Salvation, Swiss style

The path to salvation has been smoothened. Pilgrimage, at least to some Hindu shrines, will have more comfort than penance. And going by what Vibhas Prasad, director, business development, Leisure Hotels Ltd, Delhi, says, there is money to be made.

Prasad's company has set up luxury tents for pilgrims who want to visit Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath. And their target is to tap the 10-lakh pilgrims who visit these shrines every year.

Called the Chardham Camps, on offer are Swiss-style cottage tents with attached baths and showers. "We don't think pilgrimage means physical discomfort. We want to offer quality service to discerning customers," says Prasad.

Besides organising a guided tour of the shrines, Leisure Hotels offers ayurvedic massages, yoga lessons, religious discourses and artis at its camp sites. All for a price, of course. An 11 nights/12 days trip (ex-Delhi) costs Rs 15,400 per person, on a twin-sharing basis.

Prasad says that his company had launched the Chardham Camps last year on a trial basis. It's success (at least 6,000 pilgrims used its facilities) made the company think of turning it into a regular business proposition.

"With 90 tents at the four shrines, we are targeting 10,000 visitors this year," he adds. The idea of luxury tents at pilgrimages was offered to them by travel agents Cox and Kings in 2000 at the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad.

"That was our first experience; setting up and running 80 tents for three months. But the tents were branded and marketed by Cox and Kings," Prasad adds.

Leisure Hotels was started in 1981 by brothers Arvind and Mukund Prasad. Their first venture was the Claridge's Naini Retreat in Nainital. This was followed by the Claridge's Corbett Hideaway in 1993.

Leisure Hotels has a tie-up with the Delhi Claridge's to use its brandname. Over the last 10 years, the company has added a heritage haveli in Haridwar (for a very niche, up-market clientele), rafting camps in Shivpuri and Kaudiyala, and 20 independent cottages under Corbett Riverview Retreat.

Plans are on to develop 13 acres on a hill-top in Uttaranchal to build 40 cottages and a business hotel in Dehradun. "Our long-term plan is to go downstream with the Ganga and keep developing properties both for leisure activities as well as around the pilgrimage sites," says Prasad.

Last year Leisure Hotels did business worth Rs 10 crore, with the Chardham Camps contributing around Rs 1 crore. "We were not sure if luxury tents will attract pilgrims. This year we are much more focused and hope to double our turnover," says a confident Prasad.