The Hindu Business Line : Rajasthan's share in foreign tourists dips

RAJASTHAN, which traditionally accounted for nearly half of the foreign tourist share in the country, has seen a fall in its quota in the foreign tourist pie. According to a study by Crisil, Rajasthan's share has fallen from 48.4 per cent in 1991 to 28.7 per cent in 2004.

The story of the State's woes does not end there. The average length of stay of a foreign tourist in India is 31.2 days but it is only around 2.5 days in Rajasthan, while it is in excess of five days in Goa and Kerala, as per 1998 data.

Even the per day spend of both foreign and domestic tourists is less than half in Rajasthan as compared to the national average, the study says.

Other States such as Kerala and Uttar Pradesh are steadily increasing their share of foreign arrivals. International arrivals increased in Kerala from 69,000 in 1991 to 3,45,546 in 2004, thereby increasing its share in the foreign tourist arrivals from 5.6 per cent to 10.19 per cent in 2004.

But there may be light at the end of the tunnel for Rajasthan. Pride Hospitality, which is pioneering the concept of home-stay in the country, is planning to start from Jaipur. In the first phase of introducing the concept of home-stay in the city, 200 homes would sign up for the project called `Jaipur Pride Project' wherein their doors would be opened to foreign and domestic tourists, at a price. To safeguard the interest of the tourists, the project would accredit businesses, vendors, crafts people, restaurants, among others.

The homes would be selected on criteria like location, approach roads, cleanliness in the colony, condition of the house, facilities available in the houses and psychological make-up of the house owners.

The tariff per day in the homes would range from Rs 250 to Rs 5,000. The additional facilities the homes can opt to provide are meals and transport.

The company would arrange for other services like currency conversion and airport transfers through vendors and third parties. The company would also offer tourist information on Rajasthan, free of charge to the tourists.

Asked about the power cuts and water shortages in the city, Mr Faiz Dadarkar of Pride Hospitality told Business Line, "The homes would not be asked to arrange for power back-up. The tourists would have to accept that as part of the package."

So if a tourist is a vegetarian and a non-smoker, he can just mention his requirements and a home that suits his requirement and budget would be offered to him.

The project is promoted by Mr Dadarkar and Mr Apurv Kumar, Executive Director, UP Hotels Ltd. Mr Kumar's Hotel Clarks Amer in Jaipur is being utilised for training the accredited home owners.

The project has already got a few bookings and the first foreign tourist for home-stay arrives on October 1. The company plans to go pan-India at a later stage.

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