Tim Leffel’s Cheapest Destinations

India’s Getting (Too?) Popular

An article in the weekend edition of the Wall Street Journal notes that tourism numbers are climbing rapidly in India and it is changing the dynamic of pricing there in a big way.

On the one hand, lots of budget airlines have popped up, which makes it far more economical to cover vast distances. Before there was little competition, so internal flight prices were higher than in the U.S. or Europe. We finally get a fun name in the mix too: “Spice Jet.”

On the other hand, hotel occupancy is getting to the crazy point, especially at the top end. India has always had a strong domestic element to its high-end hotels. When I was last there, most of the rooms at the various Taj properties were filled with Indian people, not foreigners. But the economy there is booming and each time the middle class expands by one percent, that’s another oh, 10 million people who can afford to travel more. The article writer noted that she had to take her 5th choice of a hotel in Mumbai (Bombay), and had to pay $300 for the priveledge. It’s even worse in Udaipur. (But joy of joys, there’s now a real expressway linking Udaipur and Jaipur–dropping the journey time from ten hours to five!)

As a backpacker, the hotel issue is less acute, but mid-range travelers are getting squeezed. They’re the ones that really have to battle with a domestic market and the mid-range market for hotels has long lagged behind the high-end one, especially outside the major cities. Apparently four million foreigners visited India last year, up 15% from 2004, which was itself up 25% from the year before. The shock to me is that 600,000 Americans visited there last year–outnumbering the Brits for the first time. I can only assume that includes a lot of Silicon Valley types, IBM outsourcing folks, and expat Indians returning to the homeland. Nobody ever seems to separate business travel from tourist travel in these numbers.

The lesson here? India is a fantastic, fascinating place, but at the luxury end it’s no bargain, especially when you throw in all the hassles you have to deal with along the way. For the intrepid, independent traveler who is looking for a place like no other, however, it’s still a tough act to top–and still one of the world’s great values.