Mag Corner
Part3: Heritage Tourism : Being loyal to the Royal inside me
I
By: Indranil Halder
have had the great good fortune of staying at exclusive heritage properties such as Raffles Hotel, Singapore;The Pierre Hotel, New York; and Ritz Hotel, Paris. These hotels are all heritage properties in their own right. They are all superb examples of meticulously restored heritage properties that successfully generaterevenues. I have stayed in each of these heritage properties after their billion-dollar facelifts and restoration. What I have learnt from these heritage properties is that they all have stories to tell. And there are always opportunities for partnerships with universities, governments and private firms to introduce a world of learning and experiences with heritage properties. Baishakhi Taylor from Duke University, North Carolina, USA visited Kolkata with her students (2010 -2017) as part of the University Civic Engagement Program, and according to Taylor, ’USA and India are the strongest and largest democracies of the world - and both were former British colonies. Kolkata was the second capital of the British Raj. There are a lot of stories to learn from Kolkata heritage buildings.’ The city it is today reflectsthe proud heritage of European, Islamic and Bengali architecture surrounded in tradition, culture and elegance. I believe the very fabric of tourism
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of Eastern India is shifting in the right direction to support the Indian economy, providing the potential to be part of a great change in the Indian and global tourism industry. These heritage properties can have well trained staff from hotel management schools in Kolkata such as the International Institute of Hotel Management ( IIHM), International Institute of Hospitality Management (IIHM) and Techno India. People across the globe will be coping with a stressful time post-Covid pandemic lockdown. The pandemic hasimpacted on the world for travellers at large - vacationsand outings to distant places seem to be utopian notionnow. The pandemic has taught us to adapt to the new normal and to explore local regions post Covid-19, which is of great value in promoting Eastern Indian tourism. To increase local tourists’ footfall, there are some points to consider, such as the social impact that we can experience from this development, the chance to revive history and heritage and the last but most important point to consider is raising much needed funds for employment. Indian tourists who cannot go overseas for holidays due to the pandemic will, primarily, be looking to travel locally and fund local tourism markets. Funds that can help various stakeholders associated with palaces/ rajbaris, ie, custodians of the rajbaris, state tourism, local councils, federal government and local artisans. But to do so, we need three key fundamentals to work together. From my experience, I have identified the following: 1. Introducing more and more heritage properties on the tourism map 2. Understanding of Social Change &
MARCH I 2021
Durga Temple in an Eastern Indian Mansion Culture of Revival 3. Public and Private partnerships The key aspects for the north eastern heritage properties to survive is to open-up more unknown heritage properties, encourage fashion photography and become part of the local and global tourism network. For instance, Cooch Behar Palace, also called the Victor Jubilee Palace, could have been one of best dream draw cards for both West Bengal and central government tourism, what is needed is a proper understanding of leadership, heritage tourism and social entrepreneurship. The late Rajmata of Jaipur, Rajkumari of Cooch Behar and Maharani Gayatri Devi of India writes in her book A Princess Remembers about requesting West Bengal to convert the Victor Palace of Cooch Behar into anheritage property but lack of collaboration, understanding and leadership meant that it did not happen. Devi had done so with other Indian cultural elite icons who were connected to eastern India such as former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, the late Lady Ranu Mukherjee and Sonali Dasgupta (who ended Hollywood actress Ingrid Bergman’s marriage to film director Roberto Rossellini). For example, in Garia, the Garia Rajbari is
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