Hotels find innovative ways to attract guests

RAJASTHAN hoteliers are now trying out innovations to overcome the pandemic blues.

These innovations are running high in boutique properties located in Rajasthan’s tourist cities like Udaipur and Jodhpur where new packages and newer experiences are being created for new age travellers. They want healthy food cooked in traditional ways while staying in off-beat locations.

“This group of travellers comes from the IT sector. Work-from-home gave them the freedom to work from any part of India,” said Ravindra Nath Purohit, general manager of Ramya Resort and Spa, Udaipur.

Showcasing a contemporary Thaibalinese decor, the property is now focusing on domestic travellers and is all set to hire local people trained in home-cooked food.

Purohit said: “The new age traveller is a workaholic but also wants to take a break from the hectic city life. He along with his family want to experience the delights of organic food, while being introduced to the traditional ways of cooking. Hence we are making newer packages for this segment and are working on converting the open land into organic fields where guests can pluck vegetables and fruits of their choice which shall be served to them after being cooked.”

Another hotelier Varun Jalan, from Daspan House Jodhpur, said: “Our property was launched in December 2019 and soon after came the pandemic. Hence we could not get much time to think afresh.

“Meanwhile, the lockdown gave us a chance to innovate.

“As we were getting the IT crowd from Mumbai and Gujarat, we planned to bring in spice street tours along with street tours to the local bangle market, chat market and other such streets so that the kids of the next generation can get an insight into the small city charm.

"We have tied up with small companies which are taking our guests on tours to organic farms etc.

“Also, we shall take travellers to nearby villages where they can see how the local Bishnoi community cares for animals like deer and black bucks.”

The tourist state witnessed a dip of 72.19% in foreign arrivals and 71.05% in domestic tourists in 2020 due to the pandemic. |