A three-kilometre cycle rickshaw ride for Rs. 6756 in Jaipur! Yes, the tour operators, who have their advertisement on the website of the Jaipur Literature Festival, are fleecing first time tourists in the Pink City.
A distance of three-kilometre from Albert Hall to Hawa Mahal, does not cost more than Rs. 30 for which the operator are charging exorbitant price. The worse thing is that the advertisements of tour operators on the Litfest website have given some sort of legitimacy.
And to justify the price, the operators have cunningly chalked out a three-hour itinerary for the tourists on the rickshaw. The worse part of this whole ‘loot’ is that the rickshawpuller is getting the usual Rs. 30 per ride.
A website of a tour operator named-Gets Holidays-offers a staggering price of Rs. 2,504 per person for eight adults, Rs. 3,685 per person for two adults, and a single adult at Rs. 6,756 for a rickshaw ride.
Similarly, a balloon ride in Jaipur will cost for Rs. 20,837 which is 30 per cent more expensive than the usual rate. A tour operator was quoted as saying that the festival is getting increasingly commercial and the rates offered are exorbitant.
“When these rates are offered on the literature festival’s home page, these must have the approval of the organizers,” said the operator.
Among other tourist attractions on the tour operator’s website is the elephant ride. An elephant ride at Nahargarh Biological Park is costing a tourist between Rs. 1,500-2,000 while the foreign tourists are charged the same at Rs. 5,247.
The Jaipur Lit Fest has become a sort of Mahakumbh for Author and writers from across the world.
