Thursday 18 October 2012

Air Kerala: tour operators ready to buy 50% seats


They say the airline will be a boost to tourism
The Confederation of Accredited Tour Operators (CATO) has expressed their readiness to support the ambitious Air Kerala project by guaranteeing seats from different cities within the country to Kerala and purchasing 50 per cent of the seats in the proposed airline.
CATO is an umbrella organisation of 30-odd government-approved tour operators.
“The filling of seats from different destinations will be a boost to the State’s tourism industry, and will check the exorbitant air fare increase by different domestic carriers, especially to Kerala,” CATO president Abraham George and secretary P.K. Anish Kumar said.
High airfares
CATO pointed out that the status of domestic tourist flow to the State over the past few months was not encouraging owing to high airfares in domestic sector. Even though October is the beginning of tourist season in the State, they said tour operators were upset over the very low rate of booking.
“Kerala is not an affordable destination to families of four or more members as the air fare itself is more than Rs.50,000 (for four persons) for travelling from Mumbai or Delhi to Kochi or Thiruvananthapuram,” the office-bearers said.
Mr. Anish Kumar said the CATO had decided to support the Air Kerala venture to maintain a steady and sustainable growth of tourism. “Air Kerala will play a vital role for the next boom for tourism in God’s Own Country and CATO will provide all support for the airline’s smooth takeoff,” he said.

·  Domestic tourism hit by high air fares: CATO
·  ‘Booking rate dismal though season has begun’
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/air-kerala-tour-operators-ready-to-buy-50-seats/article4011813.ece

1 comment: