IRCTC to come up with hosts of initiatives to woo tourists in South

Mumbai, Jan 16 (UNI) In its bid to tap the ever-increasing tourism industry, the southern region wing of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd (IRCTC) has decided to launch hosts of new initiatives in states like Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

Briefing the media after addressing a meeting of the the travel agents here today, the Regional Director, IRCTC (South Zone), V Sriram, said that ''The idea behind the launch of four new tourism packages is to cover all the exotic destinations in all the three southern States.'' The four itineraries offered by the IRCTC (South Zone) would originate from places like Mumbai (starting on daily basis on January 20), Bangalore (January 20), New Delhi (February 15) and Howrah (March 01 on weekly basis).

He stressed that assured train accommodation from end-to-end would be made available to the tourists with special quota to be operated by IRCTC for all the new packages. The price range per person for all the new packages-which come in budget, standard and deluxe forms-starts from Rs 7,750.

He made it clear that the commission amount to be given to all the travelling agents associated with IRCTC would be 10 per cent of the price package. Also, he informed that IRCTC has planned to come up with 100 budget hotels in southern region soon at places like Madurai, Kanyakumari and Ooty. Apart from it, national call centres by the IRCTC are also there in the offing.

As per an estimation, the forthcoming call centres are likely to receive calls numbering 20-25 lakh on a daily basis, he said.

Moreoverr, the IRCTC is also holding talks with the postal department to make arrangements for the sale of train tickets through its five lakh post offices spread across the country. It comes close on the wheels of the Indian Rail's recent initiative of reaching an MoU with BPCL for the same purpose.

Asked to comment on the poor performace of the luxury train Deccan Odeyssy, which was launched by the IRCTC a year ago, he said that ''Any tourism project must have a gestation period of 10-12 years to become a popular international project.'' UNI