Dazzling Dubai – IRCTC’s first overseas tour package

The Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) now promises to take travelers on a five-night/six-day package tour of “Dazzling Dubai” – offering its first overseas package of five days/six nights at a price of Rs. 44,270.

The Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) now promises to take travelers on a five-night/six-day package tour of “Dazzling Dubai” – offering its first overseas package of five days/six nights at a price of Rs. 44,270.

HT Image

The package has generated a tremendous response and all tickets have been booked for the journey that begins on August 21, IRCTC officials said.

Incorporating travel by air, land and rail – the journey is scheduled to begin from Bhopal in an AC-II coach by train – reaching Mumbai the next day for the onward journey by air to Dubai.

The 3 nights/4 days stay at Dubai has stimulating enough an itiniery: A visit to the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building (2723 ft with 163 floors) in the world; a half-day Dubai City tour; a romantic Dhow Cruise down the Dubai creek through fascinating lights and lilting music while enjoying a sumptuous dinner – with a desert safari being thrown in as well.

“The package is planned in such a way so that the tourists may get enough time at their leisure, as well, to explore the many sights and sounds of Dubai on their own”, IRCTC spokesman Pradeep Kundu said.

While making an entry into the outbound tourism sector, the IRCTC hopes to conduct many such tours to other popular international tourist destinations in future, Kundu added.

With the responsibilities of catering having been taken off the corporation in 2010, the corporation has been focusing on tourism promotion.

Two special domestic tour packages were announced by the corporation on Wednesday — Dakshin Darshan covering Goa and south India and Uttar Darshan covering tourists destinations in north India.

“Both the packages will be of nine nights and 10 days. Dakshin Darshan will start on August 7 from Ahmedabad and Uttar Darshan will start on August 22 from Pune.

Both packages have two options for travelers — Standard (sleeper class) and Comfort (3AC).

For Dakshin Darshan, the cost for Standard option is Rs. 12,649 per person. For Comfort option, it is Rs. 18,499 per person. The train will cover cultural, heritage and pilgrimage destinations of Goa, Tirupati, Rameshwaram, Madurai, Thiruvananthapuram, Kanyakumari and Kovalam, said Himalian.

For Uttar Darshan, the cost of the Standard option is Rs. 11,499 per person and Comfort option is Rs. 17,049 per person. The train will cover cultural, heritage and pilgrimage destinations such as Mathura, Agra, Haridwar, Amritsar and Vaishnodevi.

The boarding points for Dakshin Darshan are Kalyan and Pune and for Uttar Darshan, Ahmedabad, Kalyan and Pune.