Beware: Big Travel Companies are making Fortunes in lieu of your dream Vacation

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After months of research, in the end, I have some material which reads that the Tourism Industry in India is getting deteriorated. In today’s marketplace, there are 100 Thousand Travel Companies, which are booking tours around the Globe. So, one can get different rates for the same destination with same Hotels and Inclusions. But there are some companies who are taking undue advantage of their popularity.

Who is responsible for this?

• Customer himself

How are Customers responsible?

• Lack of Knowledge

This is probably the most important factor. People lack knowledge and imagine they know better. Even though they haven’t been to that place even so they will be confident in making suggestions as if they were born and brought up at that place. And because of this, these big companies tripped the customers.

• Cheap Trips

India is famous all over the world for the cheapest rates in Outbound Trips. Yes, this is not something to be proud of, whereas it is a pity that no good foreign Companies are quick to play with Indian Market. The tracing is the affirmations I have heard whenever I attempted to do tie ups with the Destination Local Companies

Thailand – “Indian market is very CHEAP CHEAP and CHEAP, we don’t work with Indian agents. We believe in Quality rather than Quantity”

South Africa– “Indian Market is the Worst market where customer thinks that everything is free, so we don’t work with such market.”

Singapore– “Indian market should be renamed as a Market of Beggars. Since we don’t have any beggars in Singapore, we also don’t deal with beggars.”

There are many instances as above. So due to above, we are lacking the Ground Service, which is expected by each and everyone going abroad.  And in turn, these big companies are taking excessive advantage and sell cheap trips as needed by clients. When customers reach that place and when they face any difficulty they will start abusing the agent and show as if they have paid for Lamborghini and they got Toyota. 

How these big players ripped customers?

For Example: Take Euro Trips

Have you ever seen these Big Players selling FIT packages? I know you don’t. We have always seen 6-7 Countries in 15 Days, 10 Countries in 17 Days and soon.  And we Indians got so excited that we will be seeing 7 Countries in 12/15 days, which is practically impossible.

How they designed the package

Most of the package will cover Western, Central and South-East part like Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Swiss, Austria and Italy. Thus, they will be showing you these places in merely 10-15 days.

They will make you travel in Groups. This is the biggest drawbacks of this kind of Packages. There is a difference between Groups and SIC Tours. Many people get confused that both are same because you will induce many people with you. There is a big difference between the two. On SIC Tour you are exiting at one place only, but if you go in Groups they have planned to show you many different places in one day. They will tend to indicate you the Cheapest place one can attend and all the costly and the must-see places are on the Optional basis. The details are below:                                                                

In Swiss- Jungfrau Tour will always be on an optional basis (Full detail explanation given below)                                                            

In Paris- Some companies make a Disneyland tour on an optional base. Also, Lido Show on the Optional basis, which is a must visit.

In Brussels- You will not have time to enjoy the Waffles, Chocolates, and fries. As well, they will not take you to Bruges, which is the most beautiful town of Belgium. I am certain that very few people in Indian know about “Atomium” and the story behind Manneken Pis aka Nanga Bacha.                                                                          

Amsterdam- This urban center for most of the companies are limited to Keukenhof Tulip Garden or Madurodam. There are many things to do in Amsterdam apart from these two.  Amsterdam is one of the most beautiful and exciting cities in Europe.

Let’s take Swiss in detail

Because Swiss has the max no of nights. The major Tourist towns are Zurich, Zermatt, Lucerne, Interlaken, Berne etc.

Zurich is also known as the Tourist Capital of Switzerland. But do not worry you will be having only 1 day in Zurich or else you are not staying in Zurich. Thus, you are going to Swiss and you are not staying in Zurich. Why? This is because Zurich is little on the higher side regarding price. Hence instead of this, they will choose to stay in a town, kind of city in Switzerland like Engelberg (A modest village in Swiss). Some will take you to Geneva, also known as Business Capital of Swiss. Don’t know what tourist will do in Geneva. I can bet that people already visited Switzerland don’t know the Capital of Switzerland. Yes, Bern is the Capital of Switzerland.

The only benefit of the Tour this company sells:

You don’t have to worry about food. It is all pre booked in advance.

How about the Hotels you stayed in these Countries     

In Europe, the location of your Hotel means a lot. This is because in each city there is City Center, which is a place where you will get all the Tourist Attractions, Shopping Malls, Restaurants, and Clubbing. Only these companies give your hotel in a location far away from these spots and so you miss the Charm of the City. If you are in Group Tour then you must sleep at 9 or 10 PM every day because you will be leaving your hotel after breakfast. So, at the end, only Customers are at a loss. One should look at the location of the Hotel before booking the tour.

What is the Profit Margin these big companies earn on per person?

The margin is somewhere between 60 % and above. Yes, it’s shocking. Still, we Indians blindly book the package. The ‘Value for Money’ concept stands still in this case. I have certain instances where I have experienced the difference in price which we gave and the monetary value which these big companies make.

Eg-1

Our price was Rs 3,90,000 for 2 packs, whereas some renowned company have given Rs 5,50,000 for 2 packs

 

 

 

Eg-2