More tourists to visit Rajasthan: CII

Rajasthan is all set to witness a steep increase in the number of domestic and foreign tourists to the state, according to Confederation of Indian Industry's (CII's) recommendations on the hotel policy of Rajasthan, which it submitted to the state government. The state government had come out with a draft of hotel policy last year.

"Besides being a preferred tourist and wedding destination, the state is gaining prominence as a commercial destination as well. This is owing to increased travel by buyers for gems, jewellery, stone and textiles," said RK Poddar, chairman, CII Rajasthan State Council.

He added that the upcoming special economic zone (SEZ), international airport, recent discovery of oilfields and a rich cultural heritage, would contribute to the rise in the number of tourists.

Hotels in all the segments have been recording 100 per cent occupancy for last 2-3 years in Rajasthan.

Jaimni Uberoi, convenor, CII panel on tourism and heritage mooted changes in the existing policy. He said India is enjoying a boom in the hospitality industry and Rajasthan has scope as well as potential to grab this opportunity.

Uberoi said the state government should ensure easy availability of land for development of hotel and accommodation infrastructure. He added that internal investors should be encouraged by waiving land use conversion charges completely for those who own land.

All categories of hotels, resorts and tents should be incorporated in this policy and waiving of conversion charges should also be given to these categories, he said.

The CII recommended easy and soft financing for hotel industry with the help of bodies like Tourism Finance Corporation of India. It also recommended a single window system to complete all formalities related to financing as well as getting registration of the hotels.

Electricity, water and house tax charges for hotels should be charged on industrial rates, the CII recommended.

It recommends that floor area ratio in Rajasthan should be in the levels of Dubai, Singapore and Mumbai. It also recommends increasing the floor area ratio of existing hotels to enable them add extra rooms to their inventories. The addition of new hotel rooms in existing hotels should also be given same benefits as for new hotels.

It is mentioned in the National Policy that benefits be given if renovation be done in existing hotels but it was not clearly defined.

Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation (RTDC) and its hotels should be disinvested, Uberoi suggested.

He added that there is need to rationalise land and building tax, hotel expenditure tax as well as luxury tax. Rajasthan needs about 7,000 rooms under various categories to cater to the inflow of tourists.