IPL tourism spawns cut-rate deals amid slowdown

Kingfisher Airlines, the official airline partner of the IPL and its travel partners such as Thomas Cook and SOTC have hurriedly put together travel packages to enable cricket lovers to fly to South Africa and watch the matches live.

Kingfisher Airlines, the official airline partner of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and its travel partners such as Thomas Cook and SOTC have hurriedly put together travel packages to enable cricket lovers to fly to South Africa and watch the matches live after the tournament plagued by security concerns shifted its venue out of India for its second season.

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It is still not clear whether Kingfisher would operate direct charter flights for the IPL matches.

At the moment travel companies are offering air tickets on South African Airways, which has direct flight from Mumbai and Emirates, which provides connectivity through its Dubai hub.

Thomas Cook (India) is offering an all-inclusive three nights four days package (except for airport taxes, launch and dinner) for Rs 43,000 per person on a twin-sharing basis in three star hotel in Cape Town and Johannesburg.

“We are offering very affordable packages largely because we want as many people as possible to have a live experience of the game in South Africa. Expensive packages do not sell at this slowdown times,” said Nalini Gupta, marketing head at Thomas Cook India.

Expedia.co.in, operated by leading online travel company Expedia.inc has listed top ten destinations in South Africa to combine with the IPL schedule. It is offring 50 per cent discounts on hotel bookings.