Indian Railway appoints Hemas GSA for rail tour

Harshini Perera

Hemas Travels was appointed by Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) as its General Sales Agent in Sri Lanka for its range of travel services especially the Mahaparinirvan Express Buddhist Circuit special Train.

The highlight among the IRCTC portfolio is a popular deluxe rail tour covering the Buddhist Circuit in India.

To date this tour has reached immense popularity, with the train running at full occupancy during the Katina Pinkama.

‘We are delighted to note that the tour is doing extremely well among our target clientele of pilgrims and tourists alike.

The global sales for the December season have peaked and travellers from Sri Lanka too are picking up with many inquiries.’ said Travel Executive, Hemas Travels, Senaka Wijesekera as the person who handles the rail tour.

“With the season continuing until March of next year, we still have capacity to accommodate interested clients. However the bookings are coming in at an increasing rate and we’re trying to accommodate everyone’s needs at this time,” he said.

Departing Delhi, from an exclusive train station reserved for all luxury and deluxe tourist trains, the tour covers key areas in the Buddhist Circuit, namely Bodhgaya, Rajgir, Nalanda, Varanasi, Sarnath, Sravasti, Kushinagar and also includes a journey to Lumbini in Nepal.

The last leg of this eight day tour leads you to Agra for a leisurely tour of the Taj Mahal.

“We have realized that there is a huge market for this rail tour, particularly since those who travel are often senior citizens who find the regular circuit tours long and exhaustive by land. This tour package incorporates rail services which leads to significant time savings and comfort,” he said.

He also added that the partnership between IRCTC and Hemas Travels has created immense value to its existing portfolio of travel services in the form of tourism products and services including tourist trains, charters, all inclusive tour packages, budget hotels and car rentals within India. The company is also now able to issue Indian Rail tickets to any part of India.

The rail tour continues throughout the rest of the year on December 26, January 9, 18 and 30, February 13 and 22, 2009, till its final departures for the season on the March 6 and 20 of 2010.

Hemas Travels is currently accepting all bookings for the tour.