Tea provides new leaf for India’s tourism industry
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The United Kingdom’s loveof a good cup of tea could be great news for India, according to a Times ofLondon report. Tourist officials have launched a new campaign to attract teadrinkers, involving staying at plantation houses on tea estates in thenortheast and south of the country. Officials hope that the overall number ofarrivals from Britainwill rise from 796,000 last year to more than a million this year and next as aresult of the campaign, the report said. British tourism to India has already risen by a fifthin the past three years.
The campaign highlights India’s500-plus tea plantations, many of which have accommodation for visitors. Thestates of Sikkim, Darjeeling and Assam in the northeast have themajority of plantations, while there are also tea estates with rooms in Kerala.
Sujit Banerjee, the new Secretary of India’s Ministry of Tourism, said;”People can stay in one of the luxurious old colonial buildings, with a verandasurrounding the rooms. It’s a great place to sit and watch tea-pickers withwicker baskets on their backs, picking the newest leaves and tossing them intothe baskets.”
Tour operator, Trailfinders, has created one of the first “tea tourism”tours of India, staying at an estate in Munnar, Kerala, on a nine-day trip fromGBP1,599 (US$2,359), including flights, according to The Times report.
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