SITA All Set To Start Golden Triangle Charters

Anindita Chattopadhyay - New Delhi

In what may be seen as an effort to expand the charter season, Sita Kuoni India, which operates charters to Goa and has a 35 per cent share of the total number of charter passengers coming into India, is starting charter operations to Delhi from mid-October 2004.

"These charters will come from United Kingdom every Wednesday and tourists will do the Golden Triangle and go back. Normally, charters are into beach destination and tourists stay put at one place. In this package, tourists can buy the airfare on the charter and ground arrangements for a seven or 14 day package and go around different places. Currently, this charter is positioned throughout the year," informed L Prithviraj Singh, senior vice-president, Sita Inbound.

The comparative airfare difference between charters and scheduled airlines being around 25 per cent, industry captains perceive a 20-25 per cent growth every year. Presently, out of the 1,35,000 tourists coming to India, Sita accounts for some 35,000 plus. The company has witnessed a consistent growth of 25 per cent in 2002, 29 per cent in 2003 and 35 per cent in 2004. And with Delhi charters starting, Singh is confident of 25 per cent growth for the next two years. Confirming that the company is looking at market expansion, Singh said, "This year Goa is total sold out till March. Operators are turning down business. Hence, we are looking at other destinations like the Kovalam beach in Kerala. We have taken operators from UK, Germany and Russia to Kovalam to experience the place. In the next couple of years we plan to start Kashmir as well."

According to Singh, though India has some good beaches, some of them pristine, yet lack of accommodation infrastructure comes as a stumbling block. "Andhra is partnering with us in roadshows and Visakhapatnam is a good beach, but where is the infrastructure? We need two to five-star accommodation for some 340 tourists every time a charter lands as the aircraft operated is A330." Ask him whether the liberalised charter policy has helped and comes a matter-of-fact reply, "Not really because the clauses have not been drastically changed. Indian passport holders are now allowed, but only a small percentage of Indian passport holders from UK actually take charters. Though if we bring in two seats we can take one seat out, it doesn't really help as India has different outbound and inbound seasons. It means there is no demand in the India market when inbound charters are brought in. Only when India becomes a year-round destination and there is passenger overlap it can help. Today whatever comes in has to go back."