How the grand Indian royal resort is faring in 2024

“We actually need assistance.” When the veteran hotelier Thakur Shatrunjai Singh Chundawat says this, he’s expressing the problem that royals in hospitality discover themselves going through now. Of attracting the Indian traveller — who accounts for practically 90% of the nation’s tourism income publish pandemic — to their heritage houses which have now became resorts and homestays. Chundawat runs Dev Shree Deogarh, a regal house 130 km from Udaipur. Its structure attracts inspiration from native monuments, together with the imposing Metropolis Palace.

Previous to the pandemic, royals like him had a gradual stream of international vacationers, predominantly from Europe and the U.S., wandering by way of durbar halls, supping at their tables, reserving cultural experiences of their neighbourhoods, and producing income — not simply to keep up their grand residences but additionally to finance the public-interest trusts they’ve historically run. “Again within the 90s and early 2000s, media like Conde Nast Traveller and Lonely Planet did numerous articles. When a reader, Indian or in any other case, would flip by way of their pages and encounter a spot like Deogarh, they might name and are available stick with us,” says Chundawat, 59. “We might additionally go to tourism commerce gala’s comparable to ILTM [International Luxury Travel Market] in London and PURE in Marrakech, and market our resort expertise to tour operators, who would deliver us enterprise.”

Dev Shree Deogarh

At this time, with inbound tourism nonetheless nicely under pre-pandemic ranges, heritage hoteliers are more and more home vacationers concerned with hyper-local cultural experiences, to bridge the earnings hole. Particularly since Indian travellers — fuelled by an intensive net of highways, elevated air connectivity, and the unprecedented independence in reserving itineraries and experiences supplied by On-line Journey Businesses (OTAs) comparable to MakeMytrip, Reserving.com and Airbnb — have begun travelling aggressively inside the nation. Add to this the Modi authorities’s Dekho Apna Desh marketing campaign and Swadesh Darshan initiative, which have actively marketed home tourism to Indians.

However India’s royal hoteliers, even in states with greater concentrations of regal abodes comparable to Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh, haven’t been as aggressive in adapting to digital advertising and marketing. “Now journey selections are Google search-led and except you recognize of Deogarh, you gained’t discover us,” says Chundawat, who has seen common international vacationer occupancy at his homestay drop by practically 40% in comparison with pre-pandemic ranges and barely a blip of an increase in home tourism. “We have now been spending on search engine optimization [optimisation] and Instagram. But it surely’s been a wrestle getting home vacationers to find us.”

Nahargarh Ranthambhore

Look past state borders

I met Chundawat in September, on the sidelines of the annual Indian Heritage Resorts Affiliation (IHHA) convention. The occasion was held in Swamimalai, house to one among South India’s six most commemorated Murugan temples. That an organisation dominated by Rajput royals, together with Gaj Singh, the titular maharaja of Jodhpur, had come right here for his or her very first convention outdoors of Rajasthan appeared metaphorically indicative of the necessity to look past state borders for inspiration.

The IHHA has 201 members (141 from Rajasthan), and contains non-royal-owned heritage properties, such because the convention’s venue, the INDeco Resorts Swamimalai. On the meet, its proprietor Steve Borgia underlined the necessity for heritage hoteliers to embrace change. “Even 5 years in the past, the journey agent was necessary as a result of he alone knew the artwork of presenting our resorts and bringing us vacationers,” he stated. “At this time, with digital portals [booking engines and social media], persons are discovering us on-line. We have to re-orient ourselves to this actuality.”

IHHA convention

Over two days of conferences, speeches, lunches, dinners, and lots of a steaming dabara-tumbler of Kumbakonam diploma espresso, these attending spoke passionately of the struggles to remain in enterprise. The affect of GST charges that goes past room tariffs, for example. “If we provide pav to our friends, it’s one charge. If it’s sliced bread then it’s one other. Charges should be rationalised,” said Captain Gaj Singh, 67, head of the Alsisar royal household, in a plea much like that by a Coimbatore restaurateur lately that allegedly obtained him into bother. Then there was the ask for extra international nationalities to be allowed visa-free entry. Suman Billa, further secretary, Ministry of Tourism, a particular invitee to the convention, responded by saying it’s a “matter being mentioned inside the authorities”.

One other sizzling matter was the necessity to create satellite tv for pc locations and divert vacationer site visitors away from vacationer magnets comparable to Jaipur, Jodhpur and Udaipur. To funnel them in the direction of rural points of interest, and to enhance the infrastructure resulting in them. “The expertise of dwelling in a fort or a palace is a giant draw, but when the highway resulting in it is stuffed with potholes, then that can spoil, or worse nonetheless, dissuade the customer,” identified Jaidev Singh, the 28-year-old crown prince of the royal household of Kotah.

