Bengali tourists are a minority in the land of Sonar Kella

KOLKATA: Bengalis are probably much more in love with the seas and mountains than the deserts. For the Bengali traveller, Satyajit Ray’s Sonar Kella might have popularised Rajasthan as a tourist destination, but organised travellers, through package tours from Gujarat and Mumbai, still outnumber Bengalis in the desert state.
“Tour operators in eastern India are still not as organised as the western part of the country,� Manwar desert camp and resort director Moti Singh Rathore felt.
Meanwhile, a struggle for survival has forced heritage hotel owners in Rajasthan to renovate their hotels to cater to domestic tourists, as tourist advisory restrictions by Western nations in the aftermath of 9/11 has almost halved the number foreign tourists.
This essentially calls for televisions, telephones and air-conditioners in rooms. “The-re is a marked difference is what is expected in a hotel by a Westerner and the preferences of a domestic tourist,� Prithvis Singh Rath-ore of Narain Niwas Palace Hotel said.
According to the hoteliers, while foreign tourists inquire about swimming pools, bars and restaurants, an Indian would want to know if there is a telephone connection and a television in the room.
Air-conditioning is another thing that Indians prefer, often a difficult prospect in the old palaces. “It is not always possible for us to provide modern amenities as the palaces are not conducive to ducting,� Rathore added.
Unlike popular perception, pricing is not a problem for the domestic tourists. “Our rooms are priced between Rs 1,500 and Rs 2,500, which is quite affordable for Indian tourists. It is the attitude between the two sets of tourists that require us to undertake changes,� said Man Singh Kanota of the same hotel.
While hotels in or near the cities are still attracting some business travellers, the rural destinations are going abegging. “Tour operators would seldom touch 20-room palace hotels like ours even though we are part of the Heritage Hotels Association. But things are changing now,� Kanota said.