Palace on Wheels

PALACE ON WHEELS Structure Objectives Introduction Genesis of the Project Setting up the Project Project Performance The Package Promo tion Organizational Set Up Let Us Sum Up Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises Appendices 24.0 OBJECTIVES After reading this Unit, you should be able to learn: how and why the idea of starting the Palace on Wheels emerged, how the project was initiated, the ways of promotion and organisation of this project, and finally the outcome of this project. 24.1 INTRODUCTION Travelling forms an integral part of tourism and a tourist cannot think of travelling India without having an experience of journey by rail. Indian Railways (IR) connect major parts of the country with each other and provide the cheapest mode of travel. You have already, studied in Unit-8 (Block-3, TS-1) that how Railways play a crucial role in the development and promotion of tourism. Being aware of this importance of Railways the Railway authorities have come forward in the recent past with various innovative packages to promote tourism. The scheme of Palace on Wheels is one such tourism promotional project of Indian Railways. This is a joint venture of Indian Railways with Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation. This Unit gives you the details of the project, its planning and implementation along with the outcome of this project. 24.2 GENESIS OF THE PROJECT I Towards the end of the year 1980, BBC carried on their network a series called Great Railway Journeys of the World. The media coverage of the series later indicated that from 1 this series the feature on the Indian Railways was very well received. The essence of the media reports was that there were few railways around the world that could match the sheer romance, size, variety of routes, attraction, and the variety of gauges etc. of the Indian Railways. Consequently many foreign tourists visiting India feel that they must experience the joy of travelling by train however brief it may be. Many of them are fascinated by the sight of now extinct small steam engines chugging up the hill in the mountainous areas and regret that they were unaware about this great Indian marvel before they left their country. This was taken note of by the Ministry of Railways in India and it contemplated introducing specific tourism projects for attracting foreign tourists-particularly from the UK. The idea was that depending upon the requirements of the UK tourist market and certain other countries, specific schemes covering such sectors of the IR which held great ~nalskills: casestudies-1 attraction for the market could be devised and marketed abroad. This would serve the plqose of earning precious foreign exchange for the country thereby increasing the market share of India in the international tourism market. A note outlining the pilot project was sent by the Ministry of Railways (Railway Board) tc the Ministry of Commerce in January 1981 for consideration during the ensuing Indo- British Economic Cooperation (IBEC) talks scheduled to be held in New Delhi between the Union Minister for Commerce, Government of India and the Minister of Trade, Govenunent of UK. During these talks, the project idea put forth by the Ministry of Railways also cropped up. While nothing concrete emerged during the talks on the project, it was agreed that the idea should be pursued further. Soon after the talks, the proposal after due consideration by the Uniqn Ministry of Commerce and the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of ~inandewas forwarded to the Board of Trade of the UK Government for their comments on its business potential. The comments received from the Board of Trade were very positive. As a follow up on this, in May 1981, the then Union Minister of Railways and the Chairmari. -way Board visited UK and held discussions with the officials of the Indian High Commission in UK, Air India, India Tourist Office, Director of Export Market Development Division of Commonwealth Secretariat and leading travel agents in UK etc. at London. There was a general consensus in the meeting that a package tour on the lines the Indian Railways was considering would evoke a good response from the UK-origin murists. Having had a favourable response from a cross-section of market feelus, &e Minlsrry of Railways in consultation with the Department of Tourism, Government of India started giving concrete shape to the project. The project concept was defined as-a hotel on wheels which is mobile in the night and is made stationary at a tourism centre in the day time so that the tourists can move around the tourism centre. Thus, the activities of travelling and staying could be merged. It was thought therefore that a series of packages could be introduced linking the important tourism cenms of India. The foremost to emerge in the series of these packages and the one that could be operationalized in the short run was later named as Palace on Wheels. It was noted that Rajasthan offered vast tourism potential as the state was dotted with forts, rich heritage and mymd scenic spots. It was therefore realized that a package along the lines of the defined concept could be' launched in Rajasthan. Since Rajasthan primarily had a network of metre gauge track opur - Kota section falling on Delhi-Bombay trunk Palace on Wheels route), the special tourist train in Rajasthan had to be a metre-gauge train. Accordingly the coaches for the special train had to be identified. One idea that emerged was that the old coaches belonging to the erstwhile Maharajas and the Viceroys could be renovated and refurbished to serve as carriages in the tourist train. To complete the old world charm the train could be hauled by a steam engine and the tourists driven down the nostalgia lane. It also made business sense in that the required number of the existing carriages did not need to be pulled out of the fleet and remodelled and refurbished to serve as tourist train coaches. That would have incurred large expenditure as sunk cost with the risk of the project failing to click. This package was christened Palace on Wheels. The decision to introduce POW was taken in June 1981. SETTING UP THE PROJECT The old royal carriages belonging to the Maharajahs and the princely states of Rajpuma and Gujarat were reinforced and refurbished with the expert assistance of an interior 'designer. This work was carried out at the Railway Coach Works at Ajmer. It was ensured that the interiors, most of which were frfty years or more of age were changed aslittle as possible so as to retain the original ambience of the heritage. (See Appendix-1 for a brief history of the coaches selected). Of course, modem gadgets like electric geysers in toilets and beds with modem foam cushions were installed for the comfort of the tourists. It was decided by the Ministry of Railways and the Department of Tourism, Government of India that since tourism was a state subject, it would need to involve the Rajasthan Government in the project. Accordingly, Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation (RTDC) was also involved in the project. Under the agreement signed between the RTDC and the IR, it was decided that the RTDC would look after the reservation, promotion, housekeeping, catering on board, sight seeing, cultural programmes and boat, camel arid elephant rides at various destinations and all other ground arrangements. IR would be responsible for the operation of the train and the maintenance of the rolling stock. I - 7 I It was decided that initially three itineraries days18 nighs, 4 days14 nighs and 2 days1 3 nights - would be offered. The project was announced in the parliament by the Union Minister for Railways on February 25, 1982 in his Railway budget presentation speech: The trial runs of the train had begun on 26th January 1982 and continued upto March 1982. In all five trial runs were made during the period. At the culmination of the trial runs, the, itineraries were reviewed and it was decided to fix the itinerary as 7 days18 nights. I The project was set up to fulfil the following objectives: to promote tourism, to conserve and maintain the priceless heritage of very distinctive natur'e, i.e, the royal and viceregal coaches dating back to the turn of the last century, to attract attention to tourism in India with a unique tourism product which could become the talk of international tourism circles, and to earn precious foreign exchange for the country. Check Your Progress 1 1. What motivated the government to launch the. Palace on Wheels? ........................................................................................................... 2. List some of the objectives of 'this project. 3. Explain some salient features of this project. 24.4 PROJ~CT PERFORMANCE In this Section we are providing you some data on the performance of the project which would help you to make an assessment of the project. 1. Occupancy: The particulars in respect. of occupancy since 1982-83 are given in Table-1 in percentage. Table 1 Year No. of tours No. of paid Average passengers -UP-CY 1982-83 26 1056 41%^ 1983-84 26 967 38% 1984-85 21 783 38% 1985-86 25 1102 45% 1986-87 26 - 1375 59%0 1987-88 26 1747 75.1% 1988-89 26 2212 93.4% 1989-90 26 2282 95.06% 1990-91 26 1899 80.1% 1991-92 261-4 1001+105 76.1% (April, 92) 1992-93 26=3 1914+64, 73.63% (Sep, 92 + (Sep. 92 + April, 93 April, 93) In 1984-85 season five trips had to be cancelled due to disturbed conditions prevailing in India after the assassination of Mrs.

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