Delhi-Jaisalmer flight resumes

Through the united efforts of the travel trade and hoteliers of Jaisalmer, SpiceJet’s Delhi-Jaisalmer flight was reinstated soon after its cancellation and a new lease of life was given to tourism in the desert city. Sharing their joy, the trade suggests that such partnerships can bear fruit in other destinations of the country as well.

Manas Dwivedi

Sharing details on how the series of events unfolded in Jaisalmer, Mahendra Singh Rathore, Senior Vice President, RATO and Chapter Chairman – Rajasthan, ADTOI, says, “The travel trade in Jaisalmer united and formulated a memorandum. The same was submitted to the District Magistrate and the state tourism department. Connectivity has been an issue in Jaisalmer with limited flights and trains operational from Delhi, so the tourism stakeholders in the region were not in favour of closure the SpiceJet flight. Although inbound tourists are absent right now, domestic travellers are handsomely favouring the destination and 70 per cent of hotels here are getting good numbers of tourists. If the flights stop, the number of tourists will go down and the stakeholders who are solely dependent on tourism activities for their livelihood will suffer the most as they have been heavily impacted with no business since the last 10 months. I am happy that the government and SpiceJet authorities understood our condition and agreed to resume the flight.” When asked about the trade bravely agreeing on sharing losses if the minimum loadfactor is not met, Rathore says that it was an obvious decision since the trade was sure the routes will get traffic. “If the flights run regularly and we try our best to bring in tourists to Jaisalmer, business will increase. We are even estimating that the airline will earn more profits with this unique partnership. I would urge other destinations and the travel trade around the country to unite and work out similar plans with airlines to strengthen relationships. This will definitely lead to more business. The trade promoted the destination and packages on all its communication platforms, including social media, which showed results. This is a win-win situation for everyone. I want to thank the Rajasthan government and the state tourism department, who supported us,” he adds.

Connectivity key to revival

Sharing his view, Kartik Gaggar, CEO & Founder, Rajasthan Studio, says, “We really needed this flight into Jaisalmer, which offers something unique to tourists – the sand dunes. It is also a very popular wedding destination. This flight saves a lot of time for tourists because Jodhpur to Jaisalmer is around 300 kms and Bikaner to Jaisalmer is 330 kms, which means 5-6 hours with a halt. So, the travel community getting together and bringing this flight back is a great example of working together in these times when domestic travel is the only source of business. There are many other pockets like Jaisalmer that require direct flights such as the tourist belt of Ajmer-Pushkar-Kishangadh or even Agra for that matter. I would say Jaisalmer would benefit even more with a flight from Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Kolkata. If there are no flights, no one will benefit. Only when a tourist visits can the hotels, the tourist guides, the travel agents get business.”