A good Kashmir trip quotation answers the questions the traveller would otherwise ask you one by one on WhatsApp. It names the client and the travel dates, says how many adults and children are coming, and lays out the trip day by day. It lists every hotel or houseboat with the room type and meal plan, the vehicle and what it covers, what is included and, just as important, what is not. Then it shows the price, the GST line, the payment and cancellation terms, how long the price holds, and who to call.
Below is a format that works for a Srinagar agency or tour operator, and for an agent in Delhi or Mumbai selling Kashmir. Keep the order, add your own rates, and use it for every quote so your whole team writes them the same way.
The quotation format, section by section
1. Client and enquiry details
Client name, phone, city, enquiry date and a quote reference number. Add a version number too: v1, v2, v3. Kashmir quotes get revised often, and the version number tells you which price the guest is looking at.
2. Travel dates and duration
Arrival and departure dates, the arrival flight or train if known, and the duration, for example "6 nights / 7 days". The dates belong on the quote because the price depends on them. Hotel rates in Srinagar, Gulmarg and Pahalgam move with the season.
3. Travellers (pax) and rooms
Adults, children with their ages, and the number of rooms. Hotels set their own child policies for extra beds and meals, so ages matter. Write the sharing out, for example "2 rooms, twin sharing, 1 extra bed for a child aged 9".
4. Day-by-day itinerary
One line per day: where the guest sleeps that night and what the vehicle does. A typical 6 night plan:
- Day 1: Arrive Srinagar, transfer to the houseboat. Night on the houseboat.
- Day 2: Gulmarg day trip. Gondola optional, tickets not included. Night in Srinagar.
- Day 3: Srinagar to Pahalgam. Night in Pahalgam.
- Day 4: Pahalgam valley points by local union car, paid directly unless listed under inclusions. Night in Pahalgam.
- Day 5: Pahalgam to Srinagar. Night in Srinagar.
- Day 6: Sonamarg day trip. Night in Srinagar.
- Day 7: Departure transfer to Srinagar airport.
Mark optional items as optional. If a day depends on the weather or the road, say so on the quote, not later on the phone.
5. Hotels and houseboats, with meal plans
For each stay give the place, the property name or category, the room type, the nights and the meal plan. If you write "or similar", say what similar means, for example "or similar, same category". For a houseboat, say whether the shikara transfer to the boat is included.
Meal plans cause more arguments than anything else. Spell the code out:
| Code | What it means |
|---|---|
| EP | European Plan: room only, no meals |
| CP | Continental Plan: room with breakfast |
| MAP | Modified American Plan: breakfast and one main meal, usually dinner |
| AP | American Plan: breakfast, lunch and dinner |
Never write "with meals". Write "MAP (breakfast and dinner)", and give the plan for each hotel if it changes.
6. Vehicle, and local union taxi notes
Name the vehicle type (sedan, SUV, Tempo Traveller) and seats, say whether it stays with the guest for the whole trip, and whether driver allowance, tolls and parking are covered.
Then add the note many quotes leave out. At several places, including the Pahalgam valley points, the stretch towards Zero Point beyond Sonamarg, and the upper road in Gulmarg when there is snow, local union cars usually take over and the Srinagar cab may not go further. Say clearly whether those cars are included or paid by the guest on the spot.
7. Inclusions
Only what you are paying for: rooms and meal plan, the vehicle as described, airport transfers, and any shikara ride or activity you have booked. "1 hour shikara ride on Dal Lake" beats "shikara ride".
8. Exclusions
The section that saves you the most trouble. Commonly excluded:
- Flights or train tickets
- Gulmarg gondola tickets and pony rides
- Local union cars, if they are not under inclusions
- Entry tickets for gardens, parks and monuments
- Meals outside the meal plan, and room heating if a hotel charges for it separately
- Personal expenses, tips and travel insurance
- Anything not listed under inclusions
9. Price breakdown
You do not have to show your cost per hotel, but the guest should see how the total is built: per person on twin sharing, extra adult, child with bed, child without bed, and the package total.
10. GST line
Show GST as its own line with the rate you charge, and put your GSTIN on the quote. Never leave the guest guessing between "inclusive" and "plus GST". The rate is covered in the questions below.
