TUI Travel has recently introduced it’s charter flight service to the Indian market, and has succeeded in selling two of the seats to a honeymoon couple recently. TUI converts aircraft into 56 first class beds. The vessel does a tour around the world – 7 countries – in 25 days, commencing in Seychelles and concluding in Boston. The pricing is close to Rs. 55 lakhs, an all inclusive packaged with accommodations at Four Seasons’ properties.
“People are on the lookout for a different kind of holiday. They are more willing to spend on a luxury holiday as a result of possibly higher disposable income. Also, holidays have now become a necessity for Indians, a time to get away from the monotony of daily stress,” said Vishal Sinha, COO, TUI India.
TUI is also trying to work out if it can bring the charter services into India, i.e. commence the journeys from India rather than Seychelles. “However, this will take time. We need to get the necessary permissions and create a market for the product. We aim to have it in place by 2017,” Sinha added.
Elaborating on the new product range being offered to Indians, Sinha revealed that TUI has been able to establish ourselves as players who provide private yachts, and requests for the same have been on the rise. “People are on the lookout for a different kind of holiday, and a yacht holiday is just that because we provide the private yachts with a captain, chef and butler, and it can accommodate seven to eight people, sail along Thailand – Koh Samui, Pattaya etc. It provides an element of luxury and adventure, while not being exorbitant. These are in the range of a five star hotel stay. It is becoming increasingly common for customers to opt for these. For instance, anniversary celebrations are popular on these liners, and we have also managed to sell honeymoon packages on it. The liners can travel through Seychelles, Thailand, the French Riviera and Greece,” he said.
TUI is distributing these packages among the Indian travel trade to fuel bookings, and is currently educating the trade about the advantages of selling TUI’s products. “We believe that the trade can definitely earn more from selling our components. If you sell a Quark Expedition, you would earn close to Rs. 80-90,000 in commission. Selling one of the charters at Rs. 55 lakhs would fetch a commission of Rs. 5.5 lakhs. We are trying to educate the Indian trade about these benefits,” Sinha concluded.
