If you are planning to holiday in Europe this summer but have not booked your passage as yet, it may be a little too late. All packages to Europe for April are almost sold out.
Some tour operators say even packages till early May are fully booked. "All our packages to Europe for April and early May are sold out," says Peter Kerkar, CEO, Cox & Kings India.
Other travel agencies, too, say tours to Europe are booming. Thomas Cook has sold four times more European packages this summer than last year, says Thomas Cook managing director and CEO Ashwini Kakkar.
Adds Fredrick Divecha, senior vice-president, SOTC: "We have already sold 5,000 Europe tour packages for April and May. This is 150 per cent more than what we sold in 2002."
Most tour operators say 2003 is not a good year for comparison because traffic to Europe dipped 60 per cent on account of Sars.
What makes Europe hot? First, most Indians prefer Europe in the summer. Second, tour rates to Europe this year are more attractive. Last year, a six- or seven-nation tour in Europe would have cost over Rs 90,000 per person.
This year, Cox & Kings is offering a 10-day Europe tour covering the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Germany and Switzerland for Rs 70,000 per person.
The price is inclusive of airfare, hotel stay, transport, sight-seeing, meals, taxes, medical insurance and visa charges except the visa fees for the UK. SOTC, on the other hand, is offering a 10-day European tour for a family (2 adults and one child) for Rs 99,000, including airfare, accommodation, sight-seeing, but excluding visa charges, airport taxes and Europe Star charges.
Tour operators expect their earnings to climb 40-50 per cent in 2004. What is more, they expect to wipe all the losses they incurred last year on account of Sars (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) and the Iraq war.