Ahmedabad: If Europe is on your summer wishlist, now is the time to book your trip. Travel agents across Gujarat say Schengen visa delays, rising rejection rates, and a volatile rupee have pushed seasoned travellers to book their summer holidays far earlier than usual this year. Traditionally, summer bookings begin in March, but in 2026, serious inquiries and confirmations for Europe began in Jan, as families rushed to secure visa appointments well in advance. The delays are prompting travellers to choose newer destinations and avoid uncertainty about visas.“Appointments are not easily available. On average, it takes 45-60 days just to get a Schengen visa appointment, and rejections are high and often haphazard,” said Ankit Bajaj, owner of a travel company from Ahmedabad.“First-time travellers tend to face more documentation hurdles. This time, even regular visitors to Europe are applying much earlier to avoid last-minute stress. With summer travel contributing nearly 60% of annual revenues for travel agents, and Europe accounting for the bulk of seasonal sales from Gujarat, the delays are directly affecting business planning as well,” he further explained.Many tourists are rethinking their destination choices altogether. With visa uncertainty and a stronger euro dampening sentiment, destinations offering easier visas and better connectivity are gaining ground. Japan emerged as a hot favourite among Gujarati tourists, particularly during the cherry blossom season in April, thanks to relatively smoother visa availability. Thailand, especially around the Songkran Festival in April, and Bali, Vietnam, Azerbaijan and Turkey are witnessing rising demand. The UAE continues to attract short-haul holidaymakers due to its streamlined visa process, while South Africa is also seeing growing interest.“Connectivity and visa ease play a key role in opting for a destination. If securing a visa becomes stressful or unpredictable, people simply change their itineraries. However, those determined to visit Europe plan in advance, and most of them are seasoned travellers. At the same time, many still look for last-minute travel offers and want to avail of those deals, but that might come at the cost of visa appointment delays,” said Virendra Shah, former chairperson, Travel Agents’ Association of India (TAAI) Gujarat chapter.For many families, however, the bigger concern remains logistics. Ketan Patel, an industrialist from Ahmedabad, planned a May holiday to Norway and Denmark with 12 family members and said early booking was unavoidable. “We booked in Jan because of the visa appointment availability period. Typically, when travelling in May, it’s okay to book in March. However, with such a large group, we could not take chances. We booked our travel in Jan and, at that time, the earliest visa appointment we secured was in March,” he said.Travel agents warn that those waiting until March to begin paperwork will likely find it difficult to secure timely appointments and might have to either postpone their travel or choose other destinations.Meanwhile, inquiries and bookings for domestic travel have picked up well. “This time around, Kashmir is not a preferred choice due to the Pahalgam incident last year. Tour operators also made hefty losses due to major cancellations. Instead, we are seeing healthy traction in the domestic segment, particularly in the North East. Destinations such as Assam, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh are drawing strong interest from Gujarat travellers,” said Manish Sharma, a travel expert from Ahmedabad.The currency situation has added to the pinch. As of Feb 12, the rupee depreciated nearly 19.4% year on year against the euro — from Rs 90.19 to Rs 107.71 — significantly inflating package costs. This means that the Europe itinerary, priced at 2,500 euros per person and costing about Rs 2.25 lakh last year, now costs roughly Rs 2.69 lakh — an increase of nearly Rs 44,000 per person purely due to currency movements. For a family of four, that translates into an additional Rs 1.5-2 lakh in expenses. Against the US dollar, the rupee weakened by about 4.18% year on year, further adding to the overall cost of international travel components priced in dollars.However, the only silver lining the industry players see is the budgetary announcement reducing the tax collected at source (TCS) on overseas tour packages to a flat 2% from earlier 5% and 20% slabs. Travel operators say this lowers the upfront tax burden and improves cash flow for travellers.
