Rush-hour looms as tourists book ahead

MUMBAI: Desperately seeking to extend that vacation in the US but struggling to convince airline officials,who politely refuse to relent? It may be smarter to get onto the first available flight, as flights from Europe and the US continue to be choc-a-bloc.
And this is only the beginning of the Indian rushhour, as inbound traffic shows a sharp surge which promises to continue until the end of the year.
After suffering since 9\11, the travel industry is finally bullish that inbound travel for 2003-’04 will go back close to 2001 levels, when the number of people flying into India were estimated at about 2.3 million.
This figure plummeted to just about two million last year and according to industry estimates is likely to rebound to touch 2.2 to 2.3 million in 2003.
"Our forward bookings for the October-to-March period have bounced back after a dull 2002 when inbound bookings were 30 to 40 per cent lower than the previous year," says the country’s biggest travel company, Kuoni Travel (India) chairman and managing director Ranjit Malkani.
As traditional markets like the UK, France and Italy once again choose India for holiday-making, airlines say this increase in inbound traffic is due to the pent-up demand for Indian holidays in the last 18 months.
Emirates general manager (India and Nepal) Nabil Sultan says that load factors these days touch almost 98 per cent and forward bookings from July onwards are much higher than last year. "India is emerging as a safe leisure destination, especially as it has been unaffected by Sars unlike other countries in the region.While a majority of the traffic is from the US and Europe and comprises NRIs and students, West Asians are increasingly holidaying in India," says Mr Sultan.
Other international carriers to the West, like Swiss Air, have also reported load factors of the high ’90s and say the winter months are busy for travel to India.
While the Gulf region is keen on India, bookings from Far East destinations like China, Taiwan, Korea and Singapore are also up and, for some operators, by up to 30 per cent.Even an airline like Cathay Pacific,which features Hong Kong as a major hub, has seen a notable pick-up in traffic, partially due to lower prices to the region this year.