Wealthy Indians develop an appetite for expensive holidays. | |
| How would you like to stay at the famous Huka Lodge in New Zealand's Taupo on your next holiday (Queen Elizabeth II, Rupert Murdoch, Bill Gates and Robin Williams have all stayed here), hop on to the chopper parked outside your room to get to an exciting mountain top for dinner served by your very own personalised butler? Well, some deep-pocketed Indians are already doing it. |
| |
| Top executives, people retired from high-profile jobs and industrialists are all exploring such exotic trails as they seek to lighten their bulging wallets. |
| |
| Abercrombie and Kent (A&K) sells barging holidays through Europe (Avignon to Amsterdam) for 40 days at ¤10,500 per person on a family boat. That is some money for 40 days, but Indians are buying in. |
| |
| Many Indians are headed to East Africa, especially Kenya. Nikhil Kumar, head, outbound, at A&K India, feels that this is the best time to be in East Africa when millions of wild beasts and zebras migrate across the Masai river. |
| |
| "It is a spectacle," says Ashish Chadha of Leisure Ways, calling it the greatest animal show on earth. |
| |
| On another geography altogether, Spain, feels Chadha is also catching up in India. A holiday in Spain would include cities like Barcelona, the famous Sitges beach, Seville and Costa Del Sol, which could cost about ¤3,300 for 10-12 days, which is not too steep. |
| |
| Then there are those who prefer to be behind the wheel, and in control. Most of Chadha's clients going to New Zealand now opt for a self-drive, say from Christchurch to Queenstown, which gives them flexibility to steer off roads and stop anywhere they want. |
| |
| "The roads are amazing and you can never get lost with the awesome signposting on the roads," he explains. You can hire anything from a Toyota Corolla to a Jeep Cherokee. |
| |
| The cost: NZ $2,200-4,000 for two weeks, including accommodation. And a holiday in New Zealand is not complete without a lodge stay for at least two nights. |
| |
| For Ankur Khanna of Tristar, the Tuscany region in Italy is the most popular. Many of his high-profile clients who do not want to be named, now stay for a longer duration at a destination to know it better. |
| |
| He calls them the high-end do-it-yourself (DIY) travellers. In the Tuscany region, some take up a villa in a vineyard for the whole family. There are other places in Italy like Amalfi coast, Ravello, Sorento and Naples which are also getting popular. |
| |
| All these tours are highly customized, with detailed planning at every stage. The tour operator typically spends hours with the clients to understand specific needs, which are then built into the itinerary. |
| |
|
| |
