Package tour to amazing Satara district

Paper aims to design the tour packages for Satara district for the benefit of tour operators and tourists. Satara is alluring site for tourism it has two well-known hill stations, wild life sanctuary, scenic beauty, flora, waterfalls, large water bodies (lakes and dams, rivers), rich history, museum, forts, old Havelies and Palaces. As major urban clusters Poona, Mumbai and Thana is the richest belt of India having large appetite for tourism. People of these urban clusters have large attraction for hill stations of Satara i.e. Mahabaleshwar and Panchgani which are most popular tourist destinations of Maharashtra. So this tourist flow can be channelized to other worth seen destinations of Satara. Thus there is need to explore site through designing of tourism packages for tour operators. Paper articulate to know the present efforts put forward by tour operators, to explore the available ignored destinations with probable tour package sites which would attract flow of large tourist and extend their stay and also to design a tour map for Satara district. Schedule was used to know the efforts of tour operator, 10 tour operators were interviewed from available tourist sites. Convenient sampling technique was executed in selection of tour operators. Data are based on researcher's personal visit at the worth seeing tourist sites of Satara district, observation, discussion with tour operators at the site and researcher's own experience of tourism. Results show that there is no special effort taken by tour operators and local community. It is observed that tour operators of Satara are running their business in a very conservative and traditional way since only two tour packages viz. Thoseghar-Sajjangarh-Kas-Ajinkyatara and Eleven Maruti (Akra Maruti). Local Tour operators focus in arranging tours out side for Satara people and not bring in other district or states tourist to Satara. Satara district has diversified worth seen destinations which were ignored by tour operators.