Gujaratis got on a touring spree

vadodara: riot fatigue has gripped gujarat and after a month-and-a-half of scary nights, haunting days, hallucinations of mob attacks and curfew hours spent behind close doors, gujaratis are finally breaking free. this summer, while most industries lament a steep fall in business, the cash registers of tour operators are ringing. "we are fed up of this.everybody is scarred, insecure and feeling very low. we want to move out from here for a couple of days and enjoy summer holidays," says avni pandya, a paramedic who resides on waghodia road and plans to get out of the state and spend summer time in ooty and kodaikanal. of course, pandya does not want to hazard travelling by train. "no way. we will not go by train. by any other mode of transport but train," she says. families are packing off to places like goa, nainital, ranikhet, kosani, kunnur valley, panchmarhi, kullu manali and shimla. quite a few are flying to the us, europe, bangkok, singapore and malaysia. "i am leaving for disney land with my kids. gujarat''s atmosphere has got vitiated. one feels suffocated and repulsive by the way people are talking these days. i wanted to take my children to a better place," said nivru bhavsar, a housewife who left for the us this week. "our business has increased. destinations in the far east and europe are in demand. those who have resources and relatives in the us are preferring to go there while the tour circuits within india, of course excluding gujarat, are packed," says marketing manager of raj travels and tours amit patel. he admits that the rush this summer is higher compared to earlier years. "the riot fatigue has brought in more people looking for peaceful destinations," patel said. many travel consultants echo the feeling. "people just want to get out of gujarat. they are tired of riots. children are depressed and families are looking for a nice destination," confirms tour advisor and consultant, transline tours and travels, jayendrasinh jhala. managing director of jaisamand island resort in udaipur pratap bhandari says gujaratis are pouring into rajasthan. "of the total visitors and occupancy here, almost 50 per cent are gujaratis. they are coming here, especially flocking to jaisamand lake where water is 60-feet deep even around this time. gujaratis are fond of holidays but this time, it seems they have an additional reason to move out from gujarat," bhandari said. interestingly, it is not only cool tours that are moving families out of state but also adventure sports like trekking. "normally we receive entries from youngsters, college and school students but this time it is families and the elderly who have come forward and expressed their wish to go on treks," said vijay bhatt of youth adventure and sports academy.