You want to visit Rajasthan and explore the desert landscapes, culture and experience the royalty at your own pace and flexibility. But your budget is not very high and you want to be on your own. The only option seems to be to load your stuff on a bike and vroom off into the vast open highways and explore the different regions of the royal state.
If you are one of those footloose and fancyfree bikers who wish to travel and explore on a motorcycle, Rajasthan tourism has some really good news for you. The state government has put in place a new policy to encourage tourists to rent motorcycles and explore the state.
Famous for its desert landscapes, rugged and formidable fortresses, grand palaces, serene placid lakes and exotic culture, Rajasthan is one of the most popular tourist destinations in India, both for international and domestic travellers. In 2005-06 the desert state attracted over 1.2 million foreign and 17 million domestic tourists. Tourism revenues to the state aggregate to over Rs.10 billion annually.
This new plan of hiring motorcycles to visiting tourists who wish to travel at their own pace and style was conceptualised after seeing the grand success of a similar scheme in Goa, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh.
Motorcycle rental tariffs other terms and conditions have not been specified as yet. Private operators say that they will ensure that the rentals remain reasonable so that more and more people will hire motorcycles. Moreover entrepreneurs agree that market forces will direct how much rental will be charged. Moreover in a bid to entice entrepreneurs to get into this new line of travel business the state government has decided to cut road tax by three percent for motorcycles purchased for renting out.
The scheme has already been kicked off in Jaipur, Ajmer, Pushkar, Mount Abu, Jaisalmer and Jodhpur. Since the scheme was announced the department of tourism has been thronged by applicants seeking licences to rent motorcycles, but only 12 have been granted to put a total of 70 motorcycles on rent by the government.
Since the response has been very good the state government is considering a statewide rollout of the scheme soon.
For those tourists who want to travel by motorcycle but don’t know how to ride, then they can hire a driver too. The tourism department has implemented a scheme wherein they will issue special licences and identity cards to drivers along with mandating a unique dresscode and a different number series for the motorcycles which are meant for hiring. The colour scheme of the motorcycles have been finalised at black and yellow.
Looks like Rajasthan, which is already popular among tourists is all set to double its tourist inflow. A good sign indeed for the travel industry and the Indian economy.
