The trend of planning for a holiday and how to spend your time has changed. It is no longer the way it used to be in the past when one books train tickets, reaches the destination, searches for a hotel room and proceeds from there.
Now, your holiday happiness is just a click away and several families in and around Madurai are enjoying their trips, both domestic and international, thanks to the packages offered by professional holiday managers, travel companies, tour operators and trip advisors.
A visit to the offices of holiday specialists in the city on October 3 showed how travellers from the Temple City have been ‘designing your travel itinerary’ in all aspects such as flight tickets, hotel accommodation, food and sight seeing. Whether it is our own Munnar or Malaysia, Shimla or Sri Lanka, Andamans or Africa and Kashmir or Europe, there is a package that suits the family or a group.
And the trend seems to be encouraging as Madurai has offices of leading holiday advisors such as Thomas Cook, Cox and Kings, make my trip.com and Skywing Holidays. And, the travellers too are happy since there were no anxious moments during the trip.
“I sent my parents to Mauritius a month ago and they are very much satisfied. When we don’t have an idea about the place we are visiting, it is advisable to get the assistance of tour experts. My parents said that everything was taken care of well during their nine-day stay,” says S. Senthilkumar, a rice merchant on Kamarajar Salai.
Then, he went to enjoy the Andamans with friends for five days and says he had ‘home comfort.’
P. A. Muruganandam, franchisee of Cox and Kings on South Veli Street, says that people in Madurai are coming forward to take guidance of experts. “ In Madurai, there is good demand for Europe trip, Nepal, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand,” he says.
“Through our company, 1,500 persons go on holiday trips in India and abroad. We take care of all aspects and what is essential is to plan their trip well in advance to avoid peak season constraints,” says Mr. Muruganandam.
According to M. Uthira of make my trip.com in K. K. Nagar, there were 76 bookings in the last nine months. “There is good preference for five night-six day Kerala trip. In the outward segment, it is Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Hong Kong which top the list. For honeymoon packages, there is demand for Maldives, Mauritius and Andaman,” she explains.
Within the country, the ‘golden triangle’ trip that takes to Delhi, Agra and Jaipur is enjoying huge interest. Ms. Uthira and another executive S. Rohini say that there will be 15 packages that are available on an average so that travellers can choose. Several youth are showing interest for Goa trip while there are also persons who want to go on adventurous trekking.
G. Raveendran, Managing Director, Skywing Holidays at the Corporation Complex in Tamukkam, says “ People are showing interest to visit China, Sri Lanka, Middle East and Europe. Next month, we are taking 25 persons to Kenya and South Africa for a 12-day tour. Another batch of 25 persons will be travelling to China later this month.”
“Since Madurai airport got the international tag, the rush for Sri Lanka trip is rising as the cost is less,” ,Mr. Raveendran says. For those who want to visit Kashmir, the right time is April and May. He also points out that people are keen to travel in groups for reasons of safety and health.