A ski resort in Austria

Calcutta has finally caught the eye of a Switzerland-based travel group promising a castles-and-Mercs experience. The Indian subsidiary of the Kuoni Group has opened shop in town — after 15 Indian cities — offering customised packages for travellers under the Kuoni Holidays brand.

Catering to a niche segment, the brand provides four stars and above travel packages. Travel groups SOTC and SITA are also from the Kuoni stable. While these mainly offer group packages, Kuoni Holidays focuses on the FIT or Free Individual Travel sector.

Launching their city office on Park Street on Thursday, Rajendra Kakade, the national manager (channel sales) of Kuoni Travel India, said: “Our survey of tourists from Calcutta showed that the city has a huge potential for high-end travel packages.”

He pointed out that in the past three years, the first Indian bookings on cruise liners Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth were from Calcutta.

Some options available with Kuoni Holidays include stay at Scottish castles, Irish villas, lake-side lodges in New Zealand and luxury ski resorts in Switzerland and Austria. Mercs and choppers are a part of the deal too.

“We also have luxury packages for Indian destinations like Goa, Vaishnodevi (with helicopter service) and the Char Dhams (Puri, Rameshwaram, Dwarka and Badrinath),” said Kakade.

He added that Kuoni Holidays has tied up with the tourism board of Singapore and is trying for similar partnerships with other countries.

Asked about how the downturn has affected leisure travel, Kakade admitted that business had dropped by 6 to 8 per cent in the FIT sector in the last few months. “But things are picking up already and we are targeting a 12 per cent growth this year,” he added.

Mahendra Soni of Venkatesh Films sounded upbeat about the luxury brand’s foray into Calcutta. “There is definitely a space for this luxury segment in the city. Every year two to three films are shot outside India, so it would help if there is a tour operator to work things out,” he pointed out.

“As far as individuals go, our stars are flying high and are paid well, so I think they would be interested in such packages,” Soni added.