Extended holidays spur growth in tourism

Employees across India are upbeat about the first long weekend of 2011 starting August 13 (Saturday) as majority of them in the city have applied for four to five days of casual leave to make it an extended holiday to the next week, according to a survey conducted by industry body Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham).

Assocham interacted with human resources and administration departments in 400 corporate offices in five cities at Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai and Pune to gauge the mood of corporate workforce for first long weekend this monsoon.

Employees in Bangalore are gung-ho about making most of this extended weekend as corporate offices in the city have received a number of casual leave applications and majority of tour operators in the city have sold monsoon tour packages for Kodagu.

As many as 45 per cent of employees in Bangalore have applied for four to five days off in the third week of August as majority of them have planned for a eight to ten day long itinerary.

Assocham also interacted with representatives of leading travel portals, travel agencies, hoteliers and according to their records they have received maximum of bookings for traditional picturesque destinations of Jaipur, Landsdowne (Uttarakhand), Manali, Shimla, Mussorrie, Nainital, Goa and Mount Abu.

Tour operators are offering exciting new packages for couples and corporate houses to cash in on the newly developed concept of monsoon tourism.

About 15 lakh travellers are likely to make a voyage to these renowned destinations, according to an Assocham analysis based on the feedback received from tour operators and hoteliers in traditional tourist hot spots, around these cities.

“Long weekends are very rare these days and corporate employees see this is as a perfect getaway time owing to several public holidays this month,” said Mr D.S. Rawat, Secretary General of Assocham.

Delhi and Mumbai

Corporate offices in Delhi-NCR have received maximum leave applications as 55 per cent of employees in the city have applied for minimum of four days off.

40 per cent of the corporate offices in Mumbai have received casual leave applications from their employees. Besides, Mahabaleshwar, Khandala, Lonavala and Matheran are some of the leading tour hot spots for Mumbaikars as tour operators have received maximum bookings in these areas.

Religious tourism is also on a high among travellers this season and the footfall at destinations like Vaishno Devi, Khatu Shayam (Rajasthan), Udaipur, Ashtvinayak and Char Dham is most likely to quadruple this weekend as of the over all bookings 15 to 20 per cent account for spiritual tourism destinations, according to the feedback received from tour operators.

Tariff hike

Hoteliers in these locations have increased the room rates by around 150 to 200 per cent and are reporting a healthy occupancy, even though traditionally it is a lean season. Besides, food and beverage costs are also running upwards by 35 to 40 per cent.

According to the Assocham survey, various companies have enabled work from home facility for their employees so that they can celebrate their festivals and complete their tasks as per their convenience without worrying much about the deadlines.

Those with hefty pockets are off to international holiday destinations such as Thailand, Mauritius, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai. According to the tour operators, almost 25 per cent of the overall bookings account for leisure holidays in these areas.

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