Latest News | Tourism Sector Hail SC Order of Online Booking for Taj Mahal's Night View
Get latest articles and stories on Latest News at LatestLY. The Supreme Court's directive to start an online ticketing facility for night viewing of the Taj Mahal is a boost for the budget hotels of Agra as it will promote night stay among the tourists, stakeholders linked to the tourism sector said.
Agra, Nov 10 (PTI) The Supreme Court's directive to start an online ticketing facility for night viewing of the Taj Mahal is a boost for the budget hotels of Agra as it will promote night stay among the tourists, stakeholders linked to the tourism sector said.
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Night viewing of the Unesco World Heritage Site is hugely popular among tourists, especially on full-moon nights when the monument's marble glows as moonlight strikes it at different angles.
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A bench of justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Abhay S Oka had on Wednesday modified the top courts 2004 order, which said tickets had to be collected physically from the counter 24 hours earlier than the scheduled visit.
Hotel owners, travel company owners and tour guides hailed the court's order to allow online booking.
Agra Development Foundation president KC Jain said it would provide relief to the tourists from the hassle of collecting physical tickets 24 hours before from the counter of the Archaeological Survey of India office at Mall Road.
"Many tourists were not able to book tickets from the window due to heavy rush," he told PTI.
Monika Sharma, a government-approved tour guide, said many of her tourists had to return back without seeing Taj Mahal at night because they were not able to stay overnight or unable to book a ticket from the counter.
"In a month, there are five days for the moon night view -- two days before the full moon, the day of the moon night and two days after," she added. "There are eight batches of 50 people and the timing for the night view begins at 8.30 pm."
Agra Hotel and Restaurant Owners' Association president Ramesh Wadhwa said it was good for the budget hotels of Agra as tourists would prefer to stay overnight.
Tourism Guild of Agra president Rajeev Saxena said the move would lead to an increase in footfalls and also remove middlemen who used to book tickets of the moon night view.
"We also want that the strength of the number of tourists should also be increased from 50 to 100 people in a group," Saxena said.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)