Gujaratis flee to hills to escape the heat

AHMEDABAD: Planning a holiday to Shimla, Manali, Kashmir or the North East next weekend? Even if you are prepared to pay higher airfare, you may not get a hotel room. With more people from Gujarat and other parts of the country escaping to cooler climes to escape the heat, hotels are nearly full in hill stations.
Rooms at five-star properties in Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and the North East are going for Rs 15,000 per night and upwards, say tour operators in Ahmedabad.
"Most five-star and three-star properties are fully booked or have doubled or tripled tariffs. This summer has been harsh and people haven't taken vacations in two years due to Covid. As a result of the pent-up demand, there is revenge travel and people are escaping up north. Room prices in Kashmir, Ladakh, HP and the North East have gone up dramatically. Even if people book a week in advance, availability is an issue," said Virendra Shah, chairman, Travel Agents' Association of India (TAAI) , Gujarat.
In such a situation, Priyam Divgi, a professional who recently took a trip to Himachal with her husband, finds herself lucky having booked in advance. "I was to get married in May so my bookings were made in February, almost three months in advance, right from flights to hotels to a cab for local travel. However, there was a great rush at the popular spots so we picked trekking and other offbeat activities. Drivers were also complaining about inadequate facilities and the rush."
Apart from hotel availability and tariffs, airfares climbed as high as 185-200%. Travel is also fuelled by people not getting international visas. "A lot of people wanted to go abroad are facing delays in getting visas or are getting flights at very high costs due to which many are moving to domestic destinations. Northern India destinations have been hits in summers and this one had an unprecedented rush," said Anuj Pathak, president, Travel Agents and Tour operators' Association of Gujarat.