‘Incredible India’ is our celebrated international tourism campaign. A weekend trip to the historical city of Mysuru brought home to us how apt this slogan is, but in a dramatically different way. Every description of Mysuru tells us that tourism is the major industry of this picturesque former capital of the Wodeyar Empire. Known for its silk and sandalwood, the beautifully laid out city has several palaces, heritage structures, museums, lakes and the magnificent Brindavan Gardens.
It connects places of historical, religious importance such as Shravanabelagola, Shrirangapatna as well as Bandipur National Park, Ranganathittu bird sanctuary and the coffee estates of Coorg. As the main weekend getaway for Bengaluru’s enormous population of affluent youngsters from the tech-industry, neighbourhood tourism alone has boosted Mysuru’s status as a tourist centre.
We, Indians, inured to creaking infrastructure, bad roads and poor planning, happily overcome all odds to flock to such destinations, while the government focuses on expensive publicity campaigns and catchy slogans. Nobody is accountable for failing to realise our tourism potential or preserve our heritage, or, at the least, prevent its loot and destruction. Here are a few observations from my recent trip to Mysuru.
• For starters, the rush of people getting out of Bengaluru on the long Republic Day weekend was so huge that the 144km journey to Mysuru expanded to five hours, without stops, instead of three. This is because every crowded town on the way slows the two-lane traffic to a crawl. Since the route is dotted with cafés and hotels, this has probably happened every weekend for 25 years as India’s Silicon Valley boomed. But the government hasn’t thought it fit to build expressways or bypasses. There are no flights to Mysuru, although it has an airport built by the Maharaja in 1940. Wikipedia says that Kingfisher ran a few flights, until it shut down. There is a solitary TruJet flight connecting Chennai. This is how much Incredible India understands its tourist potential!
• We chose to stay at the splendid Lalitha Mahal Palace Hotel built in 1921, partly for nostalgic reasons and partly the astonishingly low rates offered. That it was an ITDC (Indian Tourism Development Corporation) hotel gave us second thoughts; but we were assured that it was worth the experience. Indeed, it was, in many ways. True to the reviews, the staff and service were excellent, within their operating constraints. The rooms were huge but musty, paint peeling off in parts, old fittings crying out for refurbishing and, yet, worth it. The Hotel’s large lobbies and sweeping corridors with its grand staircase, glorious paintings and gorgeous stained glass are perfect settings for lobby lounges and cafés.
• But Lalitha Mahal’s stately entrance, and every public space around, was crawling with film crew over the weekend. Guests had to pick their way through snaking black cables and equipment. Bored film extras, in quaint period costumes, lounged on every available sofa in the public areas. The rest of the space was blocked by an elaborate set for performing a religious ceremony. Initially, one was amused at the picture this created; but, after a while, some of the guests began to lose their patience with the noise and the crowd. A security guard helpfully told us that the film crew pays Rs2 lakh a day and that is what keeps the loss-making hotel going. Isn’t that extraordinary? Because a refurbished hotel, or even one that was given to a major hotel chain to manage, would easily fetch four times the tariff.
• On our last day, the entire lobby and the front lawn was given away for a massive wedding which was allowed to put up giant hoardings, including that of former prime minister HD Deve Gowda at the Hotel’s porch, like in a political rally. We were happy to be checking out that morning, especially since the Hotel officially declares that all public areas, including lobbies and swimming pool, are available for film shoots. Bad luck to paying guests who may feel harassed and short-changed.
• In most hotels, food & beverage accounts for nearly 50% of income. But not here. The solitary restaurant had a highly-recommended thali (not on all days), but a very limited menu. With Mysuru swarming with tourists, the grandeur of the Lalitha Mahal Palace, with a buggy ride offered inside its sweeping gardens, should have been a huge attraction, if it were more inviting and the space was available for specialty restaurants and lobby cafés. Instead, the lone restaurant was also largely empty. The Hotel would rather allow film shootings and lose money by permitting the film crew to cook their own meals on the grounds.
• As you drive into the Hotel, the security guard encourages you to buy a Rs100-ticket (including GST) to look around the Hotel (see ticket and photos). This allows entry into the grounds and entitles the buyer to a tea/ coffee served in the lobby area. Although the ticket says that there is a separate charge for video and photos, nothing can be done about the ubiquitous mobile cameras with videos. Remember, coffee at the restaurant costs Rs300 with taxes. But for Rs100, you can have it in the lobby. This decimates the Hotel’s standing and has come in for plenty of public criticism.
• Meanwhile, the artificially low rates allow politicians and bureaucrats to have a free run of the Hotel and its services for their functions with no check on the enormous value destruction involved.
