In a bid to attract foreign tourists at the annual Sonepur Mela, the largest cattle fair in Asia which is being held from next week after a gap of two years due to Covid-19 pandemic, the Bihar State Tourism Development Corporation (BSTDC) is offering discounts on plush Swiss cottages on the venue, besides roping in private tour planners to market these accommodations, officials familiar with the matter said.
Earlier, the BSTDC used to offer only online bookings for these cottages. This time, the corporation has opted for offline bookings and involved private players involved in the booking process by asking them to sell these cottages along with their tour packages. BSTDC is also offering a 10% discount on bookings.
This time, 20 Swiss cottages are available for booking.
The Sonepur fair, which is held at the confluence of rivers Ganga and Gandak at Sonepur in Saran district, will be open for the tourists on Kartik Purnima on November 6 and will conclude after 32 days.
“We started offering Swiss cottages considering the plush accommodation required by tourists, especially from foreign countries, who wanted to stay on Mela premises, but needed plush facilities,” said Abhijit Kumar, general manager, BSTDC.
Suman Kumar, travel trade manager, BSTDC, said though there have been many queries, bookings for the cottages are yet to be confirmed. “Considering the lukewarm response of the visitors, we have asked private tour planners also to get bookings for Swiss cottages,” he said.
The booking rate too has not been increased since 2019 and the BSTDC is also offering 10% discount on bookings, he added.
