If you think, Rajasthan is all
about flamboyant moustaches, sand dunes, royal forts and palaces, cultural
splendor and wildlife parks and sanctuaries then you should start to think
beyond all these. Tourists visiting this culturally rich state of India will
soon get to stay in luxurious houseboats in the desert Rajasthan, a picture
more similar to Dal Lake in Kashmir or the splendid backwaters of Kerala.
Recent meeting on promotion of
tourism development in Rajasthan, it is been agreed to start house boat
facilities. In this meeting Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje was also present and
has been agreed to start the initiative very soon.
“This facility will soon start and will be introduced in Rajasthan, where water bodies will have sufficient water throughout the year. Some of the suitable locations chosen are Bisalpur Dam, Jawai Dam, Mahi Dam, Parvati Dam, Jai Samand and Jawahar Sagar. These suitable locations were chosen by a highly placed official present in the meeting, said on the condition of anonymity.
On this project, tourism commissioner Gayatri Rathod refused to comment. But from tourism point of view, it is very positive aspect and the experts associated with the tourism industry are excited on the proposals of the new project and the prospects of the new proposal.
"Houseboats inclusion to Rajasthan tourism will be beneficial and willhelp in the promotion of places like Bisalpur and Tonk which has remained out of the tourist circuit despite the potential," said Prithvi Singh Kanota, a member of Heritage Hotel Association.
Rajasthan even today is known as a destination with colossal forts, palaces, festivals and sandunes but chief minister is looking positively developing connectivity, standard infrastructure for the development of other tourism activities such as musical fests, adventure sports, birding and eco-tourism
Apart from houseboats various other proposals were discussed in the meeting which included development of eco-tourism in ravines of Chambal river, safari for sighting of Gangetic dolphins and the endangered ghariyal. The state tourism department and the government is also planning to organized an international bird festival every year at Ghana National Park.
Deepraj Singh, a tourism expert based in Bharatpur said, “An International bird fair at Bharatpur is a good initiative to promote Bharatpur as a bird watching destination at the international level. Birding is the biggest and positive aspect to attract international tourist and Rajasthan has fantastic potential for such development,”
Various other proposals were discussed for the promotion of tourism in Rajasthan such as Eco-Tourism in ravines of Chambal on the lines of Petra in Jordan, Safari on Chambal river for sighting of Gangetic dolphins and ghariyal, Promotion of Chandrabhaga Festival in Jhalarapatan, Promotion of cultural and music festivals in Shekhawati, Annual bird fair at Bharatpur, Opening Ravanjna-Dungar for safari near Ranthambhore.
In coming days, Rajasthan tourism will see the peak in tourism growth and people will remember this beautiful state more for its eco-tourism rather than its colossal forts and eye catching palaces.
