Lansdowne – That old world charm

Building on its more than 250 rural stay options on offer through its portal, Rural Tourism Network Enterprise (RTNE) this summer would spread its wings to Uttrakhand state in Northern India.

Lansdowne, one of the regions that RTNE will initially focus on, happens to be named after the then Viceroy of India, Lord Lansdowne in 1887; the town had been used as a training centre for new recruits. Currently it is the regimental centre of Garhwal rifles of the Indian Army and happens to be the closest hill station from New Delhi – 250 km and is a good 6 hours drive from the capital. The town with a population of close to 8000 people is rich in history and is known for its scenic beauty.

Being a restricted area and because of scarcity of land, limited stay options are available which are by and large fully occupied. Thus paving way for property owners to offer their old-style British bungalows as homestay options to the visiting tourists.

The adjoining villages too hold tremendous tourism potential but have not been able to fully capitalize on the same, resulting in local people migrating to urban centers. A locally thriving tourism industry should have a positive effect in curbing this.

Lansdowne is a classic case of peak load demand where people travel but they have no place to stay; perhaps with RTNE’s intervention more number of travelers would find the town to be a perfect excuse to go back in time.

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Karmveer Rathore of RTNE-IFMR Ventures, contributed to this post.
RTNE Blog