Why is this gross mismanagement, de-selling and devaluation of the Hotel of importance to the public at large? Well, because these properties belong to the nation and, once they run up enough of losses, they are sold off for a song in dubious deals. We have the example of the two massive Centaur Hotels in Mumbai. The Airport Centaur was sold for a paltry Rs83 crore and scandalously resold to the notorious Sahara group for Rs115 crore. Sahara has gone on to quadruple floor space by obliterating the gardens and expanding the Hotel’s circumference. So the huge benefit of most expensive real estate in the world went to a private, politically connected group.
The other Centaur, an equally spectacular property in upmarket Juhu, which is home to movie stars, is still languishing. We also have Air India, which has been turned into a white elephant and its massive debt of Rs30,000 crore will, eventually, be paid by the exchequer or it will be sold at a pittance.
The Lalitha Mahal is a spectacular but loss-making property that is being deliberately run down by ITDC, which took it over in 1974. Last year, ITDC signed an agreement to transfer the property to the Karnataka government, after its lease expires in 2023. The state and the Hotel are already squabbling over maintenance and other issues.
A fair sale of the Hotel or even a management contract to a global hotel chain will bring massive revenue to this Hotel; but, clearly, the destruction plan has tacit consent from government officials at the state and Centre. This is truly Incredible India, where we have the best properties and heritage in the world, but are systematically extinguishing their value, while splurging money on advertising puffery and extolling our so-called nationalism.
UPDATE
This column appeared is the print edition of Moneylife. After repeated messages, including those to the Ashoka Group CMD, we received a response well after our deadline. The PR agency, AdFactors has asked us to attribute the responses to Mr Rajiv Anand, GM, Corporate Marketing & Sales/ Public Relations. The answers are stunning in their complacency and contrary to facts on the ground as observed by this writer and others from Mysuru whose inputs were sought. Here are the key answers to some issues raised with the management, the one already answered through our fact check has been omitted.
On Food & Beverage the management says:
Factually, Lalitha Mahal Palace has a lavish multi-cuisine restaurant with premium 100 handpicked items on the menu. Along with the restaurant, we have regal Tea Lounge serving 32 delectable dishes to the guests. The menu is exquisite and much diverse to provide scrumptious options to the dining guests. In addition, we have a bar too that is equally equipped to satiate the taste of our domestic and international guests. No doubt, the hotel truly has best ‘Thali’ option which is served to the guests on their choices & preferences. However, based on hotel’s revenue model and to provide wide variety of food options to the guests, we promote ‘A La Carte’ and Buffet as food options in the restaurant.
To further add, Lalitha Mahal Palace achieved highest ever turnover in the month of December 2017 and is doing well for the present financial year.
On Film Shoots:
To state accurately, the hotel discourages film shoots on weekends. However, due to the time constraint if a situation arrives where the management has to permit any such activity, Hotel ensures that the activity doesn’t bother guests staying at the property and also, make certain that the activity ends by evening to make the environment conducive and relaxing for visitors and guests.
Lalitha Mahal Palace is one of the most favoured locations for destination weddings. The ones who decide to have wedding in the palace usually occupy the hotel rooms in large numbers. This just not brings revenue to the property but also boosts the occupancy. To add further, the hotel ought to have been packed, on 26th & 27 January 2018 as the occupancy was almost 80%. Also our Food & Beverages sale other than Banquets was pretty good on respective days.
On the Rs100 charge:
Rs100 per person is not entry charges, it’s a redeemable receipt given to every person other than confirmed residential guests, which can be redeemed for any of the services of the hotel. As Lalitha Mahal being an iconic structure of Mysore, tourists passing want to use the hotel and control was very difficult once they enter the hotel. By providing receipt at the entrance itself, management ensures a check, scrutinises and keeps a record of tourists entering the property. The Hotel doesn’t compromise with the security of guests. Visitors are allowed after verifying their credentials. We have CCTV cameras covering all entrances and surrounding area of the hotel which is monitored by security. The rate for Tea / Coffee is Rs120+ taxes in the restaurant. With regards to offering High Tea on the terrace next to the restaurant, there are multiple factors that need to be taken care of due to operational requirements.
Incredible India
*Note: PANGOLIN: An enemy of India who believes in inequality under law, exceptions to the rule of law and persecution of some for the benefit of others. At present, the sole purpose of the Indian Republic, Constitutional or otherwise, is to pamper and provide for certain constitutionally preferred sections of society who the British found useful to hold and exploit India at the cost of those who the British hated and persecuted. The Pangolin is a creature that is unique to India and feeds on ants that are known in nature to be industrious and hard working if not quite as fruitful as bees who flee to better climes. (PANGOLIN is an acronym for the Periyar-Ambedkar-Nehru-Gandhi-Other (alien) Religions-Communist Consensus that usurped the British Mantle and has worn it with elan to loot, plunder, and rape India since 1921 and re write History and laws to their exclusive benefit since 1947)