JOIN USSummer vacations have started and schools and colleges have closed for a good two months.
Those who have decided to head out of the City have already started making reservations well in advance. Airlines, railway officials, KSRTC booking counters and travel agents confirm that people have started booking and the waiting lists on trains, buses and flights are becoming longer.
Metrolife interacted with railway officials, those at the KSRTC counters and travel agents to understand where people are headed this summer.
Places up north such as Shimla, Delhi, Jaipur, Rajasthan, Haridwar and Mumbai seem to be popular. Down south, Chennai, Pondicherry, Kerala and Goa are favourite holiday hot spots.
Tickets for buses, trains and planes have been booked well in advance and those lining up at the last minute to book tickets have been left in the lurch.
A couple of special trains have also been introduced for the season. The railway officials confirm that the waiting lists run into mid June.
According to N Ramesh, senior divisional commercial manager, Southern Railways, nine trains have been introduced to clear the holiday rush.
“We see people heading to Jodhpur, Jaipur and Ajmer. The bookings are full not only because of holidays but because it is also a centre for the textile business. The North-East regions have registered a 100-per cent ticket sales because a lot of north-east students in Bangalore head home for vacation,” says Ramesh.
He further says that a ‘running regret’ note has been placed for tickets to Kerala and Mysore, which means that there are no tickets available to these places.
“We also see a rush to Howrah on Udyan Express. We’ve added extra coaches to not just these trains but to the Kanyakumari Express as well,” adds Ramesh.
Anil Kumar, managing director, Acma Travel Tours Pvt Ltd, points out that there are more bookings on the international flights and as part of package tours.
“We see more families heading out to the Far-Eastern countries, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. The rates for the package tours are decided based on the popularity of the country,” says Anil. He adds, “We haven’t seen too many domestic bookings this year, except to a few places up north.”
Vinay, the owner of the KSRTC Travel House, says the fares of luxury buses from Bangalore to Kerala, Goa, Shimoga and Sirsi have been increased by Rs 100. We’ve almost registered full bookings to these places. We’ve also added one or two extra buses to clear the rush. The price of ticket on luxury buses is Rs 550. The charges to local places on a normal KSRTC bus still remain at Rs 220,” he sums up.