a chance."<br /><br />This after the bad run of luck for the past three years thanks to the Gujarat quake of 2001, 9/11 and riots of 2002, followed by the Iraq war and SARS scare of 2003.<br /><br />Explaining the reason for the unprecedented rush to Europe, Sanjeev Chhajer, vice-president, Cox & Kings, points out: "Many of the travellers who had saved up for a Europe trip last year and could not due to the Iraq war have been the early birds." <br /><br />"With the stock market boom, there is increased flow of money and people want to spend it," explains Shreya.<br /><br /><formid=367815><br /></formid=367815></div> </div><div class="section2"><div class="Normal"><br />According to Chhajer "Added to this is the increasing competition among tour operators which has led to greater affordability and convenience in terms of availability of Indian food and Gujarati language tour operators."<br /><br />The Gujarati traveller, who traditionally accounts for 35-40 per cent of the total outbound travel from India, is now surging to 45-50 per cent this year, tour operators claim. <br /><br />For Raj Travels & Tours while Gujaratis accounted for almost 60 per cent of our total outbound tourist flow to Europe, which was around 5000 travellers in 2003, this year it was expected to touch the 85 per cent mark. Operators say even the middle class is taking to international travel.<br /><br />The husband-wife doctor Patel duo, who are headed for Europe this summer, epitomise the changing mindset of young professionals who pin a high priority on vacationing. "We believing in working hard and partying hard and not just living in the past or the future but also in the present," explains Dr J Patel, who has been saving for the trip for the past two years.<br /><br />Trade sources say with the international market moving to the volumes game, Indian operators have been able to negotiate good deals with their European counterparts. Besides, travellers are realising that they can get an international vacation for slightly higher cost than a trip to Shimla, Goa or Manali.<br /><br /><formid=367815></formid=367815></div> </div>