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IRCTC resumes domestic, international tours from Pune, Mumbai
Citizens will soon be able to travel across the country and international destinations at affordable rates as IRCTC resumes its tour packages for the public
Pune: Citizens will soon be able to travel across the country and to some international destinations at affordable rates as the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has resumed its tour packages for the public. After a two-year gap due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the IRCTC west region has restarted some of its prominent domestic tours to Rajasthan, south India and Punjab, and its international tours to Dubai and Nepal.
Rajeev Jain, IRCTC additional general manager of the west zone, said, “In the IRCTC tourism division, we are into road, rail, air and also now the water vertical where we plan affordable tours for the public across the country. In the train vertical, we take passengers for complete package tours to various destinations and it is well organised. There are around 12 to 15 coaches as per the bookings and these are places which people largely book. Whereas there are types of tour packages, including budget, standard, comfort and premium and the rates for each class are different. After Covid, we have recently started ‘Royal Rajasthan’ and ‘Dakshin (south India) Darshan’ yatra tours for the public in the domestic sector and tours to Dubai and Nepal in the international sector.”
A standard itinerary is planned along with tour managers in these IRCTC tour packages, which includes sightseeing and accommodation. For the forthcoming Diwali vacation, the ‘Royal Rajasthan’ tour of eight days has been planned and more destinations will be included by the IRCTC going further. Passengers from Mumbai and Pune are ferried by railway for this tour and Pune-oriented packages, too, are starting.
“We are planning to start some tours within Maharashtra too and if there are tourist spots within 150 km from Pune that attract tourists from other parts of the country, we are ready to start a Pune-based tour as well. After Covid, the international tourist market, too, is opening up and we are slowly launching our international tours including Dubai, Thailand and Nepal as of now with plans to add other international destinations like Bali, Malaysia and Europe soon,” said Jain.
