Feature
Think about Rajasthan this summer for romantic night-out tourism
Summers in Rajasthan have become more enthralling — courtesy night tourism, which is taking tourist numbers in the lean season to new heights in the desert state.
Colourful lights sparkling bright under the dark sky create a unique contrast, enhancing the beauty of the already spectacular-looking palaces, gardens and museums, wooing tourists from around the world.
The idea, under which travellers can visit the major attractions from 6 p.m. till 10 p.m., was taken up to check the dwindling number of tourists during the summers, when the sweltering heat during the day is a deterrent.
Introduced by the Rajasthan Tourism Development Corp, the concept was launched in 2015 and has become a boon for the tourism industry.
“A total of 12.2 lakh tourists have visited the monuments illuminated at night and the total revenue earned is Rs 12.2 crore as against the total capital expenditure of Rs 4.27 crore made on installation of lighting fixtures,” said Hridesh Kumar Sharma, Director, Archaeology and Museums, Rajasthan.
The project was first implemented in Amber Fort. Albert Hall was thrown open on September 30, 2015, and Vidhyadhar Garden followed on June 5, 2017.
“We will be adding more attractions,” Sharma told .
“We all agreed that monuments will look beautiful during the night if lighted up. Even the tourists will be excited to find something interesting to do after sun-down.”
With a fixed tariff of Rs 100 for both domestic and foreign visitors, the response to a lit-up Amber Fort was spectacular. Ditto for other places.
“They (tourists) were all quite excited. We eventually started promoting the concept by starting a few activities. For example, we started organising classical dance on each purnima, which was free of cost. The idea was to generate interest and the response was whopping.
“Looking at the rising interest in Amber, we took it up in Albert Hall. Today, the exquisite lighting adorning the facade of Albert Hall museum forces passers-by to stop and click a selfie,” said Sharma.
Next came Vidhyadhar Garden, which is built on the pattern of Mughal Gardens in Delhi’s Rashtrapati Bhavan. Here, the flow of tourists is currently a trickle, but is gaining strength with time.
Said another official: “During festivals, we have been organising special programmes in these monuments to draw more crowds. During the annual Literature Festival, we organised a Sufi festival, book readings and more.”
The entire travel fraternity, including tour operators, websites, travel agents and marketing firms, helped promote the concept.
Officials and industry experts feel the numbers will increase as people get to know about this unique see-Rajasthan-at-night drive.
Now night tourism has been introduced in other towns of Rajasthan too.
“Be it Pali, Sikar, Bikaner, Bharatpur, Ajmer or Jaisalmer, we did upgradation and restoration of museums and soon they were opened from 12 noon to 8 p.m.” Sharma said, noting crime was not an issue in Rajasthan.
Asked if night tourism should be introduced in other parts of India, he said: “It can work wonders for the Taj Mahal… Even Red Fort, a few temples in the south, Karnataka forts, Golconda Fort (in Hyderabad) and others can also try it.
“As we have scripted a success story, other states should definitely emulate it,” he added.
The State Scores Extra High on Gaming-Friendly Industry Index
Meghalaya scored 92.85 out of 100 possible points in a Gaming Industry Index and proved to be India’s most gaming-friendly state following its recent profound legislation changes over the field allowing land-based and online gaming, including games of chance, under a licensing regime.
The index by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC) uses a scale of 0 to 100 to measure the level of legalisation on gambling and betting achieved by a state based on the scores over a set of seven different games – lottery, horse racing, betting on sports, poker, rummy, casino and fantasy sports
Starting from February last year, Meghalaya became the third state in India’s northeast to legalise gambling and betting after Sikkim and Nagaland. After consultations with the UKIBC, the state proceeded with the adoption of the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021 and the nullification of the Meghalaya Prevention of Gambling Act, 1970. Subsequently in December, the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021 were notified and came into force.
All for the Tourists
The move to legalise and license various forms of offline and online betting and gambling in Meghalaya is aimed at boosting tourism and creating jobs, and altogether raising taxation revenues for the northeastern state. At the same time, the opportunities to bet and gamble legally will be reserved only for tourists and visitors.
“We came out with a Gaming Act and subsequently framed the Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021. The government will accordingly issue licenses to operate games of skill and chance, both online and offline,” said James P. K. Sangma, Meghalaya State Law and Taxation Minister speaking in the capital city of Shillong. “But the legalized gambling and gaming will only be for tourists and not residents of Meghalaya,” he continued.
To be allowed to play, tourists and people visiting the state for work or business purposes will have to prove their non-resident status by presenting appropriate documents, in a process similar to a bank KYC (Know Your Customer) procedure.
Meghalaya Reaches Out to a Vast Market
With 140 millions of people in India estimated to bet regularly on sports, and a total of 370 million desi bettors around prominent sporting events, as per data from one of the latest reports by Esse N Videri, Meghalaya is set to reach out and take a piece of a vast market.
Estimates on the financial value of India’s sports betting market, combined across all types of offline channels and online sports and cricket predictions and betting platforms, speak about amounts between $130 and $150 billion (roughly between ₹9.7 and ₹11.5 lakh crore).
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Delhi are shown to deliver the highest number of bettors and Meghalaya can count on substantial tourists flow from their betting circles. The sports betting communities of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are also not to be underestimated.
Among the sports, cricket is most popular, registering 68 percent of the total bet count analyzed by Esse N Videri. Football takes second position with 11 percent of the bets, followed by betting on FIFA at 7 percent and on eCricket at 5 percent. The last position in the Top 5 of popular sports for betting in India is taken by tennis with 3 percent of the bet count.
Local Citizens will Still have Their Teer Betting
Meghalaya residents will still be permitted to participate in teer betting over arrow-shooting results. Teer is a traditional method of gambling, somewhat similar to a lottery draw, and held under the rules of the Meghalaya Regulation of the Game of Arrow Shooting and the Sale of Teer Tickets Act, 2018.
Teer includes bettors wagering on the number of arrows that reach the target which is placed about 50 meters away from a team of 20 archers positioned in a semicircle.
The archers shoot volleys of arrows at the target for ten minutes, and players place their bets choosing a number between 0 and 99 trying to guess the last two digits of the number of arrows that successfully pierce the target.
If, for example, the number of hits is 256, anyone who has bet on 56 wins an amount eight times bigger than their wager.
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