Bengaluru: It is a holiday season and also an extended weekend, but travel agents and tour operators are not seeing the usual rush as people seem to have decided to stay back in the city to exercise their franchise on Thursday.
Travel agents and tour operators said that though there are holidays from April 18 to 21, there has been no increase in bookings, unlike before.
Sudhir Rao, a travel planner in a reputed tours and travel company, told Deccan Chronicle, “Whenever there is an extended weekend, we get a number of queries and our bookings get filled. But this time, we did not get as many inquiries. When we checked with our regular customers, they told us that they have decided to stay back to vote. It is a bit surprising, but it is good that people are being responsible. There are a few bookings, but they are from outsiders, who don’t have a vote here.”
Menaka from another tour operator, known for organising weekend trips, said that elections have affected their business this time. “Whenever we have long weekends, the rush is big and we normally run out of slots. But this time, we have only a handful of bookings. Whenever there are holidays, we usually contact our regular customers by offering them good deals, but this time they declined saying they would stay back to vote. It is something good and we are also planning deals for those who vote.”
Officials at the Karnataka State Tourism Board too claimed that they have less business this weekend.
