Taj by night the only hope for Agra tourism industry

VISHAL SHARMA

When it comes to tourism, Agra holds the status of India’s tourism capital, being the home of the Taj Mahal. A town devoid of major industries, tourism serves as the staple
business for Agra, generating revenue of over 1000 crores per year.

Though this revenue has seen an upward trend lately due to the Taj’s night opening on an experimental basis, this figure could increase dramatically if the Taj’s moonlit-viewing becomes a permanent feature of Agra.
When the yearly handicrafts sales in Agra account for over 300 crores, the hospitality industry is earning merely in the vicinity 100 crores, a pittance in comparison to the huge number of tourists arriving in Agra. Tourism sources have long blamed the low night-stay rate of tourists behind this insignificant turnover of the hotel industry of the town as most of the tourists arriving in Agra prefer to treat it as a day-trip, not staying overnight due to the lack of night-time attractions.

Ever since the Taj Mahal was shut down for nights in 1984 due to terrorist threats, there have been numerous attempts to get this lock-out lifted in the interest of the tourism industry which feeds a major part of the 20 lac strong population of this town, but the breakthrough was only made in November 2004, when due to the continuous efforts of the UP government, the Taj Mahal was opened for five nights a month for a trial period of three months, ending this month.

According to D.K. Burman, Joint Director UP Tourism, Agra despite the Taj Mahal being shrouded with fog during the night-opening, offering an unclear view, the revenue from tourism during this period climbed by over rupees 50 lacs a day, both from foreign and Indian tourists. This revenue is expected to increase four-folds if the Taj Mahal is opened permanently during nights.

Talking to the UNN on Tuesday, Mr. Burman said that on an average day, the revenue earned by the tourism industry accounts upto Rs. 4 crores, the major share being from handicrafts and ticket sales, though despite the presence of almost a dozen 5 & 4 star-category hotels, the revenue of hospitality sector still leaves a lot to be desired. He said that since the news of Taj Mahal’s night opening in the past two months has spread in the tourism industry around the globe, there has been a major influx of tourists in Agra. Judging from the Taj’s night-view ticket sales, he said, it is estimated
that the town earned more than 2.4 crores from the night-viewing tourists alone, presenting a bright future ahead for the town’s tottering tourism industry.

But the fact that the Taj’s night opening is subject to review by the Supreme Court on the 20th of this month is raising a lot of apprehension in the town’s tourism sector. Prahlad Agarwal, Convenor of Agra Foreign Tourist Traders & Exporters Association said that though the Taj Mahal’s security is of prime importance, the Supreme Court should also keep a sympathetic view of the fact that Agra’s tourism industry depends heavily on the Taj Mahal’s night opening and if the monument is again closed after the trial period ends this month, the yearly loss to the tourism industry could well aggregate upto almost 100 crores, a blow that this town’s tourism industry can hardly bear at this crucial time.
(UNITED NEWS NETWORK)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Woman torched to death by inlaws on International Women's Day in India

AGRA.               It could serve as a well-placed slap in the face of the the groups of so-called women's rights activists who all too recently celebrated International Women’s Day, fervently praising the contribution made by women to the society and vowing to prevent violence against the feminine gender comfortably ensconced in luxurious clubs and hotels.    While the world was busy celebrating women’s day, a young girl was murdered in cold-blood, torched to death by her in-laws in Kayamganj town of Farrukhabad district of Uttar Pradesh, alongwith a 6-month fetus inside her, just three years after marriage.    Two weeks have passed since the grisly murder but the local police appears to be in no hurry to catch the absconding in-laws who doused the girl in kerosene and left her to burn and die on the street, making good their escape while the locals awaited for the police to arrive. Meanwhile, the victim’s mother Archana Sharma has suffered from a strok
Read more

My views on Libya, India and the permanent SC seat

Image
On Wednesday, the British government 'de-recognized' the Gaddafi government and decided that it was in the interest of democracy to recognize the Libyan rebels as the only legal representative of the Libyan people. Immediately after that, the British Police entered the Libyan embassy in London and forced the remaining Libyan diplomats out of UK. France has already been parachuting modern weaponry, arms and ammunition to the Libyan rebel strongholds and both France and the United States have recognized the rebels as the legal Libyan representative power. While I am not a fan of Gaddafi or his regime in any way or form but I am equally disappointed in NATO's tactics and the double standards being played by the western powers in the Arab world. Gaddafi and Saddam Hussein had been two sore patches in the otherwise near-sweeping 'western conquest' of the Arab world and its oil. Only now, when a group of disenchanted Libyans, trained and provided for by wes
Read more

Agra unit to turn waste to wood

Image
Vishal Sharma / Agra December 29, 2008, 0:00 IST Govardhan Udyog plans to use cowdung to produce particle board. Faced with the task of developing environment-friendly technology for industry due to guidelines issued by the Supreme Court, entrepreneurs in Agra are realising the cost-effective potential of such technologies and innovations. Govardhan Udyog is one such unit which plans to use a non-conventional raw material, cowdung, to produce particle board and pharmaceutical products. The unit was inaugurated this week on the Agra-Delhi national highway near the Mathura refinery, about 55 km from Agra. Company sources said the basic raw material used in the manufacture of particle board will be cow dung. This will perhaps make it the first particle board manufacturing facility using cowdung as the raw material. Govardhan Udyog Managing Director SK Mittal said particle boards were emerging as a viable alternative in designing office furniture and automation products in the country as c
Read more