The Hindu Business Line : Deccan Odyssey expected to break even in 3rd year

THE Deccan Odyssey, a luxury train operated by the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC), is expected to achieve break-even by the end of the third year of operations.

The train operated 25 trips in its first season in 2004-05, with ticket collections of Rs 1.5 crore.

According to the schedule worked out by the Railways, the train will operate between 32 and 35 trips each season, which lasts from October through April.

The train is jointly operated by Central Railways and MTDC.

According to Mr Prithviraj Patil, General Manager, MTDC, the corporation has received several enquiries for the second season.

Among the enquiries are for charters, wherein a party books the entire train for a trip.

A couple of groups from the UK have evinced an interest in chartering the train and one party was keen to take the train outside the State, he added.

The train traverses the most picturesque parts of the State on a journey that begins at Mumbai and passes through Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Goa, Pune, and Aurangabad.

Provisional figures available with the corporation indicate that MTDC had recorded a turnover of Rs 12 crore in 2004-05.

According to Mr Patil, the corporation is self-sufficient and does not have to depend on the Government for maintenance and upgradation work undertaken by it.

Meanwhile, in an effort to boost occupancy at resorts across the State, MTDC is offering a deposit scheme under which companies can book a certain number of room nights at the resorts.

The organisations could then give them to employees, who would be free to use the number of nights booked.

The corporation would give out 15 per cent of the rooms available with it under the scheme.

According to Mr Patil, the scheme, which has been on offer for more than three years now, is popular with public sector banks, insurance companies, and the Airports Authority of India.

Occupancy at the corporation's resorts varies, with the more popular centres such as Ganapatipule on average recording more than 75 per cent occupancy.

On the other hand, the resort at Shirdi records average occupancy of around 50 per cent.

As part of its expansion plans, the corporation will add three more resorts on the Konkan coast, having recently opened three resorts in Vidarbha district, Mr Singh said.

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