For decades, the Palace on Wheels has represented the luxurious tourism sector in India. From royal decor to the itinerary of heritage places, along with the price which may cross ₹14 lakh per journey. However, this year, such premium offerings too have not been able to attract enough customers.
As reported in The Times of India, the cancellation of trips due to low booking has become rampant because of low foreign tourists' arrivals in India due to rising geopolitics and particularly due to US-Iran tensions.
Luxury train runs below capacity with cancellations
As per the report, its last scheduled train during this season was occupied with merely 30 travelers out of 84 capacities. Furthermore, two additional tours were also canceled because of insufficient bookings.
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In accordance with operating standards, 14 cabins should be booked to make a tour functional. However, several tours couldn’t manage to book even 10 bookings during this season.
Out of total 32 scheduled tours between September and April 10 have been cancelled till now, almost a third of its trips.
A rare setback in 43 years
Since its inception in 1982, the Palace on Wheels has been deeply associated with Rajasthan's efforts to establish itself as a destination for luxury tourism for international tourists visiting cities such as Jaisalmer.
This year has seen the second largest number of cancellations for the 43-year-old service in any given period of time.
The downturn follows a similar pattern last year, when global conflicts including the Israel-Hamas war and the Russia-Ukraine crisis, also forced the cancellation of 10 journeys.
I.V. Singh, tour operator, stated that the occupancy rate has decreased significantly. He revealed, "Earlier, the Palace on Wheels operated at around 70–80% occupancy. This season, the final trip barely reached about 26%."
Pricing and high costs amidst global instability
The high cost of the service, which starts from ₹6 lakh and goes up to ₹21 lakh per person, has become another contributing factor to the current low demand.
Despite refurbishing and being privatised in 2023, the occupancy rates have still not improved compared to before the pandemic.
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It is known that luxury tourism is highly sensitive to global events and the economic stability of countries.
Ripple effect on Rajasthan’s tourism economy
This delay trickles down to other entities as well. Local artistes who entertain Palace on Wheels customers, guides, hotels, and small businesses located within the heritage towns have reported reduced earnings.
In locations such as Jaisalmer, where the train serves as a source of constant income from high-end tourists, these reductions have led to observable voids within the tourism industry.
