By Archana Sharma

Jaipur, Mar 24 (IANS): The fortunes of villagers, artisans and folk artists in the desert state are set to change as the ailing tourism industry, fighting the Covid crisis, has decided to go rural.

Hoping to cash in on the big domestic market, the industry has worked upon interesting proposals and has forwarded them to the government, confident that they shall be passed soon.

"We, as the industry, have urged officials to list attractions and handicrafts famous in the villages on all district web sites. Also, the hoardings and milestones should carry names of such villages and famous attractions which will boost economic prospects in the local region," Rajendra Singh Pachar, Secretary, HRAR told IANS.

"Also, new hotels in village circuits must come up so that tourists can experience the feel of rural Rajasthan. We have requested the government to provide a three-phase connection to these hoteliers without extra charge. Also, bar fees, which are same in rural and tehsil areas, shall be proposed so that new hotels coming in rural rajasthan will get a breather."

Randhir Vikram Singh, president, HRAR and RATO said, "For next two years, few foreign travellers will be coming to India. UK has already barred foreign travel. In such a scenario, we have big hopes from experiential tourism which can be best experienced in rural Rajasthan. Hence, we are banking on developing newer tourism products for domestic travellers. Places such as Banswara, which are quite beautiful, will also be developed as tourist attractions."

"Basically, we plan to showcase rural Rajasthan which has stories of art, craft, history, nature, lakes, mountains and what not. This will help our village population earn a sustainable livelihood, he said.

However, when asked if Rajasthan will be able to accommodate tourists coming from all over India in terms of its infrastructure and inventory, Randhir Vikram Singh said, "Rajasthan has the best infrastructure and with a mammoth amount allotted by state government, we are planning to boost it further."

It needs to be mentioned here that state government has announced Rs 500 crore for tourism industry which is the highest amount in the history of independent India. While Rs 300 crore will be spent on developing infrastructure, Rs 200 crore will be spent on marketing, officials confirmed to IANS.

Sanjay Kaushik, secretary, Association of Domestic Tourism of India said, "Initially, we are aiming at tourist numbers to go higher. Then, we shall work out to strengthen our infrastructure and inventory," he added.

Ashish Anand, Secretary, RATO said, "We have the best infrastructure as of now. Also, if we get surging numbers, we have plans to promote rural circuits so that tourists can feel many experiences at one go while travelling from place to another.a

Officials confirmed IANS that industry proposals are being worked out to ensure Rajasthan Tourism becomes the market leader and leads the nation.