After extending its service to the who’s who of the corporate world from India and across the globe, the Leela Kempinski Hotel in Mumbai now wants to tap the growing leisure market by introducing a “Bollywood package” for leisure tourists on the lines of the ” Hollywood package” at the MGM and Universal studios in Los Angeles .
Speaking to FE, Jefferey Sussman, general manager, Leela Kempinski Mumbai said, “We would like to see the leisure market at the Leela growing. We may see the share grow, if we are able to get the permission to create a Bollywood package on the lines of the Hollywood package. If finalized, the leisure market for us will go through the roof.”
In 2006, leisure travel in India totalled $350-400 million and has been growing at 15-20% per year. Mumbai has paled as a tourist destination but the mega polis, being the centre of the world’s largest film industry, may just drive up tourist numbers. India remains the largest film producer in the world, producing an average of 1,000 films a year. The hotel has been in touch with the Bollywood industry and film studios to get the clearances. These tours, when materialised, would encompass watching shootings, essential behind-the-scene work and revisiting scenes made famous by Bollywood movies and television serials. The model would be the MGM and Universal studios, where tourists pay good money to have a closer look at the stars.
It’s not easy, though, admits Sussman. Film-studious are, by and large, not too forthcoming. They are skeptical that crowds may, at times, get too unwieldy and disturb the shoots. ” But it’s not impossible either. This is a gold mine waiting to be exploited. There is a huge demand for a Bollywood package and we have been getting repeated queries on the same.