Rajasthan Tourism Department Plans to Renovate Offbeat Destinations

The Rajasthan Tourism Department is set on work to make the most out of the state’s tourism potential. Famous tourist attractions are being adorned and beautified matching global standards while the tourism department is also planning to target offbeat destinations as well. CMO has asked the department to work on boosting up the interest of tourists towards offbeat destinations.

Offbeat Destinations Chosen for Tourism

A panel of experts on tourism has prepared a list of potential offbeat tourism destinations in the state. The authorities are preparing a plan to develop these destinations, keeping in mind a tourist’s requirements. The offbeat destinations in this list include heritage buildings, museums, forts, palaces, step-wells (popularly called ‘bawadi’) and ancient temples.

Chand Baori in Abhaneri village – one of the deepest and largest stepwells in India with 3500 steps over 13 stories

Publicity Campaign

In order to attract tourists to these offbeat destinations, preparations are going on to launch specific publicity campaign. These campaigns will focus on telling about the significance of these places as well as the experiences tourists can expect when visiting them. The state’s tourism department website has already started promoting the offbeat destinations in the state, which are soon going to be turned tourism-friendly.

‘My Sthaan’ Campaign to Ask for Suggestions

The department has also asked for suggestions from the local public through a campaign titled, ‘My Sthaan’, where you can share suggestions relevant to Rajasthan’s potential tourism destinations and sites. Many people have taken interest in the campaign, not only from Rajasthan but from the country as well as from other sides of our border, about attractive sites and how they can be made tourism-friendly.

Plans to Boost Tourism by 40% by 2020

Department has determined a fixed target for boosting tourism growth in the state. Secretary (Tourism, Art & Culture) Smt. Roli Singh says, “1.5 billion foreign tourists are visiting Rajasthan every year at present, while the annual number of domestic tourists visiting the state is that of 33billion. The tourism department plans to boost up these numbers by 40% by 2020. To accomplish this target, the department has chosen to develop offbeat destinations, for which they have contacted heritage conservation expert and architect, Alka Lamba and Meenakshi Jain.”

Plans to build an outline for Must-Visit Destinations

The department has started conservation and renovation work on Ajmer’s Akbar Fort and Alwar’s Bala Quila (also called Alwar Fort). Other destinations that have been selected to be developed as tourism-friendly include Bharatpur, Deeg, Barmer, Dholpur, Nagaur and Alwar. The department plans to transform these destinations as tourism-friendly and then prepare an outline for must-visit places in the state. Tour companies, tour operators and guides will have to build packages to these ‘not-so-explored’ destinations. Along with that the market of these places will have to be developed. Tourists will now be able to visit offbeat destinations as well along with the already popular destinations.