Hyderabad, August 26: With two holidays falling in the middle of next week, denizens are gearing up for quick getaways from the city, planning five-day breaks from their desk jobs. With Eid and Ganesh Chaturthi falling on two consecutive days (Wednesday and Thursday), vacation-starved Hyderabadis are making the best of the festivities and have already made their bookings to various destinations. Airfares during this extended weekend have already shot up and so have the fares of private buses.
Tour operators say that even tariffs of hotels in these ‘long weekend’ destinations have been hiked to peak season rates, despite this being off season.
Tour operators say that bus tickets for the coming weekend are nearly sold out at a premium, ranging from Rs 1,000-1,200 for a ticket that costs Rs 700-750 in normal times (for destinations such as Vizag, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Chennai). The additional bus service announced by APSRTC would come as a relief to those making last minute plans to leave the city.
Airfares have also touched the sky with Hyderabad-Delhi return fare touching Rs 10,000, Hyderabad-Mumbai Rs 7,000 and Hyderabad-Pune Rs 6,300, that is 40% extra cost. The fare for long weekend favorite destination, Goa, is pegged at Rs 14,500, nearly Rs 7,000 higher than in normal times.
Although Goa is the preferred destination of all times, the long weekend coupled with the prospect of monsoon showers have made places like Coorg and Shimoga in Karnataka also attractive. “We have started getting a lot of clients for these destinations that are building up as tourist spots as nowadays people want to explore new places,” said Mir Liaqat Ali, a tour operator.
Tour operators have witnessed an increase of 20-30% over their regular bookings. “People have opted for places that are near the city so that they do not waste their time in travelling. Places like Araku and Vizag in AP, Dandili and Ooty in Karnataka also have a lot of tourists. It is an overnight journey and people get ample time to rejuvenate themselves,” a tour operator said.
Those who have made plans to venture out say this has come as a welcome break. “It is a four-day long weekend for me and I am headed to Coorg. It’s not too far and the trip doesn’t require much planning,” said Sanvi Gandotra, an IT professional.
Tour operators have also kept various attractive offers on the platter to promote the ‘not-so-popular’ destinations.
–Agencies