Punekars throng tourist destinations to enjoy year-end holidays

PUNE: With many Punekars taking a five-day holiday before the New Year, there is heavy rush at all tourist destinations in the state.

Suryakant Jadhav, vice-president, Mahabaleshwar Hotel Owners’ Association, said, “There is heavy crowding of tourists at Mahabaleshwar, especially at the waterfalls and Venna Lake. Even hotel rates have gone up by 25 to 30% due to the year-end rush.”

Sanjay Mathur, owner of a three-star hotel in Matheran, said, “We had a booking of all 18 rooms at our hotel for the last five days and the rates of hotel accommodation have also risen here in Matheran. There is a heavy rush of tourists coming from all over Maharashtra and even from other states to enjoy the long weekend.”

A similar situation is seen in the Konkan belt where Punekars are preferring destinations such as Malvan, Tarkarli, Devgad, Harihareshwar, Alibaug and Kashid. “We have planned our Konkan trip to Malvan and nearby pilgrimage places with family this weekend as there are continuous holidays till Tuesday. We have done our hotel bookings for the four days well in advance to avoid any problems,” said Karan Makwana, a citizen.

While Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) resorts across the state are also getting good response this year. Deepak Harne, Pune regional manager, MTDC, said, “There are bookings and rush at almost all the MTDC resorts in the state. Earlier, it used to happen that only a few resorts would get bookings but over the last few years, citizens want to try out new destinations so we are getting a good response at other MTDC resorts namely Malshej Ghat, Ganpatipule, Lonar, Bhimashankar, Tarkarli, Kunakeshwar etc.,” he said.