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| Venue shift: Travel firms work on special S Africa packages |
| Ashish Sinha & Anirban Chowdhury / New Delhi Mar 26, 2009, 00:10 IST |
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The local travel and hospitality sector may lose Rs 50-55 crore as a result of the Indian Premier League (IPL) shifting to South Africa. But this is good news for airlines that fly between India and South Africa. And travel companies are working out packages for cricket lovers wishing to visit South Africa.
According to hotel industry sources, the first tournament generated a demand for about 10,000 room nights for the eight franchise teams, officials and sponsors, among others. This generated Rs 42-45 crore during the 45-day tournament. Room nights are the total number of hotel rooms available multiplied by the number of days in a given period.
Additionally, the inter-city air travel of the eight teams by Kingfisher Airlines, which sold over 1,000 tickets as the official carrier of IPL, apart from numerous officials and company staff and fans, generated Rs 2-4 crore. And private security agencies billed the various franchisees Rs 4 crore.
Ajay K Bakaya, executive director, Sarovar Hotels, said: “These matches attract a lot of visitors as the teams are accompanied by delegations and executives. This will now be a loss for the hospitality industry.”
The second edition of IPL is likely to generate a demand for about 30,000 room nights. Airline industry sources say there will be a demand for at least 10,000 tickets to South Africa.
Airlines like South African Airways (SAA) that have direct flights to South Africa, and others like Lufthansa, British Airways, Emirates and Etihad, which go via Frankfurt, London, Dubai and Abu Dhabi, are now looking to offer special fares for the cricket fans.
“We have to work out special fares, but the fares could either go up or down,” said an executive of SAA. The airline has four direct weekly flights.
“Our current fare will come to around Rs 50,000, but we will have some special fares soon,” said a Lufthansa executive.
Travel industry executives said a passenger would have to spend around Rs 45,000 for an air ticket and the total travel cost per person would come to around Rs 1 lakh, around 30 per cent higher than if the event was held in the UK.
While it is not clear how the teams would make their travel arrangements, some are already entering into their own tie-ups with airlines. Wadia group-promoted Kings XI was in talks with two airlines, said industry sources.
Travel firms have been quick to react. Cox and Kings has come up with a ‘Durban Package’, which offers two nights and three days at Durban for Rs 17,988, besides airfares. Then there is a South African Highlights package that offers seven days and six nights in Capetown, Johannesburg and Sun City, for Rs 65,674, excluding airfares. Thomas Cook, which has been appointed the official travel agent for the ICC World Twenty20 England 2009, is also preparing packages for South Africa. “With packages starting at Rs. 60,000 for three-four days, SOTC will offer various offers for different matches,” said an SOTC spokesperson.
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