Taking a cue from Rajasthan tourism, the heart of Incredible India, Madhya Pradesh, will be converting forts and palaces into hotels. Madhya Pradesh’s department of tourism has decided to offer its forts to private investors on a long-term lease, while facilitating investment for privately held properties.
The department has already identified seven government forts and around 24 private heritage properties. To woo more tourists and spruce up tourism in the state, the department has also identified land banks in 12 districts from which parcels can be allotted on PPP basis.
At the first state tourism conclave organised jointly by Madhya Pradesh tourism and Ficci at Khajuraho, various private and government stakeholders converged to discuss steps that can be taken to attract more tourists and increase the state’s market share in the country’s tourism pie. ?We are working closely with various states to enhance domestic and foreign tourism which is important for development of states,? said Ficci president RV Kanoria.
Besides policy initiatives such as exemption of luxury tax to many category of hotels, the MP tourism department has also taken some innovative steps like promotion of caravan tourism and water sports. But private operators point out that there are many bottlenecks hindering investment in the state. ?Connectivity is the biggest impediment. In fact, our hotel in Khajuraho has a dismal occupancy of 15%. Only if infrastructure is developed, will more investment come to the state by private players,? said Ficci tourism committee chairperson Jyotsna Suri, who also owns the Lalit Group of Hotels.
Though tour operators agreed that policy implementation was the need of the hour, they also recognised the efforts of the government. ?There has been improvement in he last five years resulting in an increased tourist inflow, but some more marketing initiatives are needed to promote Madhya Pradesh as a tourist destination,? said Swagatam Travels MD Pronab Sarkar.
Madhya Pradesh attracted only 41.7 million domestic tourists in 2011 as compared to 155 million tourist visits witnessed by Andhra Pradesh and 144 million by Uttar Pradesh.