Surtis put aside flu scare, get packing

The swine flu scare is raging across the country, but this hardly managed to deter travel plans of Surtis, who are busy packing their bags for the Diwali vacation. The deadly virus has claimed 13 lives in Surat and more than 250 in the country so far. Many of these deaths, especially in Gujarat, have been reported in the last two weeks, but fun-loving Surtis don't seem to be too concerned about the flu.

"The most popular domestic destinations for Surtis continue to be Goa, Kerala, Rajasthan, Shimla and Manali. We receive maximum enquiries and bookings for these places," Gunjan Bhutani of Broadview Tours & Travels, a city-based travel agency, said.

Surtis are also looking to get away to Leh-Ladakh as well as Darjeeling, Sikkim and Gangtok in North East for the vacation, even as quite a few people are also choosing non-conventional tourist destinations like Coorg, Alibagh, Ganpatiphule and Lavasa this year, said an official of Unique Holidays, another travel agency.

However, there aren't any surprises as far as international tourist destinations are concerned. Dubai, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Hong Kong continue to be the preferred foreign destinations for Surtis looking to get away for holidays this Diwali.

While swine flu may not be worrying Surtis, travel agents said that bookings this year are lower than in recent years. "Tour bookings for the forthcoming Diwali vacation are 15 - 20 % lower as compared to the last few years, as people are still wary of economic uncertainty. In many cases, people are opting for shorter trips to cut down on the expenditure," said Sumeet Adukia of Satyam Travels.

When all businesses have gone down by 15 - 20% due to recession, it is natural that we will also experience similar slowdown, said another travel agent. However, travel agents are confident bookings will pick up after Navratri.

"Our experience shows that Surtis are late planners anyway. There are still 25 days for Diwali vacation to start, and we feel more people will start making travel plans as the festival nears," said an official of Ace Tours.

An official of another agency also said that they are hopeful of a spurt in bookings in the days leading to the festival as many Surtis normally finalise their travel plans just 10 - 15 days before the vacation starts.