REGAL REVIVAL Rajasthan
Rajasthan has always managed to grab the attention of the domestic as well as international travel community with its incomparable hospitality, vibrant cultural history and magni cent architecture. Even during the Covid-19-induced lull phase, the royal state managed to keep a connection with travellers across the globe via virtual tours of some of its most popular spots such as Mehrangarh Fort, Jaswant ada and Umaid Bhawan Palace.
With travel limping back to normalcy, Rajasthan is now coming up with new means for tourism. One amongst these is bicycle tours — the state tourism board is urging travellers to see the city whilst pedalling away. is will contribute towards a more sustainable transport future that we aim to achieve soon alongside following social distancing.
Short stay is another travel trend that Rajasthan is promoting. If you are a frequent visitor on Rajasthan Tourism’s social media platforms, you must have come across their enticing posts regarding weekend and short stays in Mount Abu, Udaipur and Pushkar among others.
TRANSFORMING TRAVEL
With a focus to reposition Rajasthan as the preferred tourist destination in the domestic and global travel sector, the state has rolled out a new tourism policy. Strengthening and diversifying existing tourism products; expanding tourist accommodation infrastructure; giving priority to lesserknown destinations; facilitating tourism speci c skill development to generate self employment; encouraging private sector investment in the state and improving tourist grievance redressal systems are a few objectives of Rajasthan Tourism Policy 2020.
As per the ve-year policy, two to three prominent monuments or sites in each of the seven administrative divisions of the state will be developed as “iconic monuments” or sites. Best practices in ticketing, tourist amenities, guides/audio guides and augmented reality service will be adopted to o er a well-rounded travel experience.
Many villages in the state house prominent heritage hotels or sites and are
The state has rolled out a new tourism policy
home to popular art or cra forms. e policy aims to identify them in each district and declare them as a “Special Heritage Village” (SHV) or a “Special Cra Village” (SCV).
To expand and support experiential tourism products by private stakeholders, the state government will compile a database of all such o erings and publish an e-brochure for dissemination through web portal and social media platforms.
Pristine locations with beautiful sand dunes in untapped areas such as stretches around Sambhar, Pushkar, Nagaur and Bikaner will also be identi ed and promoted as new desert destinations.
In the adventure tourism sector, special incentives will be given to promote aero-, aqua- and land-based activities. To nurture wildlife and eco-tourism, the policy seeks to develop new sites and introduce eco certi cation schemes for hotels, restaurants, and similar tourism related establishments.
For MICE and wedding tourism, measures will be taken to identify, grade and list such facilities. “Promoters intending to establish integrated MICE facilities comprising convention centres, exhibition rooms, hotels with more than two lakh square feet carpet area will be exempted from stamp duty,“reads the o cial document.
e policy also lays out detailed e orts that are in the pipeline for strengthening cultural, religious, wellness, cra s and cuisine tourism in the state.