11. Payment and cancellation terms
The advance that confirms the booking, when the balance is due, and how to pay (bank transfer, UPI). Write your own cancellation slabs by days before arrival; some hotels are stricter in peak season. If a booking is non-refundable, the guest should read it in your quote first.
12. Validity and contact
A line such as "Valid until [date], subject to availability when you confirm", kept short in peak months. End with the name of the person handling the trip, phone, email, office address and, if your agency is registered with J&K Tourism, the registration number.
Sample quotation layout (example figures only)
The layout for the plan above, 2 adults in one room. Every amount is a placeholder. "Rs X" stands for your own figure, not a real rate.
| Item | Details | Amount (example) |
|---|---|---|
| Quote ref | KSH-0000, v1, valid until [date] | - |
| Houseboat, Srinagar | 1 night, [category], double room, MAP | Rs X |
| Hotel, Pahalgam | 2 nights, [category], double room, MAP | Rs X |
| Hotel, Srinagar | 3 nights, [category], double room, MAP | Rs X |
| Vehicle | Sedan, transfers and sightseeing as per itinerary, driver allowance, tolls, parking | Rs X |
| Shikara | 1 hour, Dal Lake | Rs X |
| Subtotal | - | Rs X |
| GST | [rate]% on the package, GSTIN [number] | Rs X |
| Package total | 2 adults, twin sharing | Rs X |
| Per person | Twin sharing | Rs X |
| Advance to confirm | Due on confirmation | Rs X |
| Balance | Due by [date] | Rs X |
Put inclusions and exclusions directly under this table, not on a page the guest may never open.
Common mistakes in Kashmir quotations
- Missing or vague exclusions. If gondola tickets and pony rides are not written as excluded, many guests assume they are included, and the argument happens in Gulmarg in front of the family.
- The quote sent as WhatsApp text. A long message gets buried, loses its layout when forwarded to relatives, and after two edits nobody knows which version is current. Send a document or link, and use WhatsApp to share it.
- "With meals" instead of a meal plan code. The guest hears three meals, the hotel serves two.
- No validity date. The guest returns a month later, in a busier week, expecting the old price.
Where TripQuote CRM fits
We built TripQuote CRM, so read this with that in mind. A template fixes how a quote looks. It does not fix the bigger problem at most travel desks: one trip lives in a WhatsApp chat, a spreadsheet and a quote document, and when the traveller changes a date, someone has to fix all three.
TripQuote CRM keeps the trip in one file and moves it through five steps: the lead, the quote built against that lead, the day-by-day itinerary in the same file, the booking, and the payments tracked against the trip. It is hosted and multi-tenant, each agency with its own trips, and live at tripquote.in. It starts from Rs 19,999. Domain names, payment-gateway fees and any workflow outside those five areas are separate.
It does not run a hotel room rack. Hotels use their own system; our hotel and travel software page shows how the two sit side by side.
If a spreadsheet and a good template work for the enquiries you handle, keep them. If quotes are slipping through the gaps, see the TripQuote CRM page or contact our Srinagar team and tell us how your desk handles a trip today.
Travel quotation format: common questions
What do CP, MAP and AP mean in a hotel quote?
CP is room with breakfast. MAP is breakfast plus one main meal, usually dinner. AP is breakfast, lunch and dinner. EP is room only. Write the meals in brackets next to the code.
What GST rate applies to a Kashmir tour package?
The GST Council's published schedule of GST rates for services lists "supply of tour operators services" (serial 23, Heading 9985) at 5%: 2.5% CGST plus 2.5% SGST, or 5% IGST (GST Council rate schedule, PDF). Conditions apply under the notification behind it, including on input tax credit, and a hotel-only or cab-only booking may be taxed differently. Check with your CA how your agency should bill before you put a rate on the quote.
Should I send the quotation on WhatsApp or as a PDF?
Send a document or link, and use WhatsApp to deliver it. A formatted quote with a version number survives forwarding; a long text message does not.
How long should a Kashmir quotation stay valid?
There is no fixed rule. Pick a date, write it on the quote, and keep it short in peak season and around holidays, when hotel rates and availability change quickly.