Jaidev Singh

Whereas Kota metropolis, in jap Rajasthan, is understood extra for its teaching courses, Jaidev is hoping to alter that by way of heritage tourism. He has spent the previous yr refurbishing the Kotah Garh palace, which homes the Rao Madho Singh Belief museum, and Umed Bhawan, an Indo-Saracenic-style palace resort. “Every of our suites is devoted to features of native tradition and heritage, whether or not or not it’s Kota miniatures or the Chambal River space, which is house to leopards, bears and crocodiles. We would like our resorts to be a platform to showcase the wealthy legacies of artwork, historical past, and tradition of the Hadoti area,” which, as I learnt, contains Kota.

Storytelling and looking for options

Whereas a number of of those challenges require authorities intervention, a extra sensible strategy to highlight heritage locations got here from Thakur Angad Deo, 41, whose household runs the landmark Fort Mandawa in Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan. Deo advised heritage resorts pool assets and collectively create IPs that can profit whole areas. “If resorts in rural areas, like ours, can come collectively and create programming that showcases the artwork, tradition, music and meals of our area [Mandawa is part of Rajasthan’s Shekhawati region, known for its intricately painted havelis and unique cuisine, which showcases produce grown in the Thar], it is going to go a good distance in giving vacationers a motive to go to us,” he stated at IHHA.

Thakur Angad Deo

It’s a suggestion that’s already in play in Chettinad, the area in Tamil Nadu dotted with over 10,000 lavish mansions of the Chettiar group. There, led by the formidable Meenakshi Meyyappan, founding father of the heritage resort The Bangla, an annual heritage and cultural pageant has been a sell-out ticketed occasion, three years working. Moreover, it’s ensuing within the conversion of mansions into resorts and museums, and driving site visitors into newer components of the area. As an illustration, Patharaikudi, a village off the tourism grid, is the place Chennai-based jewelry entrepreneur Sarath Selvanathan has turned his household house into an open-air artwork undertaking. And in accordance with information collated by the pageant organisers, the pageant itself has resulted in producing round 1,400 man-day hours of labor for locals and, in 2023, contributed  ₹2 crore to the area’s economic system. The area’s resorts have additionally seen a rise of 8% in bookings by home vacationers outdoors of the pageant interval.

However maybe probably the most widely-accepted thought got here from Maharaja Gaj Singh, who underlined the necessity for his kinsmen to personal their narrative. To make use of storytelling to achieve new audiences, particularly tech-savvy Indians. “Cultural change is on the core of how we inform our tales,” he insisted. His personal Umaid Bhawan palace, managed by Taj Resorts, is one among Rajasthan’s hottest venues for celeb weddings, together with that of actor Priyanka Chopra and musician Nick Jonas.

Gaj Singh II, titular maharaja of Jodhpur
| Photograph Credit score:
Getty Pictures

It’s a degree that discovered resonance with many a younger royal at IHHA — a storytelling that’s fairly distinct from the type of visibility that Mount Abu’s latest opening, The Jaipur Home, has obtained, courtesy the private model constructed round its dashing proprietor, Padamanabh Singh of Jaipur. “Our households have lived there for generations,” says Mahadhriti, the 26-year-old son of Shatrunjai Singh Chundawat of Devshree Deogarh. “We all know the tradition, the tales, and the individuals. We have now to determine easy methods to doc it in a approach that’s of curiosity to my era. We have now to make use of social media and quick type content material to push these tales and our histories ahead.”

Follow makes excellent

Pointers could be had from Yeshwant Holkar, 42, of the Indore royal household, who has successfully used digital media to advertise the family-owned Ahilya Fort Heritage Lodge in Maheshwar, Madhya Pradesh. “Storytelling is totally every thing,” he says, over cellphone from the city on the banks of the Narmada, sharing the way it has been partly chargeable for the rise in home bookings, from 40% in 2019 to over 60% in 2024. “We’ve used storytelling to share the historical past and tradition of Ahilya Fort and of Maheshwar. Not simply by way of our communications channels, however by incorporating it into each expertise we curate.”

Yeshwant Holkar

The work the royal household does by way of its Maheshwari textile basis REHWA; rituals carried out on the fort palace for the reason that days of the commemorated 18th-century ruler Ahilyabai Holkar; and modern experiences, comparable to a culinary occasion, Cooking of the Maharajas, based mostly on recipes from the royal kitchens of Central India — they’re all included within the resort’s messaging. Full disclosure: 4 years in the past, I performed an element in crafting it. “My father began the Sacred River Competition [where the ghats, the temples, and the fort’s battlements, make for a unique historic setting] in 2001. We’ve solely now begun actively selling it on digital media,” Holkar provides, referencing the necessity for heritage resorts to make use of each arrow of their arsenal to attract eyeballs and convert them into income.

Boating at The Ahilya Fort Heritage Lodge

The artwork of that hustle has been perfected by Mrinalika, 33, and Akshita Bhanj Deo, 31, of Odisha’s Mayurbhanj royal household. Because the launch of Belgadia Palace in 2019, the sisters have fastidiously constructed an id for his or her stylish 11-key, 18th-century property, whose structure was initially designed to imitate that of Buckingham Palace. Their messaging has ranged from showcasing indigenous tribal artists because the area (and resort’s) ambassadors, and real-world model extensions, comparable to a craft-based label, Hasa Atelier, to Wes Anderson-inspired movies and a collaboration with the American firm International Magnificence Secrets and techniques, which makes use of the royal household’s natural concoctions in its merchandise.

