| Ford and his
associates strongly believe that interaction with local culture will be
central in making the HSV experience unique.
Ford and his
team certainly have good local advisors (including Mr. Iqbal Sharma, one
of the area's top tour operators) and are playing by the rules of the valley.
They were in Manali to pay their respects to the valley's devtas (deities)
and to visit the temples in the area. As everyone who lives here knows,
the devtas are powerful in the valley of Gods, and their blessings essential
for any project.
Infrastructure
Upgrades
The valley
doesn't currently have a hospital capable of providing adequate emergency
care to victims of sporting mishaps, a shortcoming that HSV aims to address
with a modern hospital to be built in collaboration with India's Apollo
Group. The hospital will be located in the valley, away from the actual
Village, which will be at a height of 10,000 feet.
The hospital
and the Village will both be open to all who wish to make use of them.
As almost every
family in the valley ends up having to travel 300km. to Chandigarh multiple
times a year for health checks and doctor visits, many of the local residents
are understandably even more excited about the hospital than about the
HSV itself.
Currently the
valley is also quite remote and less than adequately connected. The closest
airport in Bhuntar services the area with only a single flight a day (a
26 seater single-engine aircraft operated by Jagson Airlines). HSV will
address the connectivity issue by working to bring other carriers, such
as Indian brewery magnate Vijay Mallya's Kingfisher Airlines, to Bhuntar.
Mr. John Sims,
Managing Director of HSV, said that Mr Mallya had confirmed that he's purchased
a 75 seater aircraft that will be able to land on airports with shorter
runways, like the Bhuntar airport. Deccan Air, an Indian carrier, is also
expected to service the area and Jagson is due to increase its fleet with
35 seater aircrafts.
Mr Sims also
said that with state revenues going up, they will work with the government
to improve infrastructure in the valley, including improving the roads
and electric supply.
Inside The
Himalayan Ski Village
Although accommodation
within the Village will be pretty pricey (upwards of $500 a night) in keeping
with the ultra-luxury facilities, Ford and his associates are encouraging
local hoteliers to up their standards and get ready for the heavy tourist
influx to the area.
Several international
hotel chains will participate in the project, including Hyatt International,
Mandarin Oriental and The Intercontinental.
Said Sims,
"We do not intend to build hotels that will be competing with the present
hotels in the valley. Our hotels are extremely up-market and they will
not appeal to everybody. In fact, only 20% of the people who come here
to ski will stay in our hotels. 70-80% will stay in the valley because
they'll want to have a lower price point. We cannot afford to bring in
new hotels at that elevation at a lower price point. So it puts the local
operators at a price advantage to us, and we are happy to share the prosperity.
"
HSV is also
planning to build luxury villas (3000-5000 sq. ft each) which will likely
be priced at more than a million US dollars a piece.
HSV is very
keen on promoting the local handicrafts, restaurants and other businesses.
Ford and Sims both stressed that they're not in this only for the money,
which they could make plenty of in the US. They said they're interested
in doing something new, interesting and fun, while raising the level of
tourism in the area to new heights.
The project
will provide a wealth of job opportunities in the hospitality sector. Sims
said that the HSV would prefer to hire employees locally, and will also
provide high quality training for the hospitality and tourism industry,
as well as vocational training for local businessmen from taxi drivers
to hotel owners.
A Frontrunner
In Eco-Tourism
Ford and his
associates are very conscious of environmental issues. The Village will
be a car free zone and visitors will use cable cars to travel to and from
the Village. Said Sims: "Alfred and I are children of the 60's and we want
to be effective as environmental campaigners. We firmly believe in doing
it right the first time and for this reason HSV has contracted the Indian
Institute of forest Management as consultants for the project."
In response
to questions about the local residents' forest access, including timber
and grazing rights, Sims clarified that the skiing slopes would be on public
lands and that the village itself would be constructed on private land
above the tree line - therefore not interfering with grazing or timber
lands.
Said Sims:
"This project will be a frontrunner... Alfred did not come here to exploit
India. This is not his interest. He came here because he wanted to show
a better way forward in environmentally responsible tourism. This is needed
in the world but especially needed in India. There is so much pressure
on the environment. It's not good enough what they do to protect the environment
in America, we have to do better in India because India is under more environmental
pressure and social and economic strains."
Raising
The Bar
Sims echoed
my thoughts when he said that he often heard tourists complain that other
than enjoying the weather and visiting the few tourist attractions, or
trekking, there's not a lot to do in Manali. As I mentioned in my last
article too, there are very few quality restaurants, bars, and entertainment
options in the valley.
Sims said HSV
will change that, by bringing in top notch entertainment and sports facilities,
as well as customers who will demand a wider variety of high quality services.
Said Ford:
"I would imagine that, as in America, more people will come in the summer
to the HSV. There are festivals, there are institutes, there is trekking,
there is white water rafting. And because India is a very hot country I
would imagine that, as people do already, that people will come here from
Delhi or Bombay for a vacation. I would hope also that we have special
events and conventions. It'll be a wonderful place to bring people for
conventions and special events."
The HSV will
also lengthen the tourist season in Manali. Mr Sims pointed out that "summer
tourism will be a mainstay for any hill station. What we are doing essentially
is extending the tourist season in the Kullu valley into the winter months
and this will have a huge impact on all the hotels".
By attracting
a different class of traveler to the valley, the HSV will make it profitable
for others to start quality businesses catering to this new and more discriminating
clientele, and hopefully raise the bar for service quality and professionalism
across the entire spectrum of local businesses.
Said Ford:
"We will bring to the valley high quality training, high hospitality standards,
professional management and aggressive business development. Those are
the kind of things we can bring to this valley. Our intention is to create
a benchmark for this kind of development".
Living In
Interesting Times
Some of us
in the valley have been anticipating the imminent evolution of the tourism
industry here to the next level, and are thrilled that it may happen so
soon and in such a dramatic manner. Others are more skeptical, and think
that Ford's team will have to climb mountains of red tape just to get started,
which could result in delays and changes to the plans.
Whatever happens
with the HSV, it's an exciting time for the Kullu valley. The tourism in
the area is already growing and evolving at a rapid pace, as we knew it
would when we moved here, and I'm excited to be right here in the middle
of it all as it happens. If Ford's plans to begin building next year stay
on track, we could be witness to a gold rush that could well result in
the "Valley of Gods" being transformed into the Valley of Gold.
This is going
to be a great time for business here as, for the first time, the mighty
Himalayas really open up to the international traveller.
The game is
afoot. I'll keep you posted.
You can get
in touch with Qiwi at: ea@qiwi.neomailbox.com
The following
is the previous article that Qiwi wrote for the magazine:
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