Families ditch foreign vacations after PM Modi’s austerity appeal

Some Bengalureans, especially families, are cancelling or postponing foreign holidays following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call to avoid unnecessary overseas travel for a year.

Tour operators say customers are cancelling mostly due to fear, and not exactly patriotism. Many interpret Modi’s May 10 call to curb non-essential foreign travel as a sign of worsening geopolitical tensions and worry about being stranded abroad. Modi also urged people to work from home and avoid gold purchases, framing the austerity measures as responsible living and a duty towards the nation amid the fuel and fiscal crisis.

Poojita Anil was set to travel to the Maldives in the first week of June with her family and her cousin’s family. “We were planning to make all the bookings on the day the PM made the announcement. My father felt he would not have said it randomly, without reason, so we dropped the Maldives plan. Now we are looking at Manali or Wayanad instead,” said the high school student.

The austerity push has dealt a fresh blow to travel agencies already struggling with flight disruptions and soaring airfares since the West Asia crisis broke out three months ago.

World Untold, Old Madras Road, has recorded 16 cancellations to destinations including Phuket, the Philippines, Australia, Japan and Thailand, mostly from family groups and honeymooners. Another four to five clients are considering rescheduling, said director of operations, Nithin Lal M Nair.

“Our client base includes HNIs (High Net-Worth Individuals) and businesspeople. Their biggest concern is getting back to Bengaluru on time for work, so they do not want to risk being stranded,” he said.

At Skyway International Travels, St Mark’s Road, fresh enquiries for overseas trips have dropped by 30%, while clients have postponed 20% of bookings to destinations such as Europe, Singapore, Malaysia and Mauritius. “Even domestic enquiries are down by 10%. He (Modi) should have at least encouraged domestic tourism in the speech,” said director S Mahalingaiah.

Yana Travels, Malleswaram, received four to five cancellation requests for trips to Bali, Singapore, and Thailand, but staff convinced clients to continue. “Or they would have lost up to 90% of their airfare,” said branch manager Vinay Sarang. Madhukiran, owner of Turnkey Holidays, Mahalakshmi Layout, said international travel accounts for 90% of the agency’s business. “We used to get around 100 calls a day. Now we barely get one or two,” he said. “Families plan and budget for foreign vacations well in advance, so they take such warnings seriously.”

Around 20% of customers of an Indiranagar-based agency are considering travelling later, while Nesara Tours, Vijayanagar, has not received a single new enquiry since May 10.

Domestic travel has picked up, meanwhile, with some agencies promoting it through discounts and complimentary add-on trips. Mountain and pilgrimage destinations in north and east India are popular this summer.