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Guajarati's rescheduling domestic travel plans due to polls, say agents
Guajarati's, known to be compulsive travelers, are holding back or rescheduling their vacation plans this summer to exercise their franchise.Incidentally, May 7 — the day all 26 Lok Sabha seats and five Assembly constituencies of Gujarat go to polls in the third phase — falls amid summer vacations for schools and colleges.
According to Ronak Shah, chairman of the Gujarat Chapter of Travel Agents Federation of India, travelers are indeed rescheduling their plans. “At least 20 per cent of them have rescheduled but these are all domestic travelers. No international traveler has changed his travel plan but at the same time it is also a fact that most of the international travelers have kept plans on hold till May 7,” he said.
Other players revealed that there are several travelers from Gujarat who have also advanced their return latest by May 6 evening. “Nearly 160 domestic clients have confirmed return tickets by May 6. While we have planned to request the airlines for considering these rescheduling without much financial burden on the travelers, all those who have advanced are travelling by trains.. those who have booked around two to three months in advance,” said Suhag Modi, director, Akshar Travels in Ahmedabad.
Travel operators are also advising their clients to plan accordingly. “We do not have any departures scheduled for the daytime on May 7 but for night hours. Similarly, the arrival of travelers on May 6 is expected to be much higher. While there is no rush to travel out on May 7, there is certainly a rush to return on the voting day,” Suhag Modi said.
Ahmedabad-based Ajay Modi Travels has around 100 travelers, who had finalized their travel plans before the elections, seeking rebooking. “This time, people are keen to vote and leave after May 7. Around 20 per cent have either changed their travel plans or are returning before May 7,” said Allap Modi from the company.
Suhag Modi said his firm was offering additional services to clients who agreed to reschedule plans to accommodate the voting day.
“Certainly we cannot force them but are advising those who are approaching us and also offering some add-on services or something special if they do so,” he said.
Even as the Election Commission is leaving no stone unturned to ensure a higher voter turnout this election, the BJP also has set a target of winning each of the 26 seats in the state with a margin of five lakh votes. This means the party, too, is going out of its ways to ensure a higher turnout.
Meanwhile, at a meeting of 150 representatives of state and national associations of travel agents and tea merchants in Rajkot Sunday, BJP leaders urged the audience to “to keep business interests aside for one day to ensure maximum voting on May 7”, said Gopal Unadkat, secretary of the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), Saurashtra- Kutch Chapter.
The meeting was addressed by senior BJP leaders Vajubhai Vala, Rajya Sabha MP Rambhai Mokariya and Union minister and Rajkot candidate Parshottam Rupala.
This comes days after Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel “assured refunds” for those rescheduling their vacation plans to be in the state on the voting day. He was addressing a meeting of the Resident Welfare Associations at New Ranip on April 5. Patel’s government has already declared May 7 a public holiday.
The travel operators in Ahmedabad, too, met last week where it was decided that they would request the railways and the airline operators to help reschedule bookings for those clients who had booked before the declaration of elections. However, the rescheduling notwithstanding, Guajarati's, especially the international travelers, are going ahead with their plans around the election day, says Mahendra Vakhariya from Pathfinders Holidays Private Limited.
“While around 40 per cent travelers, who are domestic travelers, have rebooked and planned accordingly, the international travelers are certainly going ahead with their plans which they finalized three to four months in advance.”
On the contrary, Rajkot-based travel agents are witnessing a dull season. With not many people travelling at all, the travel business is less than half this time, says operators from Saurashtra. “The government functionaries, supporters of candidates or parties, and voters are not travelling at all so far till elections are over. Being a laid back market, people generally do not book much in advance in Rajkot.
Also, due to the elections, there is a close scrutiny on cash transactions that majorly constitute this business. Hence, the business is down by almost 50 per cent. Since travel agents book tickets six months in advance with the airline, our paid purchases are going unsold,” shared Sanjay Mehta from Tran globe Travels of Rajkot. However, TAAI’s Unadkat expects demand to pick up after May 7. “Though people in Saurashtra and Kutch are not rescheduling as they have not booked at all, we are expecting this to change after the election day.”
Source: Indian Express
