Budget travel: Make the most of your holidays without making your wallet weep

We all have grand plans when it comes to travel but are usually reined in by straining budgets. The vacillating rupee, the rising airfares and hotel tariffs, and the grim salary and job forecasts for the year ahead may further rain on your parade.

But don't lose heart. There is no reason to shelve plans for holidays in 2013; quite the opposite in fact. We've culled out some interesting facts from recent travel surveys and asked industry experts to do some crystal ball gazing to help you make the most of your holidays without making your wallet weep.


YEAR OF EXTENDED WEEKENDS

Travel industry experts are seeing a clear spike in short breaks and driving vacations this year. Says Jackson Fernandez, General Manager, Wego India: "A changing trend that Wego, a travel metasearch engine, has witnessed is that our users are opting for more offbeat holiday destinations such as Shirdi, Matheran and Mahabaleshwar. Many of these bookings are seen over extended weekends when people like to pack their bags and just drive out."

With several gazetted and restricted holidays falling on either a Friday or a Monday this year, what could be a better time to start planning a weekend trip yourself? The line-up includes Good Friday (29 March), Id-ul-Fitr (9 August), Dussehra (14 October), Chhat Puja (8 November), Onam (16 September) and Ganesh Chaturthi (9 September). "In addition, Independence Day falls on a Thursday. If you can take a day off on the following Friday, you can enjoy a four-day break," says Lata Subramanian, VP (marketing), Sterling Holidays. This applies for Raksha Bandhan too which is falling on Tuesday, 20 August.

WHERE ARE THE HOTEL DEALS?

Says Madhavan Menon, MD, Thomas Cook (India): "With European hotel rates dropping and airfares stabilising, we've noticed an increased demand for travel to these countries. This, we believe, will see a gradual stabilisation of rates for good hotels in better locations."

Are you more interested in a short-haul trip somewhere in Asia? Don't let the recent room rate upswing deter you because there seems to be some good news in store. "The rapidly expanding economies in Asia are also aggressively ramping up their room inventories, so this should achieve some rationalisation in the mid-term," adds Menon. The appreciating rupee against the dollar, with a further rally being predicted, is the icing on the cake.

As per the latest Hotel Price Index report by Hotels.com, the popular overseas destinations for Indian travellers closer to home are Bangkok, Pattaya, Kuala Lumpur and Phuket. In each of the above destinations, budget travellers can get by on just Rs 1,300-1,500 per person per day, covering food, stay, local commute and sightseeing.

ALTERNATE ACCOMMODATION

While there are enough hot hotel deals available across the country, there is no denying that room rates have been steadily increasing every year. Says Sanjay Bhasin, MD of Goibibo.com: "We have seen average per night spends for domestic hotels moving up from Rs 2,500 per night and peaking at Rs 3,500 in November-December last year." This rise explains the growing popularity of homestays, self-catering and boutique travel accommodations.

"This is especially true in popular holiday destinations like Goa, Coorg and Ooty," says Fernandez, adding, "Wego's Holiday Rentals has seen a great demand in just a few months of our launching this offering. The affordability factor coupled with the varied experience proves a strong differentiator for travellers opting for this experience."

By taking this alternative route, you will definitely save 5-10% on room rent, peak season or not. Spending a little more time doing your research and ferreting out new kids on the block can easily take that figure up to 30-40%. Perhaps this is why India Inc too is seriously exploring this option. "For longer tenure stays, typically over a week, service apartments are the preferred choice for business travel," says Menon.

GOOGLE VERSUS ONLINE TRAVEL AGENTS FOR FLIGHTS

The great thing about travel portals is that they throw up a host of fares and tariffs at a click. The unfortunate bit is that a lot of low-cost carriers (LCCs) fall off their radar. LCC airfares work out to be cheaper by 20-60% than full-service ones. For instance, the same Kolkata-Hong Kong Dragon Air direct flight is between Rs 700-1,000 cheaper on the airlines official website compared to online travel agents like MakeMyTrip and Expedia.

A similar savings story plays out with airlines like Scoot, Wizz Air, Cambodia Angkor Air and Jetstar, none of which are represented on popular Indian travel portals. Moreover, these LCCs sometimes offer direct flights whereas their full-service better-known competitors may only offer stopover flights on the same route. So, expend some time and effort on Googling LCCs servicing your destination and then check out the relevant airlines' website.