The office of newly opened travel company is buzzing with enquiries. Picture by Bhola Prasad

Jamshedpur, June 22: The fortunes of the people of Jamshedpur who are bitten by wanderlust may soon change. And with that, the steel city’s fortunes as a tourist hub.

People going abroad for business and pleasure would be able to leave the planning of their trips to experts.

On the other hand, while the picturesque locales around the steel city might be known only to the city’s residents as popular “picnic spots”, the entry of travel majors may soon change that.

After the grand announcement of SOTC Tours and Travels to start operations in the city shortly, Cox & Kings, another leading name in the world of travels and tours, opened its first-ever official franchise in the city at Bistupur today. The objective behind the entry of these big names in the steel city is two-fold.

While they want to popularise footfalls into the city and its surrounding picturesque spots, they also want the people of Jamshedpur to travel all over India and abroad using their facilities.

Double income families and a rise in disposable incomes of the middle class have changed lifestyle aspirations and made people of the steel city more adventurous as far as travel is concerned. Travel agents have been quick to notice the rise in income and a higher standard of living in the area.

“Most people may not know this, but the people of Jamshedpur travel abroad a lot, especially to places like Far East — Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand — and favourites like Europe and the US. Newer favourites are Greece and Egypt, as well as shopping festivals in Dubai and Singapore,” said a high-end travel agent, adding that summer vacations see as many as 200 people on pleasure trips.

Business trips are also popular in this industrial hub. SOTC plans to target the business traveller on tours or going to trade fairs. “Industrialisation is growing in Jamshedpur, so I am glad that travel companies are realising our needs,” said an Adityapur-based industrialist.

Cox & Kings has entered the Jamshedpur market with a clear aim to tap the high-end customers.

“We are the first-ever authorised preferred service agents of Cox & Kings in Jamshedpur. Before us, the city had travel agents, but we have a direct partnership with Cox & Kings to sell their different tour packages,” said Sunil Singh, manager at JSR Tours and Travels, the newly formed city-based company that is in official partnership with the travel major.

But apart from the tie-up with this big travel group, what makes the foray of JSR Tours and Travels to the city special is its independent interest in developing tourism opportunities in the picturesque locales of Jharkhand.

“Though right now we are exclusively dealing with Cox & Kings products, very soon we will expand and launch some Jharkhand-specific tour packages,” said Singh.

The company officials at JSR Tours and Travels have already approached the state government for their nod to start several tour packages for locations like Betla, Netarhat and other such places.

“The state tourism board already has its set of tour packages for different locations in the state. Once we receive a nod from them, not only will we be authorised to deal with government packages, but we will also work out our own set of tour packages for Jharkhand. Moreover, after some time, we also plan to start our brand of packages for other domestic locations as well,” added Singh.

Other than these ventures, the company would assist customers to access services available with leading travel portals like www.yatra.com.

“But for tourism to be a success, we need more infrastructure like roads, tourist buses and hotels. This is a matter of concern, but we are hoping that will improve soon as the true economic potential of tourism emerges,” said a source.