‘Private Sector Participation Encouraged’

Usha Punia, minister of state government of Rajasthan, tourism, art and culture, archaeology and museum and devsthan department tells Charmaine Fernz about her new strategies and plans

What are your plans for Rajasthan tourism in the coming year?

The department of tourism, government of Rajasthan proposes to develop new tourism circuits such as:

1. National Capital Region (Alwar-Bharatpur) along with Golden Triangle Circuit (Delhi-Jaipur-Agra)
2. Hadoti Circuit (Kota-Jhalawar)
3. Pilgrim Circuit (Ajmer-Pushkar)

Further to facilitate growth of tourism in the state, private sector participation has been encouraged for the conservation of monuments under the scheme - Adopt-A-Monument. Similarly, efforts are also on for private sector investment for the development of tourism infrastructure and pilgrim tourism destinations.

The government has taken tourism-friendly measures like the excise policy had been made more liberal. The license fee has been reduced for all categories of hotels. The luxury tax has been reduced from 10-8 per cent with effect from July 13, 2003. A Rs 99 lakh project has been sanctioned for the development of tourism destinations of the Hadoti circuit.

The Jal Mahal tourism project is also being developed by investing Rs 125 crore which would also involve private participation. The agency has been selected for the development of the project. The rope ways at Mount Abu and Udaipur have also been proposed.

What is the total number of inbound and outbound tourists in the last year?

The total number of inbound and outbound tourist in the last year was as follows:

Inbound Tourist Outbound Tourist
125.45 lakh 6.28 lakh

From January to September 2004
59.56 lakh 5.95 lakh

In India, foreign tourist arrivals increased by 16 per cent and there was tremendous increase in foreign tourist arrivals in the state which was 47 per cent (highest growth rate in India)

In the first nine months of 2004, foreign tourist arrivals increased by 63 per cent in Rajasthan as compared to the arrivals of 2003.

Rajasthan has always been the crowning glory for Indian tourism. In keeping with that scenario, do you plan to promote Rajasthan in a niche way?

Re-orientation of fairs and festivals is being done by involving private participation so that they are organised in a professional manner. International heritage festival, summer festival and dusshera festival, Rajasthan day celebration festival have been proposed in the Pink City to attract the domestic and foreign tourist.

What are the marketing strategies being used to hardsell the destination both in India and internationally?

A web portal has been developed by Rajasthan tourism on which information pertaining to stay facilities, transport facilities, tourism destinations, package tours, etc are available. Online reservation with a payment gateway has also been started.

For dissemination of information to the tourist attractive tourist literature, VCDs, CDRom, have been produced by Rajasthan tourism and made available to tourists and travel agents.

Roadshows have been proposed in the prominent cities of India like Delhi, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Pune, Hyderabad to sell Rajasthan for the domestic tourist and also in the prominent cities in Europe, USA South East Asia etc to market fairs, festivals, and packages.

Rajasthan tourism participates in the leading domestic and international travel marts.

An aggressive marketing and advertising campaign has been started this year on the print and electronic media. Interactions and meetings with the tour operators and travel agents are being organised.

Rajasthan has great potential for MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Exhibitions and Conventions) especially in the ‘Incentive’ category. How do you foresee promoting this aspect of the state?

Convenience, comfort and accessibility of Rajasthan have seen the state becoming the first choice for organising international seminars, conferences, exhibitions. The upcoming international convention centre at Jaipur and international golf resort are set to give a boost to MICE and sports tourism in the State.