By Anil Sharma
Jaipur, Dec 29 (IANS): If you're looking to celebrate New Year in Rajasthan and have not booked a room so far, then the chances are you may not get one or get it a very high price.
The state is reporting big rush of tourists, especially domestic, since Christmas.
Hotels are reporting near full occupancy and monuments are witnessing a huge rush.
"Cities like Jaipur, Jaisalmer, Udaipur, Pushkar and Jodhpur, to name a few, are experiencing a big jump in tourist arrivals," Karan Singh, the owner of a Jaipur-based travel agency, told IANS.
"This rush mainly started from December 25 and is to continue till January 6 at least," he said.
"Look at Jaipur, on Christmas 15,720 tourist visited Amber Fort; out of them, 14,222 were domestic travellers," Rajendra Singh, a guide said.
"Similarly over 12,000 tourists visited Amber Fort on Wednesday, out of which 10,700 were domestic and 1760 were foreigners," he added.
"Almost all the hotels are reporting over 95 per cent occupancy and the tourists who are visiting city are mainly domestic travellers. The majority of hotel bookings this year are coming from neighbouring states like Gujarat, Delhi and Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to name a few," said R S Rathore, general manager of a five-star hotel in Jaipur.
"Getting a room in a hotel is difficult; forget about getting discounts during this period," said Anil Purohit, manager of a travel agency here.
Before the start of December, hotels were offering some discounts but not anymore, he added.
In Jaipur, there is difficulty in even getting parking space, especially near monuments and in the walled city areas.
According o travel industry experts, the aggressive marketing campaign launched by Vasundhara Raje government has really helped in giving a fillip to tourists' arrivals. This can be gauged from the fact that in 2016, tourist arrivals increased by over 17 per cent compared to 2015.
Moreover, according to industry experts, the state offers luxurious heritage accommodation and great sightseeing and entertainment options, along with its famed traditional hospitality. Good air, rail and road connectivity and a peaceful atmosphere, coupled with shopping opportunities are some of the reasons attracting tourist to Rajasthan's cities.
In 2016, Rajasthan attracted over 15 lakh foreign and over four crore domestic tourists. Till September this year, the state had attracted 3.5 crore domestic and over 10 lakh foreign tourists.