Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Among destinations in Madhya Pradesh, national parks and wildlife sanctuaries have emerged as the top choice of the residents of the Madhya Pradesh this holiday season. Pachmarhi – the state’s only hill station – is also among the favourite places to welcome 2025.
Dubai, Vietnam, Singapore, Bali, Indonesia, Thailand and Baku (Azerbaijan), UK, France and Spain are the preferred choice among international destinations. Those travelling out of the MP are headed to Goa, Rajasthan, Kerala, Uttarakhand and Gujarat, besides the hill stations in the Kashmir Valley and Himachal Pradesh.
Almost 99% of the accommodation in all tourist destinations is full. Mahendra Pratap Singh from Travel India Tourism Pvt Ltd. told the Free Press that there is no space in flights, hotels and trains till the first week of January.
Pachmarhi is crawling with tourists, said Singh who is also the chairman of the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO). Bookings for the New Year vacations started from October. “We call the period from December 20 to January 5 ‘blackout time’ as there are holidays in almost all institutions – whether government or private,” Singh says, adding that “choice of destinations depends on the preferences of the individuals.
Some people may like to enjoy snowfall. They will go to Kashmir or Himachal Pradesh. This year, Dubai has emerged as one of the top destinations.”
Member of Association of Domestic Tour Operators, Atul Singh says that most of the people like to visit national parks in Madhya Pradesh because air tickets are no longer very expensive. Most of the people decide the destination taking their budget into account and also how old they and their children are.
According to Atul, a new trend of mixed tourism has emerged over the past couple of years wherein tourists visit both religious as well as other places in the same trip. For example if a person visits Ujjain and Omkareshwar then s/he will travel to Mandu and Bhopal, too.
Or they would visit Trimbakeshwar and then head to Mumbai. “Earlier, that was not so. People would visit a place of pilgrimage, have darshan and travel straight back to home,” he said, adding that “some people have made bookings at the last moment as they didn’t get leave earlier. They have chosen destinations close to the city.”
