Balaji temple. Picture by Eastern Projections

Nov. 1: Have you been longing for a quick break away from the heat and the dust of the city on a shoestring budget?

Look no further and get ready to board a car for a tour of the city, courtesy the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) Limited.

The tourism corporation is a public sector enterprise under the ministry of railways, which provides complete travel and tourism solutions to customers.

The corporation will start a daily city package tour called Guwahati Darshan for visitors on short trips to the city from Saturday.

The service will have two packages — the Divine Tour, targeting pilgrims, and the Explorer Tour, which has been designed mainly for students and visitors.

The Divine Tour will comprise visits to Navagraha temple, Basistha Ashram, Tirupati Balaji temple, Kamakhya temple and the Sankaradeva Kalakshetra.

Visitors on the explorer tour will get to see Sukleswar, Tirupati Balaji temple, the state museum, the Assam zoo, the Sankaradeva Kalakshetra and Nehru Park.

“The corporation is targeting railway travellers and we are hoping to get a good response. Bookings are open now,” said L. Saikia, chief regional manager of IRCTC Ltd, Guwahati.

The city has several places of historical interest with the Kamakhya Temple being the biggest attraction.

Several places of religious interest such as the Umananda temple, situated on an island in the middle of the Brahmaputra, dot the city.

The riverfront and numerous waterbodies also attract tourists in large numbers.

Saikia said they would like to see the initial response before trying to improve the package.

“Marketing has to be improved and, sooner or later, a general sales agent would be appointed,” he said.

He said the tour packages were aimed at the middle and lower middle class rail passengers.

The visitors would get to choose between air-conditioned and non-air-conditioned vehicles.

Those opting for the Divine Tour and air-conditioned vehicles would be charged Rs 340 per person (with meals) and Rs 250 (without meals).

Those opting for non-air-conditioned vehicles on this tour would be charged Rs 250 per person (with meals) and Rs 223 (without meals).

On the Explorer Tour, the charges would be Rs 376 per person on the air-conditioned vehicles and Rs 349 for non-AC. Tea, snacks, lunch and mineral water bottles would also be provided. The tours would initially start from the IRCTC office near Rabindra Bhawan.

A tourism department official admitted that despite the city’s tourism potential, nothing much has been done to attract tourists.

“Tourists generally use Guwahati as a stopover and then push off to Shillong or other places,” Saikia said.

“An integrated tourism plan is required, including measures to develop the tourist spots. Steps should be taken to promote those places where the tourist flow can be increased. There are a lot of religious sites which can be developed into pilgrimage spots,” he added.