Indian tourists not batting for Twenty20 Cup

Despite Indian cricket team’s better performance in recent times after the West Indies World Cup debacle, the maiden Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa is generating lukewarm response from corporate and individual travellers from India.

Just around 2,000-odd visitors from India are expected to visit the Zulu land in course of the two-week long tournament with the bulk—over 85%—being part of corporate incentive groups. Among the corporates heading for South Africa are MNCs banks, FMCG companies, and telecom players.

And it will not be just cricket thats on offer with each match not lasting more than three hours. To liven up proceedings, tour operators are packaging in lot of sightseeing activities in the packages.

“The Twenty20 tournament presents a very good mix of cricket and leisure. As duration of each match is just around three hours, there is lot of opportunity to pack in sightseeing, wildlife safari and shopping within the day,” said SOTC COO Sunil Gupta. SOTC expects to end with 1,000-odd bookings for the tournament.

Most travel operators said that the tournament has the potential to appeal to both die-hard cricket fans and families. However, the buzz around this inaugural event is missing, leading to not-too-enthusiastic response from Indian travellers, feel many in the travel trade.

“We had projected around 1,000 bookings considering the fact that a three-hour format is much more exciting. We haven’t booked even 20% of the projected figure,” says Pyramid Travels CEO (marketing and operations) Harpreet Singh Sahni. During the West Indies World Cup the agency made travel arrangements for around 500 people.

Not surprisingly the travel majors focused on the corporate for numbers. For Thomas Cook, over 80% of the bookings have been from corporates. “It’s more of corporate groups who are heading to South Africa. There is not a great buzz around the event. However, the fact that it is happening in South Africa has made things better,” says Thomas Cook leisure travel COO Vishal Suri.

South Africa is gradually gaining popularity among individual travellers from India, especially with young people and couples. But the bigger numbers come from group travels sponsored by corporates. This year the group sizes are smaller, ranging typically between 25 to 40, with few 300 plus tours.

Most packages tailored for the tournament not only cater to the needs of the sports enthusiast but also avid travellers. Typically packages start off at around Rs 50,000 per person and can touch the Rs 75,000 mark, depending on the length of the visit.

For instance, a five-night package from SOTC which involves extensive sightseeing, costs around Rs 67,000 per person (including economy class return airfare, accommodation, transportation and match tickets).

Though the response has been lukewarm till date, travel agents have not yet lost hope. “As the game proceeds and if India performs well, we are expecting an increase in the number of bookings,” says Mr Sahni. SOTC too has tailored packages for Super 8 and the Final matches for last minute travellers.