MUMBAI: To expand its outbound tourism beyond south-east Asia and Gulf, the railways, for the first time, plans to take passengers on “value for money” package tours to far-off destinations like Australia, Greece and South Africa this year. It has also sought government approvals to include AC saloon luxury coaches in trains plying between Mumbai and Goa and has tied up with MTDC to promote tourism within the state.
IRCTC additional general manager Rahul Himalian said, “In the past, we organized tours to Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Dubai. Now, we want to introduce economical package tours to Australia, Greece, Turkey and South Africa.” He said there were plans to introduce mix-and-match tours as well; for example a 12-days-11-nights tour for Australia and Singapore, where one can travel by reputed airlines and stay in the best hotels at an economical price.
“Our profit margins are not as high as those of private operators and we are fully accountable for our services. This is why, citizens prefer our packages (in groups of 20, 40 or 60),” Himalian said.
The railways will also add new destinations to the existing packages. For example, a Thailand package, which usually covers Bangkok and Pattaya in five days, will get Phuket as an additional destination and the number of days will be increased, he said.
An IRCTC tour, five days and four nights, to Thailand, which will cover two cities, will begin on July 13. “We will improve our network of travel operators across the world and forge ties with leading airlines to block seats on specific dates at reasonable rates,” Himalian said. A south India tour (Saptarangi Dakshin darshan) will be kick off on May 23, he said.
IRCTC to offer tours to Australia, Greece
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