At BW HOTELIER’s latest webBlast series, The GM Show, Tourism in Rajasthan: Challenges and Opportunities For Hospitality Industry, hospitality industry experts discussed how the state has offered plenty to the discerning travellers over the years and still has loads in store for future

There are very few parallels to the Rajasthan story. Offering an entire package if one was to compare to any location globally. So authentic, ethnic, full of charm and earthly splendour. Not just a Westerners paradise. Most Indians are yet to discover and experience Rajasthan and its amazing hospitality. Rajasthan is where jet-set VVIPs, celebrities and fashionistas head for their getaways or for their in the Palace Indian weddings. The charm of the erstwhile royalties, their lineage, their palaces, their opulence and their assets have hardly any parallels. Think Rajputs, Maharanas and warriors and tales of valour. Experiencing it all first-hand… the desert setting, camels, sand dunes, colours, spiritual tourism or perhaps simplicity and a mix of it all. Rajasthan is as good an opportunity as any opportunity can become. That old world charm, so infectious and unique. 

In another episode of BW HOTELIER’s webBLAST series titled Tourism in Rajasthan: Challenges and Opportunities For Hospitality Industry, a group of distinguished panellists from the hospitality industry united to discuss this subject. Industry stalwarts who voiced their opinions in the discussion included Rajiv Kapoor, General Manager, Fairmont Jaipur; Nishant Agarwal, General Manger, The Leela Palace, Udaipur; Anand Shekhawat, General Manager - Aman-I-Khas & Regional Director - India, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Global Head Sustainability – Aman; Rishi Mattu, General Manager, ITC Rajputana, Jaipur; Saji Joseph, General Manager, Alila Fort, Bishangarh and Rahul Maini, General Manager, Marriott Hotel, Jaipur. Bhuvanesh Khanna, CEO, BW Communities, hosted and moderated the show.

The show began with the host-moderator putting up the first question to Nishant Agarwal on his experience and views about Rajasthan being a destination which doesn’t need anyone to sell it as it will sell. “To me, the most important question is whether we sell it enough and are we exploiting every aspect of Rajasthan to the fullest? We all know that the state is loved by tourists all over the world for its history, heritage and its deep-rooted culture. Also, the experiences and excursions that the state has to offer will never cease to grab your attention, be it art, monuments, spirituality, gems and jewellery, music, events and above all, food. The niche audience of Rajasthan has been the inbound traveller which took a backseat due to the pandemic. But I think revival and pandemic is almost behind us and this segment is going to grow larger and larger. Like domestic was hitting Rajasthan last year, inbound will revive like never before,” shared Agarwal. However, he said that an eco-system needs to be developed wherein each city is connected with the other and the hassle of moving from one city to the other as it currently is. 

The next question went to Rahul Maini. Hotels of all genres marking their presence across major locations is indicative of the huge opportunity, for both spread and penetration. Spread is about reaching all major locations and penetration is about being present across classifications from luxury down to budget and economy. But then what is holding back the brands? To this, Maini replied, “Jaisalmer is quite an offbeat destination and the major drawback I experienced when we opened a property there was that the inbound guest had to first come to Delhi or Jodhpur to travel to Jaisalmer but then systems fell in place. Over time, the city got connected and got in more guests and business than ever before. With infrastructure improving, the demand goes up and it helps develop a destination. Kookas has developed as a micro-market within Jaipur and we have some fabulous hotels there which hold luxury scale weddings. Then there are hotels near the airport. So there are different set of hotels for different set of guests with different price points.”

The moderator moved to Rishi Mattu next and asked him that it is not just top domestic and international brands that are making hay. Niche brands across heritage (read historic palaces and locations) have a strong presence, a loyal clientele and command solid premium on the rates. Also top international brands are either partnering with them or matching them. So, does this augur well and why is opportunity so unique? “India’s Atithi Devo Bhava is glorified in the form of Padharo Mhare Desh in Rajasthan. The strength of the local brands is due to their understanding of the heritage and culture. Among others, credit should be given to Maharaja Gaj Singh who introduced the concept of converting palaces and forts into hotels. This move put Rajasthan on the international tourism map. Today, every guest, domestic or international, wants a unique and authentic local experience. So the domestic brands are seeing this as a surge of openings and a lot of players are coming in because of their understanding the state and its culture. They want to do better with existing hotels and international brands are looking for more and more partners. You name a brand and it is there,” shared Mattu.

With such a discerning lot of international and domestic clients that frequent the Rajasthan, what are the challenges and opportunities for you as the GM and how do you gear up your teams across verticals in the hotel, Saji Joseph said, “Covid has changed a lot of things for all of us in terms of our actual business mix. Let’s take an example of a kitchen as a case study. You had chefs preparing unique cuisines with a local element and catered to the international audience. Today, you have clients who walk in and ask for a chilli chicken or a paneer dish. And the chef quickly serves it. They understand the need to get flexible and also that the clients are changing. We can’t be limiting the concept of Atithi Devo Bhava, something for inbound tourists and another for domestic guests. However, the good side is that if domestic has given us this recovery, inbound will only make it better. You are going to have a good mix of segments. This means more number of pies coming on your plate. And that is a good sign. We need to train our team to get more flexible and learn to multitask as that will be the order of the day tomorrow when there will be a mix of domestic and international tourists walking in.” 

Answering the question on some of the unique out-of-hotel opportunities that they can offer to up the guest’s experience, feel and expectation and how do they stitch them with partners without it being too much or too less, Anand Shekhawat shared, “Rajasthan was one of the first states in the country where hospitality first picked up and it was basically experiences which drew the entire world here. Not to forget, the culture, the colours and the stories it offered. So you can either create a little cocoon where you stitch everything in and still claim a $ 1000 a night or you incorporate communities around or may be the history around, say an NGO working towards uplifting kids in the region. People need purpose to travel and I think Rajasthan serves it well.” He also highlighted the fact that one needs to be extremely careful when one does that and should not be stepping on it or ruining it to the fact that we start affecting communities and cultures and their beliefs. “We can’t be doing it else they will withdraw and we will lose that all-important sheen,” he added. 

The moderator next moved to Rajiv Kapoor and asked him if within driving reach clients have more than made their presence felt and is it growing with road infrastructure making for an absolutely delightful experiences. Kapoor replied, “Before Covid hit us, we all knew about vacations but the word does not exists anymore. It has become a staycation, workcation or driving downcation… Over the last two years, people were not ready to fly or take a train but wanted to get out after staying home for long. The best comfort zone was your own car - just put in the luggage and the family and drive down to a location. And what better a destination than Rajasthan geographically with six states around. There are so many destinations within the state that offer loads of opportunities to learn and discover.”

The show culminated with Bhuvanesh Khanna thanking the esteemed panellists for sharing their thoughts and views on the subject and informing everyone about the next GM Show at 5 pm on March 22 on Hospitality in India’s Tourism Hot Spot – Goa.