The department for tourism in Rajasthan is considering bringing in a private company to manage Palace On Wheels on the PPP model to increase its revenue as well as efficiency and the experience of visitors.
The top officials of the department of tourism including the principal secretary Gayatri Rathore, RTDC chairman Dharmendra Rathore, and the Managing Director Manisha Arora sought comments and suggestions from various industry organizations such as FICCI, Federation of Hospitality and Tourism of Rajasthan (FHTR), Hotel and Restaurant Association of Rajasthan (HRAR) and others in preparing an application for the similar.
According to TOI, Gayatri Rathore said, “We want to give the highest quality of international comfort, service, and atmosphere to visitors and further enhance the well-known brand name of Palace On Wheels. This is why we decided to get suggestions from hoteliers, tour operators, and industry associations prior to making a bid to bring in private players.”
She explained that the job that the player from private will encompass operations, management, as well as marketing. There will be no change in ownership. The department is planning to take on the private player before the tourist season begins in September.
“Palace On Wheels” has suffered 2 years’ worth of run because of co-infection. Covid pandemic. The season that is about to begin we’ll go out to the marketplace with a profitable deal. The reason is to secure the private player before the season begins,” added the principal secretary.
A senior official stated it was reported that Railways is currently on the list to implement the PPP model. Presently, the train is operated on a revenue-sharing arrangement with the Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation and the Railways.
Deepak Deva, Managing Director of the company that manages destinations Sita, TCI, and Distant Frontier and Chairman of the FICCI Committee on hospitality and tourism who attended the meeting, said, “For the first time over the past forty-eight years RTDC has a plan of making luxurious trains to the next stage. They’ve identified the problems and are now looking to address the issues. POW has huge brand equity. Services on and offboarding must be outsourced to professional agencies, while marketing, which is mostly online, is best managed by the department responsible for tourism.”
Deva stated that Deva said that if RTDC speeds up the process, it’s very likely to sign up the professional agencies prior to the time that the season gets underway. The subject of roping in private players was discussed in the past but in a casual manner. However, they were never able to move beyond the discussion that was passive.
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