NEW DELHI, APRIL 4: It is boom time for the domestic travel industry as many government officers have packed their bags and are off to a week-long vacation to nearby hill-stations. This has been possible due to three gazetted and two restricted holidays that fall between two weekends in the first half of April.``We have for Mussourie, Shimla and Chail,'' said Sarbjeet Singh, president of Indian association of tour operators.
``Flights on the Delhi-Kathmandu sector have been fully booked for the period between April 6 and 11 and even the hotels are full,'' said Gulshan Chawla, a domestic tour operator.
There are only two working days next week on April 6 (Monday) and 7 (Tuesday). April 8, 9 and 10 are gazetted holidays for Eid, Mahavir Jayanthi and Good Friday respectively, and the weekend is off. April 13 and 14 are restricted holidays for Baisakhi and Ambedkar Jayanthi respectively.
``The trend is that whenever there are holidays people start to move out and avail of our weekend packages toHardwar-Hrishikesh, Jaipur and Agra sectors,'' said a Delhi Tourism spokesman, adding that he had already received bookings for the forthcoming week. ``There is a mad rush for tickets specially to near-by destinations for the forthcoming holidays, and most of the trains are already booked for next week,'' pointed out a railway official, adding that the waiting list for the forthcoming holidays had gone up substantially.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
