Attracting The Global Well-heeled Traveller

Mehrnavaz Avari, General Manager, Taj Umaid Bhawan Palace, Jodhpur, winner of the 2018 Hotelier India Award in the Luxury to Upper Upscale category, on the need for more government intervention in selling the many attractions of the destination to luxury travellers, and what the millennial guests want.

- Deepali Nandwani

What is the Jodhpur market like for a hospitality group like Taj Umaid Bhawan Palace?

In Jodhpur, there is nothing in the segment occupied by Taj Umaid Bhawan Palace, which has both its benefits and drawbacks. The biggest benefit is that that there is no competition, so you set the benchmark and deliver it. However, the extended competition comes from Jaipur and Udaipur. My challenge is to promote Jodhpur as a destination, and how these destinations can complement each other rather than compete, since we have palace hotels in all three cities.

The other challenge we face, as a market, is the stagnation in the international tourist arrivals to Jodhpur. The flow has not grown in the last four to five years. It has consistently been stuck at around 140,000 and that is abysmal when you compare it to other cities. On the other hand, domestic tourism has grown. But then domestic tourists come at very different price points.