UP: 9 Heritage Sites, Including Chattar Manzil And Chunar Fort, To Be Turned Into 5-Star Hotels
If all goes as planned, Uttar Pradesh will soon get nine 5-star hotels, with all premium facilities. Reports add that the Uttar Pradesh state will set up these high-end hotels for tourists in nine palaces and forts of the state. This was informed by a government spokesperson.
The move comes as a bid to boost the tourism sector and provide employment opportunities for the youth, along with boosting rural tourism and economy of the region.
It’s expected that this initiative will not only help to restore the heritage assets, but will also help to create direct and indirect employment opportunities for people in the field of tourism. In addition to this, this initiative will contribute to the economic transformation of rural tourism, culture, and local areas.
If reports are to go by, the Uttar Pradesh Tourism Department is all set to convert heritage properties, like Chattar Manzil in Lucknow, Barua Sagar Fort in Jhansi, Chunar Fort in Mirzapur, Kothi Darshan Vilas, Kothi Gulistan-e-Iram, and Kothi Roshan in Lucknow, Barsana Water Palace in Mathura, Shukla Talab in Kanpur, and Tikait Rai Baradari in Bithoor into heritage hotels.
For this, the government has created three categories with a proposed minimum investment amount of INR 180 crore.
Revealing more about this, the spokesperson added that heritage hotels, wellness centres, museums, resorts, heritage restaurants, boutique restaurants, wedding tourism, banquet halls, adventure tourism, thematic parks, homestays, and other tourism and hospitality units will be built in heritage properties by the Tourism Department.
As per Mukesh Meshram, Principal Secretary and Director General of Tourism, the selection of the bidder for the said project will be based on the quality and cost-based selection method. Also, responsibilities for the conservation of heritage buildings have been defined in the process.
As regarding the criteria and responsibilities, while turning those heritage site into high-end hotels, the builders will have to maintain the layout of original archaeological buildings, and refrain from making any changes in their original form, although they can adapt the use of the building in accordance with its mythological and historical significance, and set up informative signage about the history of the heritage building, showcasing local culture, cuisine, arts, clothing, and cultural practices, as well as developing neighbouring villages, along with providing employment to 25%of the local citizens.