Domestic tickets unavailable, vacationers go overseas

Indian tourists prefer Bhutan, Nepal, Malaysia as reaching Kashmir, Himachal becomes impossible

With the mercury rising still, hill destinations in the country are in great demand.

And this has resulted in a piquant situation as rail tickets as well as air tickets to these destination have become scarce.

Reaching these destinations in Kashmir, Himachal, Uttaranchal has become almost impossible due to unavailability of tickets.

In fact, domestic tourists are now preferring nearby international destinations such as Bhutan, Nepal, Malaysia, Sri Lanka among others.

"Seats are not available on flights to Srinagar and Shimla till June 15. So the tourists are preferring nearby international destinations in Nepal, Bhutan, Malaysia and Sri Lanka.

Many of them are also opting for beaches in Goa and Kerala," said a senior official of Indian Airlines (IA).

"Indian Airlines has recently introduced special flights for international destinations such as Sharjah, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Yangaon and all the sectors have received tremendous response from domestic tourists," said the official.

The occupancy level of most of the flights has shot up to 90 per cent this summer instead of the usual 70 per cent.

"Despite the railways running several special trains to clear the summer rush, tickets are still not available for passengers for various hill stations till June 15," said a senior official of the Western Railway.

Jammu and Kashmir has witnessed a growth of over 100 per cent in tourist traffic in the last two years. With the improved law and order situation in Kashmir, there has been a 30 per cent rise in Gujarati tourists Kashmir destinations.

Nearly 50 lakh people visit the holy shrine of Vaishno Devi every year, and within the first five months of the current year, already over 22 lakh people have visited the holy shrine.

Even the Leh sector has seen increased visits as the Leh festival scheduled to start from June 17. "With an improved law and order situation in the Kashmir valley, inquiries for visiting Jammu and Kashmir have jumped to all-time high in the last five years," said a tourist officer of the J&K tourism.

"The focus of domestic tourists has shifted from Kerala to Kashmir because of the peace in the valley.

"With more and more people opting for travelling to Kashmir, all the air and railway tickets have been booked, forcing people to change their tour plans to other destinations," said Sanjeev Chhajer, vice-president, Cox and Kings, Ahmedabad.