With the rise in temperature, majority of the state capital residents prefer to experience the ambience of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu Kashmir or Thailand and Malaysia this summer season. Meanwhile, newly developed Amadubi village near Jamshedpur is the most preferred local destination within Jharkhand.
Explaining the reasons behind this increasing demand, travel agents said that the air-fare for hill stations like Manali, Shimla and Srinagar have increased and they are not much cheaper than the airfare to Thailand and Malaysia.
“Both range between Rs13,000 to 15,000. This is probably the main reason why large numbers of people are turning up for small Asian countries apart from domestic hill stations,” Eastern Travel Agency sales executive Pramesh Rawaal said on Monday.
Similar was the opinion of Cox and Kings limited Harmu branch director Diya Singh who said, “We are receiving maximum bookings for Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Bhutan in the international tour package. For a five day tour per person to Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore one has to pay around Rs25,000, 35,000 and Rs55,000 including travel, accommodation and sightseeing. The ones who can afford above RsOne lakh are booking for Europe and United States of America packages. This clearly indicates that the city residents want to upgrade their holiday options outside India.”
According to travel agents of Station Road, Main Road and lalpur including Suhana Tour and Travel, Eastern Travels Private limited and Travel way, locals who want to have a short-term vacation are opting for Darjeeling and Gangtok.
“The train, bus and flight fare from Kolkata to both these hill stations are easily available keeping the budget of a middle-class family in mind. We are receiving queries but it is comparatively less than Shimla, Manali, Srinagar and leh,” Nikhil, a representative of Travel Way said.
33-year-old Nabomita of Dhurwa who recently enjoyed a holiday at Shimla and Manali with her 35 year husband Kunal Sinha, a corporate professional were totally convinced with the words of these travel agents. Nabomita said, “I and my husband can together contribute around Rs40,000 for summer outing. last year we went to Thailand and this year thought of exploring Himachal Pradesh. The expenses are almost same in both the places. It is good for mediocre standard individuals like us.”
On the other hand, the newly built Amadubi village, 65 kilometers from Jamshedpur is getting a good tourist-response for Jharkhand.
“Earlier, tourists outside Jharkhand would prefer only Netarhat and Betla. This time Amadubi is receiving the maximum bookings. “We are unable to tell the total package details for Amadubi but are often coming across tourists asking about Amadubi in specific. The convenient distance from Ranchi and accommodation there are one of the major reasons,” Jharkhand Tourism Development Corporation director Sunil Kumar mentioned.