Indian travellers unfazed by Rupee fall

The falling rupee has had no adverse impact on the outbound travel plans of Indians, Thomas Cook India and Cox & Kings today said.

However, travel firm Yatra.com said it is likely to impact outbound tourism from India.

The rupee continued its slide and today slumped 43 paise against the dollar to trade at an all-time low of 70.32 on strong demand for the US currency.

"The weakness in the rupee against the dollar has not had any impact on the travel plans of Indians," Cox & Kings Relationships Head Karan Anand said.

In the last eight months, the rupee has fallen over 8 per cent against the dollar. However, this has had little impact on people taking trips to dollar destinations, he added.

Indian travellers are very calculative and factor in currency fluctuations and keep a significant buffer while budgeting their travel, Anand said.

"Indian travellers will not cancel their vacation. They may trade down like reducing the duration of travel, stay in four-star accommodation and cut down on shopping to reduce expenses while on the trip," he added.

However, it is very rare that travellers cancel or reassess their choice of overseas destination that has been planned for months, Anand said.

In similar vein, Thomas Cook India President & Country Head - Holidays, MICE, Visa & Passport Services Rajeev Kale said the rupee depreciation has had no adverse impact on the company's outbound bookings.

The forward bookings indicate that holiday-travel has now become non-negotiable, he added.

However Yatra.com COO (B2C) Sharat Dhall said the falling rupee is likely to impact outbound tourism from India.

Travellers who will plan their business travel at a short notice are more likely to be affected by the depreciating rupee, otherwise, leisure travellers are expected to postpone their plans until rupee steadies, he added.

"Keeping their travel cost effective, travellers would like to visit destinations such as Turkey, Indonesia and Russia where the rupee has been stable," Dhall said.