Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Friday, Feb 10, 2006
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Friday, Feb 10, 2006 |
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Tourism Logistics - Railways Marketing - Strategy Railways plans `designer' bogies for high-end tourists — To roll out packages for economy class as well Mamuni Das
New Delhi , Feb. 9 PLANNING a holiday with friends and want to have fun during travel? Well you may soon be able to hire a specially designed train bogie just for your group, which would be spacious with lesser number of berths and possibly have a kitchen as well. This would become possible with the Indian Railways planning to offer tourist car services. Your bogie would be attached with a train going to the desired destination. And of course, you would be required to pay higher charges for this premium service. "This offer could be used by group of friends, families and office goers with high disposable incomes, who are ready to pay more for quality service," said an official. Tour packages: Moreover, if you want some special service as a tourist though at lower charges, Railways might still have something to offer - through the `value added tour packages'. Here, though you don't get a different bogie for your group, you would be booked on berths within a bogie of a train going to a place of tourist interest. The special treatment would come in the form of car rentals at the destinations and special menu, amongst others. "The tickets for this service may be priced slightly higher than what Railways charges to its regular passengers, because the tourists would be offered additional services such as receiving at stations, car rental, special menu, amongst others," said officials. These tailor-made packages are a part of Railways proposal to offer a slew of services targeted at different economic segment of tourists. They include value added tour packages, tourist cars, domestic tourist trains and luxury tourist trains like the Palace on Wheels. Tourist trains: Another proposal to serve tourist destinations with heavy demand would be through domestic tourist trains. These trains would also offer special services and can have differential pricing of tickets within the train - based on demand. "Depending on the demand, a tourist train could have different proportion of sleeper coaches and AC coaches and be priced accordingly," said an official. The bookings for the above services can be done through Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd (IRCTC) website, tour operators and direct selling associates. The luxury segment aimed at international tourists would continue to be catered through Palace on Wheels - that Railways runs in partnership with the State Governments concerned on a cost and revenue sharing basis. At present, there are two `Palace on Wheels' that cater to Rajasthan. IR plans to start another Palace on Wheels in Karnataka and has received a proposal from the Madhya Pradesh Government to run a luxury train.
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