The Hindu Business Line : IRCTC woos Buddhist tourists with special package

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd (IRCTC), the passenger services marketing arm of Indian Railways, has come up with a special tour package designed to attract Buddhist tourists from Sri Lanka, Japan, Thailand and Korea.

The Buddhist Special tour will cover pilgrimage spots such as Lumbini, Saranath, Bodhgaya, Sanchi, Kapilavasthu, Guntur, Kushinagar, Shravasthi, and so on. The package, which will be introduced from March, will be run on Rajdhani rakes, said Mr J. Vinayan, Additional General Manager, IRCTC. Tourists can either start their journey from Chennai or New Delhi. The 14-day tour from Chennai and seven-day tour from New Delhi would cost $120 per day per person (for I A/C), $90 (II A/C) and $80 (III A/C).

South package

Besides the soon-to-be-launched Palace on Wheels service across Karnataka — similar to the one in Rajasthan, IRCTC also plans to introduce a 14-day `Southern Splendour' package by July, which will be owned by the Andhra Pradesh Tourism Board, covering the southern States.

Plans are also on to introduce a second Palace on Wheels service in Rajasthan, as the existing one has been booked till 2011, Mr Vinayan said.

Other special services that are already operating include Village on Wheels — 15-day trips from Madurai and Coimbatore to rural centres in the North — aimed at the economy traveller. Bharat Darshan is another package, which is running full, that covers places of religious importance.

IT initiatives

Besides, IRCTC is also coming out with IT initiatives such as e-ticketing, mobile booking, and call centres for Railway enquiries. Booking rail tickets through these centres would be facilitated soon, he said.

The contract for this service has already been awarded to the consortium comprising Stanco Telesystems, Stracon Backoffice Solutions Ltd and BSNL. Services can be availed by dialling `139'.

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