| A holiday package price war has brought Europe nicely within Indian reach.
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| Europe is getting ever closer. Surprised? A visit to the Alps, a Lucerne cruise and a view from atop the Eiffel Tower are all suddenly available to Indian holidayers at never-before prices. Perhaps even as low as a holiday to Goa.
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| Last week, Cox & Kings kicked off a price war in the Indian market for holiday packages when it offered a seven-day Europe tour for a family of four (including two kids) under its “Ek ka Char offer” at a neat Rs 89,999. And you can pay in instalments too, at a monthly outgo of only Rs 3,186 (over 36 months).
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| “Our package is cheaper by 15 to 20 per cent compared to the competition,” claims Arup Sen, director, Cox & Kings, “and we hope this will help us double the number of tourists we took last year to Europe. It is already shaking up the market.”
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| Sen can say that again. When kids start pestering parents for a visit to Europe, you know it’s the schoolyard buzz.
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| But a “price war” implies aggressive responses from rivals, and the main rival here is SOTC, which joined the price war a few days later by extending its three-for-one family offer to four.
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| And that too, without any change in price (Rs 85,900 ex-Mumbai and Rs 95,400 ex-Delhi). For the instalment option, you fork out Rs 2,982-3,310 a month, depending on whether you fly from Mumbai or Delhi.
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| Says Sripriya Mozumdar, general manager, marketing services, “SOTC was the first tour operator to launch a three-country seven-day product for Rs 85,950.”
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| What’s more, SOTC claims that its offer trumps its rival’s because it packs in much more (an extra country, more sightseeing and so on). Cox & King’s, of course, pooh-poohs SOTC’s claim, reeling off its own set of extras that SOTC lacks.
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| Excellent. Relish the joy of competition at work, vying for your holiday plans. But before you yank those suitcases off the loft, watch out for hidden costs: visas, airport taxes, and maybe even a “high season” surcharge.
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| Also, once you get to Europe, you may discover that some of the most tempting excursions call for extra cash: a trip to Mont Blanc, for instance. If you opt for everything that’s dangled before your family, you could end up with a four-person bill of almost — don’t choke —- Rs 2.4 lakh. More than twice the advertised price.
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| That’s why Thomas Cook, which has stayed aloof from all this price-slanging in the media, is taking the “transparency” tack, citing prices that include all wallet-openers.
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| Says Ashwini Kakkar, senior advisor of Thomas Cook, “There are no free lunches. After all, air fares constitute 50 per cent of the cost. Visas and taxes are common — so it makes more sense to amortise that cost over a longer stay.”
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| Not that Thomas Cook does not have a bargain offer. It does, and it helps inseminate the idea of an affordable Europe. It’s just that its package is a 13-day one, covering eight countries, for Rs 1.25 lakh.
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| Europe is getting closer. But if it’s a special-interest trip you dream of (say, round the Mediterranean), you have to look beyond the packages. |
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