Communicate with us: MTOA

The Maharashtra Tour Organisers Association (MTOA) members are facing huge problems in various states that is affecting their clients while on the road. Pay heed, MTOA requests the states.

Many tour operators in Maharashtra have been complaining of problems their clients are facing while on road in specific states. Speaking about them is Sudhir Patil, President, Maharashtra Tour Organisers Association (MTOA), who says, “We face a lot of challenges while conducting tours, especially within India. Besides Kashmir, there is heavy traffic to Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. But we face huge problems in these two states.”

In Himachal, he says, they have been facing difficulties in getting permits since the last couple of years. There are also reports of taxi operators overcharging for Rohtang Pass. “We have tried to reach out to the Prime Minister’s Office and have even had a meeting with the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh,” Patil says.

Explaining a deep-seated problem with domestic travel, he feels there is lack of communication from the states to tour operators which prevents them from planning holidays for their clients well. “Tourists were recently harassed when their vehicles were stopped in Nainital in Uttarakhand without notice or intimation to anyone.

The local authorities suddenly decided to disallow outside vehicles and did not allow our coaches to go up the mountain. This adds extra burden on the tour operators and makes it difficult for us to give good service to tourists because of non-availability of small vehicles. We sincerely request all state tourism boards and Indian Tourism Ministry to foresee these onground problems and communicate the same to us. That way, we can at least make alternate arrangements within the cost,” Patil says.