Ahmedabad-Goa airfare zooms 80% for Janmashtami

AHMEDABAD: Goa is topping the chart as a preferred destination for the great Gujarati gamblers this Janmashtami. High demand has sent Ahmedabad-Goa-Ahmedabad airfares skyrocketing by 80% during the festive weekend on August 24 and 25.
The rush to Goa is also fuelled by the political unrest in Hong Kong, which is another preferred destination for gamblers.
Tourists are skipping Hong Kong for Goa this Janmashtami, said tour operators.
A return flight between Ahmedabad and Goa this weekend costs as high as Rs 14,400 per passenger. The same on a normal weekend is around Rs 8,000, according to tour operators.
The maximum airfare for the same sector stood at Rs 34,200 for a direct flight - a clear fourfold increase from the normal price.
"Due to the ongoing political unrest in Hong Kong, several tourists have avoided Hong Kong and Macau and a lot of these tourists are diverted towards Goa.
Since there are barely two-three days available, bookings for domestic destinations are higher than international ones," said Pankaj Gupta, president, Travel agents and tour operators' Association of Gujarat (TAG).
A large section of Gujaratis from Saurashtra region of the state flock to Goa. With high demand and limited supply, airfares jump due to the dynamic pricing policy adopted by airlines.
"Gambling on Janmashtami is usually a tradition followed by many for years and instead of fiddling with the law and inviting trouble, people flock to Goa, where one finds casino cruises," said Manish Sharma, secretary, Travel Agents' Federation of India (TAFI) - Gujarat chapter.
Short-haul destinations including Udaipur, Kumbhalgarh, Jaipur, Diu, Daman and Saputara are among the preferred destinations for weekend getaways among tourists.
Other destinations in Maharashtra are not being preferred due to the flood situation in the state, said tour operators.