Global Inflation impact on Travel
Amid growing concerns of out-of-control inflation and rising interest rates, the travel industry has flourished with no drastic impact. After a dull period of two years due to the Covid pandemic, the travel demand has only increased throughout the world, especially this Summer. According to the PULSE report by RateGain Travel Technologies, travel demand has witnessed a never seen before May in India with a growth of 178%.
India continued to see its monthly bookings grow with tourist destinations up north as well as down south attracting more bookings, as families plan to step out during the annual summer break for the first time in two years, states the report.
While hill stations were already witnessing a spike of 100-150% in April as per the last report, the same destinations are now witnessing a growth of 50-60%. This is in stark contrast to last year when India was under the grip of a deadly second wave of coronavirus. When compared to May 2021, India’s bookings have grown by 178% even though the country witnesses a high cost of travel. The capital city of Delhi continues to clock double-digit growth in bookings and a 65% increase in ADR when compared to last month, even though the city battles a record-breaking heat wave
Furthermore, despite high airfares, and a looming recession, there was a month-on-month growth of 38% in bookings across the most popular 20 destinations in the month of May led by a massive surge of bookings in Turkey, Jordan and Malaysia followed by other countries in Asia such as Oman, Singapore and Indonesia.
High Hotel Rates Not Deterring Travelers
Even with a 60-70% price rise predicted over the next three months, South East Asian Cities Bali and Kuala Lumpur are seeing the fastest growth in bookings followed by Koh Samui and Pattaya as International travellers land in Asia Pacific region for the first time in 2 years.
There is a similar trend in Central Europe where Zurich, Munich and Berlin continue to see high interest as compared to April even though prices continue to soar due to inflation.
This surely proves that people's need to get away on vacations continues to stay strong even in the wake of high inflation and an anticipated global slowdown due to lockdowns in China as well as the ongoing conflict in Europe.
