Holiday in South Africa or Down Under as costs fall

The author has posted comments on this articleAparna Ramalingam, TNN | Aug 2, 2013, 06.52AM ISTCHENNAI: International travel has become 20% costlier after the rupee's 10% fall against the dollar since April, but it's not time to pack away your holiday plans just yet. A trip to the table top mountain in South Africa or a visit to the Opera House in Sydney would be cheaper by 5-7 % on your wallet now, thanks to the rupee holding up against the South African Rand and the Australian dollar.

The rupee is currently trading at Rs 6.16 to the rand compared to Rs 6.5 a year ago. "With the holiday season commencing in South Africa, packages are cheaper this year when compared to last year as the rupee is stronger than the rand. While airline costs continue to be dollar denominated, we have always been strong in providing value packages on land," Hanneli Slabber, country head, South African Tourism said.

The tourism board is promoting water-based tourism in India this year which includes shark expeditions, whale and dolphin watching and turtle sightseeing. Around 1.06 lakh tourists from India visited South Africa last year and the tourism board anticipates a 20% growth from India this year.

Ditto Down Under. "The Australian dollar has seen not merely stability, but interestingly a drop (Rs 57.22 on April 12 to Rs 55.19 as on date) and certainly a clear upside that we plan to leverage for the upcoming season," Madhavan Menon, managing director, Thomas Cook (India) said.

The company has already seen a 30% growth in its leisure segment to Australia from April to July this year.

Statistics from Tourism Australia reveal a 3.7% increase in tourist arrivals from India to 70,700 between January-May 2013 when compared to the same period last year. "During the first five months of the year, there has been a 14% increase in leisure arrivals (part of tourist arrivals) from India to Australia. The Tourism Forecasting Council predicts 1,75,000 arrivals from India to Australia during 2013-14," Nishant Kashikar, country, manager ? India, Tourism Australia.

Source: http://timesofindia.feedsportal.com/c/33039/f/533919/s/2f74dc45/sc/10/l/0Ltimesofindia0Bindiatimes0N0Cbusiness0Cindia0Ebusiness0CHoliday0Ein0ESouth0EAfrica0Eor0EDown0EUnder0Eas0Ecosts0Efall0Carticleshow0C2154420A80Bcms/story01.htm

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