PUNE: The rush to reach home towns to spend Diwali with families has begun. Despite the Pune airport’s closure and high air fares, lack of full train connectivity, and infrequent buses with Covid-19 restrictions, many families have decided to spend the festival away from the city on a much-needed vacation
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Travel agents said that the trend to go on vacation after Diwali prevalent among Puneites has changed this year and many now have opted to spend the festival in holiday destinations.
“In Pune, people generally prefer to holiday after Laxmi Puja and Padva. Now, many clients have booked their trips during the Diwali week. Queries and bookings have increased and while some are ready to spend some days in nearby locations like Nashik, Lonavla, Mahabaleshwar, Konkan, many have opted to go to Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. There are several queries and bookings too for international destinations like Dubai, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Austria and Turkey. Also, more people are contacting travel agents for their bookings rather than doing it themselves or booking via a website,” Nileshh Bhansali, a travel agent and director of Travel Agents Association of Pune, told TOI.
Sudhir Behl, a businessman and his family, who have not gone on a vacation since last March, will spend Diwali in Jodhpur.
“Our bookings stand from November 2 to November 6. We have never spent Diwali on a vacation, but then this time we decided to. We were able to save some money for the trip, thanks to being at home for one and half years. Even if the Pune airport would have been closed during our vacation dates, we would have found a way to go,” Behl, a Pashan resident, told TOI.
Ankur Mitra had planned to go to his home in Siliguri in Bengal for Diwali, thought it best to get his tickets via a travel agent. “I chose a travel agent for the first time because amidst all uncertainties and regulations, as he will help us if a flight gets cancelled or with any other issue. I booked my ticket from October 27 and November 6 and once the Pune airport closed down, I contacted the agent and he did all the work on the re-routing. The hassles have been so much since more than a year that I just wanted to travel in peace. I have to fly from Mumbai but at least I didn’t have to make umpteen calls to the airlines,” Mitra said.
Another travel company representative said that the airfares during this time were high, but that had not become a deterrent for the holiday seekers.
Neelima Datta and her family, who will be spending their Diwali at a resort in Mahabaleshwar, said that the cost factor didn’t bother them. “We are staying for five days and the tariff is huge. But then, a vacation is extremely important and we can always pay upfront and convert it into an EMI. My kids desperately want to go out,” Datta, an entrepreneur, said.
