Cox & Kings Unfolds Winter Travel Trends 2017

Festive season starting from Diwali in October and Christmas/ New Year holidays thereafter, present a great opportunity for travellers to explore new places as they get consecutive holidays during this time. Usually people combine these holidays with weekends and also take a day or two off from work to plan long trip of 7-8 days. Instead of taking one big break, some people even take 2-3 different short trips over the weekend or during the holiday period.

Speaking on winter travel trends 2017 Mr. Karan Anand, Head Relationships, Cox and Kings said, "More and more Indians are planning and investing on holidays. There is a significant rise in bookings for winter season. The demand for international holidays has surged up to 22% and domestic holidays have gone up by around 18% as compared to last year."

Speaking about the destinations, he said, "Europe is the most famous destination to enjoy snow during winter. Europe, Dubai, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa are the 5 bestselling destinations for winter vacations this year. Countries with visa on arrival or where the lead time to obtain the visa is less are in demand for short weekend trips. Dubai, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Indonesia (Bali) are the top picks among these. Among domestic destinations, Kerala, Andaman, Rajasthan, Goa and Himachal are the flavours of the season", says Mr. Anand.

"For International vacations, we see increased number of nights and higher transaction values. We have also observed that multigenerational families from different locations congregate in a destination to enjoy a fun-filled holiday cum festive celebration for the entire extended family", he further adds.

According to Cox & Kings, the packages in which fun activities like skiing, snow tubing, snowball fight, snowmobile safaris are clubbed with Christmas/New Year celebrations are very popular. Greece, France, Germany, UK, Switzerland and Italy are some of the most favorite European destinations. The company is also witnessing surge in bookings for Eastern Europe, which is emerging as a key travel destination for Indians. Prague, Moscow, Budapest are some of the most popular destinations in Eastern Europe.

Evolved travellers are looking for new upcoming places like Tanzania, China and Uzbekistan. They also look for off-beat international destinations such as Cambodia, Egypt, Kenya, Israel and Japan. Bookings for honeymoon are also in full swing in this period. Beach and island destinations such as Bali, Vietnam, Seychelles, Mauritius and Maldives are preferred the most by the couples.

Domestically, apart from family vacations with regular sightseeing, staycations at luxury hotels/ resorts and pilgrimages to Haridwar, Kailash Mansarovar (by helicopter), Tirupati, Rameshwaram, Vaishnodevi are popular in this season. Adventure enthusiasts and millennials crave for unusual experiences. We are getting lot of enquiries from them for Nagaland for Hornbill festival, jungle safaris in Ranthambore, Kaziranga and Pench and trekking/ biking/ cycling tours in hilly areas of North-East, Himachal and Nepal.

About Cox & Kings Ltd. (BSE: 533144 | NSE: COX&KINGS)

Cox & Kings Ltd. (C&K) is the oldest travel company in the world, established since 1758. It is the leading leisure and education travel group with operations in 22 countries across four continents. Headquartered in India, C&K has over the last three decades transformed itself into a diversified, multinational travel conglomerate with a focus on the new-age global consumer.

C&K operates in three key verticals; Leisure, Education, Hybrid Hotels.

Leisure - India is best known by the ubiquitous Cox & Kings brand in India, where we are an integrated travel enterprise, offering the best and widest range of travel options to individuals, groups and businesses in the fastest growing major economy in the world. www.coxandkings.com.

Leisure - International operates in multiple countries, mainly under the Cox & Kings brand, with a greater focus on premium-end travel. www.coxandkings.co.uk.

Education operates under the brand names PGL and NST, among others. PGL and NST are market leaders in experiential learning in the UK and we intend to take these brands across the world; we have recently entered the Australian market. www.pgl.co.uk, www.nstgroup.co.uk.

Meininger currently operates more than 8,500 beds across 17 hotels in 11 European cities. The unique hybrid concept of Meininger combines the service and comfort of a hotel with the uncomplicated nature of a hostel; top locations, high-quality amenities, flexible room structure and reasonable prices. www.meininger-hotels.com.

Cox & Kings is one of the founding members of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) and also a member of premier industry associations across the world. Over the years the company has won many awards which stand testimony to its excellence in service.

In 2016, it won Hospitality India Travel Award for Best Domestic Tour Operator and Best Experiential Travel Company. Cox & Kings Trade Fairs was recognized as Champions of ChinaPlas for 2016, fourth time in a row. In 2017, continuing with its winning legacy, Cox & Kings won the coveted SATTE Awards and Travel and Lifestyle Leadership Award for Best Outbound Tour Operator. Cox & Kings has also been a consistent winner at the World Travel Awards since years. The title of Asias Leading Luxury Tour Operator was bagged for the 3rd consecutive time, Indias Leading Tour Operator for the 4th time and Indias Leading Travel Agency for the 5th consecutive time in 2017.