Operators cash in on 'election tourism' as five states go to poll

Gujarat-based firm ties up with 100 operators to woo foreigners with customised poll tourism plans

Foreign tourists visiting India this spring will have an added attraction; 'poll tourism'. Gujarat-based Akshar Travels, which has tied up with almost 100 tour operators across the country, has designed poll tourism packages targeted at foreign nationals during the upcoming assembly polls in the states of Goa, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Punjab, UP.

The agency, which already had tried its hands at election tourism during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections with customised Varanasi packages (the seat which had seen two political heavy weights Narendra Modi and Arvind Kejriwal fight it out amongst themselves), is confident to get at least 2,000 booking for this