Mrinalika and Akshita Bhanj Deo
| Photograph Credit score:
Talib Chitalwala

“We determined we’ll inform you who we’re, the place we’re from, and why we’re a worldwide hospitality vacation spot,” says Mrinalika. We spoke whereas sampling chef Niyati Rao’s (of Mumbai restaurant Ekaa) memorable tackle the Odiya dish dalma at a collaboration that launched Mayurbhanj delicacies to potential travellers from the Most Metropolis. “We consider whose story are we telling, how does it embrace different individuals within the narrative? Is it a maharaja speaking about his grandfather who was knighted by the British? Or is it a person speaking about his grandfather’s life within the Fifties when it was a very completely different India and the world? You don’t should say, ‘We have now a 200-year-old property’. The reader/viewer will choose up on it.”

As she speaks, acronyms comparable to KOL and DNA tumble out. “Maybe as a result of we come from the Web era, these phrases are second nature to us,” she replies with amusing, after I ask what KOL (Key Opinion Chief aka influencer) meant. “We’ve used issues that we all know are trending [on social media] and that we’re concerned with ourselves. Perhaps you’re not an avid traveller, possibly you haven’t heard of Odisha, possibly heritage properties should not of curiosity to you. But when trend is of curiosity to you, if meals is of curiosity to you, if magnificence is of curiosity to you, then you’ll uncover our model.”

A room at Belgadia Palace
| Photograph Credit score:
Talib Chitalwala

Nearer house to our Rajput royals, Abhimanyu Alsisar, 39, Captain Gaj Singh’s son, has taken an identical interest-led route to ascertain his native vacation spot on the worldwide tourism map. He took his love for underground music and married it to Rajasthani people whereas establishing the Magnetic Fields Competition. Held yearly on the lands surrounding the Seventeenth-century Alsisar Mahal, its tenth yr lineup varies from digital musician Nicola Cruz to Manganiyar vocalist Bhanwari Devi. “At this time, no matter home motion we get is due to the pageant,” says Abhimanyu, a co-organiser of the pageant.

Abhimanyu Alsisar

He has additionally used meals, powered by a tie-up with Mumbai’s Masque, one among India’s high eating places, to attract consideration to a different one among their resorts, Nahargarh, in Ranthambore. Right here, he and Masque proprietor Aditi Dugar curate a visitor record that each appreciates meals (a mash-up of Masque’s inventive fare produced utilizing native elements comparable to ker berries, and Alsisar household recipes) and generates social media buzz. “These collaborations are new methods of selling our resorts and our locations,” he provides.

Out-of-the-box pondering

“Issues have actually modified in India within the final decade,” says Sonavi Kaicker, CEO, Neemrana Resorts. The pioneering firm has restored and transformed 13 heritage constructions throughout India, comparable to Gwalior’s Deo Bagh and Patalia’s Baradari Palace, to accommodate vacationers. “Earlier, it was actually the foreigners who have been concerned with a cultural present or going out into the villages. Indians have been content material with a number of good meals and using a swimming pool. At this time, they wish to go on historic excursions. They need immersive native experiences. And we’ve needed to construct newer experiences that they discover fascinating.”

Sonavi Kaicker

Abhimanyu agrees, saying, “At Alsisar Mahal, for instance, we provide guided visits to satisfy artisans, and a jeep safari that culminates with sundowner drinks on the dunes.”

The opposite factor that Kaicker says is crucial for royal-owned heritage resorts is to work on upgrading their very own infrastructure. “We’ve needed to face sure information. As an illustration, friends would come to Neemrana and say, ‘This can be a great place. However simply because it’s a heritage constructing doesn’t imply it’s a must to have a heritage rest room.’ And it was a truth.” She has responded to buyer suggestions and upgraded Neemrana-managed heritage properties. “We’ve added a heated pool on the Fifteenth-century Neemrana Fort-Palace. We’ve put in EV charging stations on the Nineteenth-century Tijara Fort-Palace. And we’re engaged on making all our properties pet-friendly,” she says.

World Battle II Lounge at Alsisar 

In the meantime, on the final afternoon of the convention, as he posed for footage beneath a punishing Thanjavur solar, I requested Maharaja Gaj Singh, a powerful proponent of making certain tourism reaches the remotest of heritage websites, what his definitive piece of recommendation was for his fellow heritage hoteliers.

“When Maharaja of Jaipur, Sawai Man Singh II, turned Rambagh Palace right into a resort in 1957, individuals requested, ‘What’s improper with him?’ However Man Singh ji knew tourism might assist save our heritage. At this time, we want that sort visionary, out-of-the-box pondering,” he shared. Phrases to ponder. Phrases to reside by.

The author is predicated in Mumbai and reviews on journey and tradition.