The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Tour operators see fall in business

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 10, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Tour operators see fall in business

Sharath S. Srivatsa

The last three months have seen revenues drop

Package tours are attracting fewer tourists
ITDC cancels some coaches and merges services

BANGALORE: Tourist bus and taxi operators are in the doldrums since the drastic fall in the arrival of tourists has brought down business by over 50 per cent.

The dip has been witnessed on the popular and lucrative package tours to Tirupati, Mysore and Udhagamandalam in the last three months, when compared to the corresponding period last year. A few months ago, it would have been difficult to imagine getting a ticket to Tirupati easily. But, things have changed since then.

While the big operators, including India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC), which operate sightseeing tours to tourist destinations, have cut down the number of buses, private taxi owners are staring at a bleak future.

An official in Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation (KSTDC) said that it has witnessed a drop of around 10 per cent in tourists.

“During the last three months, we have suffered revenue loss. On an average, only around 20 passengers travel in a coach which can carry 45. We have cancelled some coaches and merged the services,” an ITDC official told The Hindu.

The ITDC’s seat load has come down by more than 50 per cent. The corporation’s package had been popular among the tourists from Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan and Maharashtra.

The corporation had been operating four coaches a day to Tirupati, and two coaches to Mysore-Udhagamandalam, and one coach to Mysore for local sightseeing.

“However, we have now reduced the number of coaches to Tirupati by two, and only one coach is operating in the Mysore-Udhagamandalam section,” the official said.

Director of Rajesh Travels K.V. Rajesh said that the situation had grown deteriorated after the Mumbai terror attacks. “Bangalore acts as the hub for tourists from north India, and the travel business has been affected badly,” he added.

Tourist taxis

The tourist taxi owners are also feeling the heat during the peak tourism season. “During this season last year, I used to send an average of 12 cars a day to destinations such as Kodagu, Wayanad, Bandipur, Udhagamandalam, Belur and Halebeedu. However, the number has dropped to less than three now,” said H.B. Subramanya, proprietor of Mysore-based Sri Balaji Travel.

He said even though the Sabarimalai season was on, the demand for vehicles was not encouraging. “Old payments are not coming in, while there is no new business. If the prevailing situation continues, owners may have to sell their vehicles,” Mr. Subramanya said. In this situation, he said, travel agencies are now looking for corporate tie-ups to provide vehicles, which are also hard to come by.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Karnataka