IRCTC comes up with attractive holiday packages

“IRCTC provides confirmed reservations for all these packages. We are offering a weekly Tirupati package tour for Rs 5,599 that will include AC III travel,shared AC accommodation,sightseeing and food,” said Aloksingh Parmar,IRCTC,Pune.

The South India package costs Rs 12,499 for sleeper class and Rs 18,399 for AC III-tier. The train will cover all important tourist destinations including Goa,Tirupati,Rameshwaram,Madurai,Kanyakumari and Thiruvananthapuram. The North India package would cost Rs 11,499 for sleeper. IRCTC will provide accommodation in budget hotels or dormitories along with food.

According to Harsha Shah,president,Railway Pravasi Sangh,the tourist package is a great alternative for middle class families as holidaying by other modes has become very expensive.

“The IRCTC packages are affordable and if compared with other modes result in 50-75 per cent saving. Apart from tourist packages,Puneites can also opt for other regular trains available for all major tourist destinations in the country,” Shah said.

A person wishing to visit Konkan can opt for the biweekly Pune-Ernakulam Express. Pune-Jammutavi Express (Daily) will take a tourist to Jalandhar,Chandigarh,Kulu,Manali,Simla and parts of J&K.

“Those travelling by AC-I AC-II will have to pay 10-15 per cent for long distance travel this year due to fare hike,but that is still affordable compared to other modes. Besides,if the group is big enough,IRCTC can provide inclusive package apart from the package tourist trains,” Shah said.

Vacationing by bus can cost you more this year

Those travelling by bus during their vacation will have to pay at least 10-15 per cent more this year. According to experts,though the increase in service tax will not have an immediate impact as bookings were already done before the budget announcement,expenses have in general gone up owing to inflation.

However,according to travel agents,the increase in expenses has not resulted in number of tourists going down.

“This year,tourist are more inclined towards domestic tours than abroad,” said Subhada Joshi,general secretary,travel agents association.

According to Akhilesh Joshi,director,Girikand Travels,tourist are also choosing to rent cars and go drive themselves rather than go on group holidays in buses.

“The ‘self-drive tourism’ market is growing. This year,we have considerable number of bookings for such tours. The increase can be attributed to improving conditions of roads and availability of hotels. Also,one gets privacy and freedom from fixed schedule,” said Joshi adding that apart from nearby locations,people are also opting for Karnataka,Madhya Pradesh and Goa.

There is a considerable number of people preferring group travel in buses to holy places like Tirupati,Varanasi and Uttar Kashi. “Generally,people visiting holy places have elderly family members with them. In such cases they prefer travelling by buses. Many travel agencies also provide subsidised packages for pilgrimage,” said Suraj Madane,Tours and Travels agency.

Rajesh Somvanshi,a resident of Bhosalenagar,who is heading for Tirupati in May,said,“I wanted to travel by train but the waiting list was very long. I chose to travel by bus as air tickets are unaffordable.”