Summer travel gets dearer on conflict, weak rupee

Chennai: Summer vacations for Indians to exotic destinations have been disrupted as the West Asia conflict and a weakening rupee have pushed overseas tour package costs up by about 20%, offsetting the Centre’s cut in Tax Collected at Source (TCS) on such packages to 2% from 20% and 5%.

The conflict has also led to a sharp drop in international trips between April and June, the peak summer travel season for Indian families. Rajiv Mehra, general secretary, Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism & Hospitality (FAITH), said outbound travel has been badly hit.