Chennai: Have you ever postponed the much-awaited trip to the temple because you couldn’t get reliable services? Then relax; you are not alone. About 53 per cent are interested in opting for a pilgrimage tour if a reputed travel operator offered their services. And 38 per cent sought assistance to plan a pilgrimage tour, says SOTC’s latest survey.
Taking into account the latest trends in the society, SOTC has introduced “Darshans” spiritual tour in association with ePuja, India’s first online portal. Darshans include 40 curated end-to-end itineraries covering 60 holy destinations across India.
The tours have been designed keeping in mind the specific needs of the travellers to seamlessly aid their spiritual journey.
The package includes peaceful, quick, convenient, hassle-free religious experience, pooja, special ‘havan,’ abhisheka, assisted temple visit amongst others.
Commenting on the launch, Vishal Suri, MD, SOTC Travel, said, “spiritual tourism is the single largest category in the domestic tourism segment which is an untapped, fragmented industry opportunity. Indians are seeking a pre-planned, organised, comfortable, spiritual travel experience. SOTC Darshans offers customers this very service.” Religious travellers, he said, could now explore a new way of travel that aids their spiritual journey.
“Pricing of our products has been worked around to suit every budget, offering travellers a seamless spiritual journey,” he added.
Darshans cover some of the popular religious destinations like Kanyakumari, Madurai, Rameswaram, Ujjain, Dwarka, Somnath, Mahalaxmi Darshan Kolhapur, 5 Jyotirlingas in Maharashtra.
The tariff ranges from Rs 8,600 for the Kamakhya Temple darshan, to Rs 24, 200 for Madurai, Rameswaram darshan with Kanyakumari, and Rs 38,200 for the 5 Jyotirlingam darshan in Maharashtra.
The SOTC’s recent survey found that about 51 per cent of the respondents in the 18 to 55 years age group and above, wanted a hassle-free experience while on a pilgrimage. While 45 per cent undertook a pilgrimage tour once a year, 15 per cent took a pilgrimage tour once in six months.
