Kuoni hopes to log in profit this year despite rupee fall

Travel company Kuoni Travel Group India expects to be profitable this year with strong growth happening despite a weaker rupee.
"We see strong growth happening in the fourth quarter of 2015 despite a depreciating rupee, which is not as worrisome as a volatile rupee. We expect a profitable year as business has outperformed last year," Kuoni Travel Group India Managing Director Rajeev Wagle told reporters here.
He said the company was not profitable last year, but did not say how much was the net loss.
He said during the last summer, a benign euro led many people to change their travel direction from popular markets like the US to European destinations. "We expect strong demand for leisure travel in the fourth quarter as well," he said.

The company is also looking at focusing on its luxury travel business, Perfect Moment, launched last year.
"Globally, luxury travel is growing at two times the pace of regular foreign travel, and despite the base being modest here, the growth is similar," Vishal Suri, Chief Executive Officer, Tour Operating, Kuoni India, said.

"We are focusing our luxury offering in Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru for now, as we expect good demand for it there," he said.
The company which today released the India Holiday Report, based on a study conducted by Nielsen, said 15 per cent of the 922 respondents rate holidays higher than clothes and electronic gadgets, with 92 per cent overall rating holidays as important.

"International and domestic holidays are looked at as investment for an experience that no material pursuit can provide," the report noted.
Chennai leads the pack with 19 per cent prioritizing holidays, followed by Ahmedabad, Delhi, Kolkata and Bengaluru, it said.
Cost-effectiveness and cuisine continue to be the top reasons to prefer group holidays, it added.
Nearly 16 per cent of respondents' annual income is spent on holidays, the report found, and over 88 per cent prefer to still use their bank savings to fund their vacations.