A new area in travel with prepackaged options

Most people love to travel, but find they simply don’t have enough time to put their plans in motion. Liaising with airlines, travel agents and hotels is enough to make people give up before they’ve even started.

However, there’s a Mumbai-based business called Kuoni, which offers Box Holidays. These are tangible, prepackaged travel offerings that can be purchased online or off the shelf in participating stores.

Rather than having to spend time and effort researching options with a travel agent, purchasers can simply buy a Box Holiday, which features all the key details on the outside of the box, including price, validity period, service inclusions and exclusions, complimentary offers, loyalty benefits, discounts, cancellation rules and hotel images.

Packaged holidays aren’t anything new, but this idea brings it to a more literal conclusion.

Buyers of Box Holidays need only call to schedule the dates on which they’d like to redeem the package. Also packaged into many Box Holidays are holiday vouchers, value add-ons, discount coupons, destination information, tips and other freebies.

Besides appealing to new groups of tourists who might be daunted by the prospects of organising holiday travel, it’s safe to assume that consumers here in Australia would be more likely to consider travel for gift-giving purposes if it were available as a tangible box in mainstream retail outlets. Something to think about as a possible start-up idea.