Punish B Sharma
Vice President – Operations
THE FERN HOTELS & RESORT

India is a country extremely rich in heritage and culture. We are blessed to have thousands of temples and other historical monuments which depict our glorious traditions. Not only do they illustrate our magnificent past, they are also immaculate pieces of architecture as well. People have been travelling to these places since time immemorial. So, it won’t be incorrect to say that heritage and religious tourism have been prevalent in our society since ancient times.

Hospitality has been a very important segment of this. We can easily find dharamshalas or some other places to stay overnight in practically all these places. Sometimes the devotees were also allowed to stay in the temples as well. Be it the Ghats of Ganges at Varanasi or the Buddhists monasteries on top of mountains, devotees have been thronging these places.  And in all these places you are most likely to find a simple place to stay near the abode of God.

Heritage tourism has been prevalent in India since ancient times. Much before the advent of the modern term hospitality industry, some enterprising men have already started doing business by building dharamshalas. In today’s times the term Heritage tourism has become even more significant.  Not only the people staying in the country but also foreigners are visiting these places of worship and other historical monuments.

At The Fern Hotels & Resorts we are fortunate to have our properties at a lot of such places which have historical and religious significance.  We have hotels in places like Jaipur, Ajmer, Jodhpur, Agra which are steeped in history. Similarly, we have hotels in temple towns such as Dwarka, Hubballi (Hubli), Sarnath (Varanasi), Somnath etc. These hotels attract tourists from places far and wide not only in India but other parts of the world.

However, there is great unexplored potential in the Heritage tourism sector.  There are a lot of hidden gems which are still unknown to a lot of people. There are so many beautiful forts in Maharashtra which can be renovated and developed into heritage sites.. There is so much history attached to these forts that people can learn about our glorious past. The government has to play a major role in developing these sites. Similarly, the general public has to participate as well by ensuring  that these places are kept clean and litter free.