Tea tourism a viable option for estates

ETW Staff

Amidst various types of tourism that is coming up in India, tea tourism is making its presence felt. Tea producer McLeod Russel India Ltd (MRIL) has done up one of its Assam tea gardens for this purpose and plans to create a chain of such properties across a number of tea gardens spreading from the Terai and Dooars in West Bengal to Assam and further into Myanmar.

For this MRIL has joined hands with River Journeys and Bungalows of India Pvt Ltd., promoted by a local entrepreneur, Ranjit Barthakur. It also recently acquired Williamson Tea Assam from its earlier partners, the UK-based Magors. According to Barthakur, negotiations are on with several other leading tea companies including Goodricke and Tata Tea. Properties have been identified in several areas such as Shillong, Aizawl, Agartala, Darjeeling, Dibrugarh and Kohima.

From January, the property, which is termed as a 'self-contained entertainment sport for discerning travellers' will be open for others. "We are almost completely booked for the first four months of 2006 and the tea estate is also scheduled to hold a corporate conference," he said. Currently, accommodation has been created for 24 people but the capacity will soon be increased to 100 rooms.