Westbound leisure travel down 40%

Fear of a United States attack on Iraq and the cricket World Cup have cut Indians' leisure travel to the West by about 40 per cent.

"There is a degree of uncertainty because of the war fear. The airlines are avoiding certain areas, which means longer flights and additional charges. There is a 40 per cent fall in outbound sales to the West because of this and also because Indians have the World Cup on their minds," former Sita Travels head and Select Resorts Managing Director Arjun Sharma said.

He said while business travel had not been impacted yet, leisure travel was definitely hit. Another travel agent said till February, bookings were normal and the season looked good, but they fell drastically by the second week of March. 

This is prime season for outbound travel and the tour operators' profit margins in leisure travel are over five times those on business travel.

Cox & Kings Regional Manager (North India ) Vikas Khanduri said his company ran an entire series for tourists to the US till about three years ago, but there was no demand now.

He saw the traffic diverted to the Asia Pacific. Newer destinations, including China, could become popular, he said.