Cabs cruise on tourists' demand, buses stall

With the number of cab operators on the rise in Chennai, tourist bus and van services are taking a hit, especially during the holiday season. With luxury cabs providing affordable and comfortable services, many prefer to travel in them, especially to long distance locations. Ease of booking the service is another plus point in opting for cabs.

Until about a decade ago, summer vacations meant large families and groups of tourists hiring private vans and buses, depending on the size of the group, and travelling to distant tourist spots and pilgrimage destinations. Business was booming for such tour operators. 

“In the past, we had to approach a tour operator and book a cab or a van if we had to go on long distance trips. Usually, the rates were not fixed and one had to bargain hard to get a good deal. But with call taxi services, there is no such hassle as they come with fixed packages and offer a better deal. Besides, there is always an accountability, since they are affiliated with a larger firm,” said R Veeraraghavan from Kolathur who organises long distance tours in his neighbourhood. 

With the changing social dynamics and joint family system on the decline, tour operators are getting fewer and fewer group bookings and most vans and buses remain idle during the holidays. 

Private bus and van operators say that the trend is not healthy. “Some years ago, large numbers of people went on vacations and they would go to any tourist spot. However, things are the opposite now, as only few people prefer to go on a vacation and they prefer to do it as a single families or in small groups,” said a staff of a leading travel tour agency. They usually collect Rs 45,000 for 24 hours and a total number of 44 tourists can travel in the bus. “Even if 10 people are approaching, we will not change the fare,” the staff added. “We are charging in accordance with the vehicles and capacity of seats. We charge Rs 11.5 per km and if it is maxi cabs, we collect Rs 4,250 for 24 hours and 12 members can travel in the maxi cab,” said A Mani, a staff of a cab rental service  in Vadapalani. 

On the other hand, the trend has changed, as many groups and families take private cabs nowadays. Even when foreign tourists come to the city and want to visit some tourist spots, they prefer private cabs like Uber and OLA. “It is a fact that many foreign tourists are approaching cabs, which are collecting low fare. Further, since tourist spots like Mamallapuram and Marina are located in and around Chennai, they prefer cabs only,” said A Mahendran, secretary of Chennai Private Cab Owners Association.  

VKT Balan, former member of Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India told DTNext “Unlike in the past, people nowadays want comfortable travel. So, they prefer to take luxury cabs to the tourist spots.” Further, technology and marketing play a big role in attracting tourists and in this sense, the cab services provide good offer, while tourist buses collect more amount,” he said, suggesting the state should operate around 2,000 buses for public convenience.