Heritage Tourism

The concept of heritage tourism has evolved over the years. It started in the early 1990s with the intention of promoting old properties that already existed in tourist destinations. Many of these properties, sadly, were crumbling due to lack of maintenance, and the only way to conserve them and ensure their sustainability was by restoring and converting them into hotels. However, there were several challenges that needed to be overcome.

First, the costs involved were astronomical. These involved restoring the properties, converting them into hotels and providing day-to-day maintenance (especially given the age and frailty of the properties). Since the majority of the properties were located in rural areas, infrastructural support too was limited.

Then, apart from connectivity, electricity, water, drainage and waste disposal, ensuring the availability of skilled manpower and raw materials to run efficient properties was a constant challenges.

The biggest challenge, however, was marketing the hotels as well as the destinations because, unlike popular tourist destinations, heritage properties are based in unique (and, often, remote) locations. True, each has a story to tell, and is waiting to be discovered, but promoting a hotel in a known location is one matter; marketing a new destination is quite another. Plus, sustainability of the sensitive environment also had to be ensured.

Faced with such challenges and acutely aware that apart from the known heritage hotels and destinations, there were several other properties that needed support if they were to survive, Maharaja Gaj Singh of Marwar, Jodhpur, and ITC Hotels initiated WelcomHeritage Hotels. Gaj Singh also launched the Indian Heritage Hotels Association (IHHA) in support of the heritage tourism cause.

From the very beginning, Welcom-Heritage pioneered the concept of circuit and domestic tourism, and proceeded to promote heritage tourism not just by promoting old properties but also heritage destinations. It broadened the scope to include both manmade and natural heritage.

The events of 9/11 were a defining moment as the fall in foreign tourists- who were the prime customers for heritage properties till then-compelled us to motivate domestic tourists to visit heritage locations. The IHHA went about representing the needs of heritage properties and locations to both the Central and State Governments, seeking incentives, subsidies, infrastructural and financial support through the Tourism Finance Corporation of India. Domestic heritage tourism became a movement, with organisations such as HRH Hotels, the Neemrana Group, Mandawa Group and Samode Group, to name a few, doing pioneering work in the segment.

Today, the IHHA has some 150 members across India. Challenges still remain but evolution, I guess, is a constant process. At this stage, the key challenges are: one, keeping the properties updated to suit the needs of domestic customers, and two, finding skilled manpower to run and manage hotels in remote and rural locations. Another prime challenge is finding the required investments to maintain and manage the heritage properties.

The launch of the Codes of Conduct for sustainable tourism by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, in 2010, has been a landmark development. The Codes indicate the government's resolve to preserve and nurture India's natural and cultural heritage, which is the mainstay of our inbound and domestic tourism. The renewed interest in the ancient sciences of ayurveda and yoga-both in India and abroad-has propelled Indian heritage tourism to a different level. Our ancient spirituality and thought has found a new audience in a frenzied world, and our traditions have caught the fancy of an audience hungry for new experiences.

All the above has brought tourists back to our heritage locations and hotels. Rough estimates put domestic tourists at around 550 million people. Even if we assume that five per cent of these patronise quality hotels, we have 27 million domestic (affluent) tourists to cater to. That's roughly six times the international tourist figure.

This, combined with the high disposable incomes and shorter but more frequent holidays being taken by urban Indians, has propelled the heritage tourism segment into the high revenue bracket. This, in turn, creates great opportunities for professionals, specially those with an interest, ability and knowledge in niche areas like wildlife, spas, ayurveda, health and nutrition. We expect to see robust growth in this segment, and the entry of more Unit Entrepreneurs (or owners of heritage properties). I see new professionalism coming into the picture, even as the old culture and traditions are maintained. Heritage Tourism, if nurtured properly, is here not just to stay, but to bloom.

Reproduced From India Today. © 2011. LMIL. All rights reserved.