Tour operators find it tough to sell Olympic packages

Mumbai resident Feroze Katrak and his engineer son Fabian are among Indians who travel to experience the thrill of watching sports rather than ordinary sight-seeing. “My son will start work in July but we plan to go for the athletic events in London Olympics,'' Katrak says.

Tour operators SOTC and Thomas Cook are wooing sports enthusiasts such as Katra, high networth individuals and corporate honchos to sell Olympic tour packages. But they are reporting that unlike Formula One races or soccer, which are a big draw among well-heeled Indians, there are few takers for tour packages for the Olympics. This is despite the fact that Indians love London as a destination.

Last year, 3,53,000 Indians visited Britain, according to the British Tourism Authority. The British tourism body expects the same number of visitors from abroad, including India, given the state of the world economy.

The Indian Olympics Association (IOA) or the Games’ approved ticketing agents and their partners are selling tickets to the Games. The IOA had requested 1800 tickets and has been allotted 850 tickets by 2012 games organisers.

Amongst the operators, SOTC and Thomas Cook are promoting the London Olympics. SOTC has tied up with Prestige Ticketing, which is managing lounges and other hospitality concerns at the events. The minimum daily package offered costs £495 (Rs 42,000 approx.) and includes tickets to certain qualification events plus three-to-five course dinner and drinks and access to the lounge at Games Village. Charges for highly-anticipated events such as the men's athletics finals cost £1,950 to £4,500. These charges are for hospitality alone and do not cover airfare or accommodation in London.

SOTC executives concede that interest in Olympic tours is not as high compared to other sports but are optimistic that demand will pick-up. “As London Olympics are scheduled to start from July 27 we expect the demand for these packages to start picking up now. This is primarily due to the fact that Indian travelers prefer to finalise their travel plans closer to the event. With Indian hockey team qualifying for London Olympics, considerable interest has been generated among Indian sport enthusiasts and corporates to travel all the way for supporting Indian athletes at the event,'' said S D Nandakumar, head (tour operating B2B, Kuoni India.

“We are receiving queries regarding Olympics but the demand is not as high as cricket or football events. Most of the prime hotels in London have been booked and we are making inquiries regarding apartment stay in London as people will be staying there for a longer duration,” said Rajji Rai, director (South Asia) of United Federation of Travel Agents Association.

Reports so far indicate that Olympic packages are not a hit even in the UK and Europe. “Thomas Cook (UK) has failed to sell 90,000 of its 300,000 Olympic ticket prices and is now facing the prospect of having to sell some of its luxury packages, including stays at five-star hotels and tickets for the finals of popular events at discounts,” said the UK’s Telegraph newspaper.

Rajeev Kale, COO-Leisure Travel, Thomas Cook (India), however, said there was a great interest from Indian sports lovers in Olympics. “We have observed increase in travel queries and bookings,'' he said.