| Taste the difference! |
Tuesday December 27, 2005
Immersed in tea
By KRITTIVAS MUKHERJEE
Your tea break was never so exotic. Inspired by the success of whisky and wine
makers, Indian tea planters are turning parts of their verdant Assam and Darjeeling
estates in the east of the country into luxury resorts.
Guests get to tour tea gardens and pluck tea leaves. Nature walks, trekking, rafting
and golf are also on offer, punctuated, of course, by as much tea tasting as you like.
“We are creating a lifestyle product for companies and individuals,” said Ranjit
Barthakur, whose tea tourism promoting firm is in joint venture talks with Tata Tea
among others, and who plans to develop 1,000 rooms in India's north-east over the
next 10 years.
A worker plucking tea leaves inside the Durgabari tea garden estate on the outskirts of
Agartala, India.
Times are hard in the tea industry. Falling international prices, stiff global competition
and labour troubles dog India’s major producers, so the new ventures need to be more
than just a sideline.
“Tea tourism ... is an alternative revenue stream being explored by planters. The
potential is very good,” said B. Banerjee, chief of the state-run Tea Board.
Leading growers such as McLeod Russel, Tata Tea, and the Birla family’s Jayashree
Tea have high hopes for their schemes, after seeing successful parallels among
champagne vineyards and distilleries elsewhere.
“Countries have their own tourism industry around these products. We are developing
tourism around our tea gardens,” said Jhum Jhum Shirali, spokeswoman for McLeod
Russel, which is developing six estates in the northeastern state of Assam.
“The response is good and we are already booked through January,” Shirali said.
Similar resorts are coming up in Assam, and in the eastern state of West Bengal,
home to the famous Darjeeling tea gardens in the foothills of the eastern Himalayas.
Plantation buildings are often well-preserved relics of the colonial era. Sprawling
wooden bungalows, large courtyards filled with colourful flowers, century-old trees and
green lawns capture an old-world charm.
estled deep in the verdant tea gardens, staff living quarters and bungalows are being
turned into luxury apartments with modern amenities.
The resorts can be self-sufficient too, often with their own poultry, dairy, fishery,
orchards and vegetable gardens.
Authorities in Assam and West Bengal are also encouraging private investors to turn
defunct tea estates into tourist spots.
“We have found that there are tourists, both domestic and international, who are
interested in visiting the tea gardens,” West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb
Bhattacharjee told reporters.
India’s government has set aside 100 million rupees (RM7.8mil) to develop a tea-
tourism infrastructure in West Bengal.
Planters could do with a boost.
India shares the world top spot for black tea production with China, but competition
from producers like Sri Lanka and Kenya has taken its toll in exports.
In the year to March, Indian tea production fell 2.3% to 830.9 million kg. Exports in the
eight months to August fell to 103.5 million kg from 121.8 million kg in the same period
in 2004, primarily due to weaker demand from traditional buyers like Russia and the
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
If the chance to play the colonial planter is your cup of tea, be warned it will cost a fair
bit more than your corner-cafe cuppa.
Plantations are targeting the wealthy end of the tourist market, charging about 20,000
rupees (RM1,560) per night. – Reuters
Immersed in tea
By KRITTIVAS MUKHERJEE
Your tea break was never so exotic. Inspired by the success of whisky and wine
makers, Indian tea planters are turning parts of their verdant Assam and Darjeeling
estates in the east of the country into luxury resorts.
Guests get to tour tea gardens and pluck tea leaves. Nature walks, trekking, rafting
and golf are also on offer, punctuated, of course, by as much tea tasting as you like.
“We are creating a lifestyle product for companies and individuals,” said Ranjit
Barthakur, whose tea tourism promoting firm is in joint venture talks with Tata Tea
among others, and who plans to develop 1,000 rooms in India's north-east over the
next 10 years.
A worker plucking tea leaves inside the Durgabari tea garden estate on the outskirts of
Agartala, India.
Times are hard in the tea industry. Falling international prices, stiff global competition
and labour troubles dog India’s major producers, so the new ventures need to be more
than just a sideline.
“Tea tourism ... is an alternative revenue stream being explored by planters. The
potential is very good,” said B. Banerjee, chief of the state-run Tea Board.
Leading growers such as McLeod Russel, Tata Tea, and the Birla family’s Jayashree
Tea have high hopes for their schemes, after seeing successful parallels among
champagne vineyards and distilleries elsewhere.
“Countries have their own tourism industry around these products. We are developing
tourism around our tea gardens,” said Jhum Jhum Shirali, spokeswoman for McLeod
Russel, which is developing six estates in the northeastern state of Assam.
“The response is good and we are already booked through January,” Shirali said.
Similar resorts are coming up in Assam, and in the eastern state of West Bengal,
home to the famous Darjeeling tea gardens in the foothills of the eastern Himalayas.
Plantation buildings are often well-preserved relics of the colonial era. Sprawling
wooden bungalows, large courtyards filled with colourful flowers, century-old trees and
green lawns capture an old-world charm.
estled deep in the verdant tea gardens, staff living quarters and bungalows are being
turned into luxury apartments with modern amenities.
The resorts can be self-sufficient too, often with their own poultry, dairy, fishery,
orchards and vegetable gardens.
Authorities in Assam and West Bengal are also encouraging private investors to turn
defunct tea estates into tourist spots.
“We have found that there are tourists, both domestic and international, who are
interested in visiting the tea gardens,” West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb
Bhattacharjee told reporters.
India’s government has set aside 100 million rupees (RM7.8mil) to develop a tea-
tourism infrastructure in West Bengal.
Planters could do with a boost.
India shares the world top spot for black tea production with China, but competition
from producers like Sri Lanka and Kenya has taken its toll in exports.
In the year to March, Indian tea production fell 2.3% to 830.9 million kg. Exports in the
eight months to August fell to 103.5 million kg from 121.8 million kg in the same period
in 2004, primarily due to weaker demand from traditional buyers like Russia and the
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
If the chance to play the colonial planter is your cup of tea, be warned it will cost a fair
bit more than your corner-cafe cuppa.
Plantations are targeting the wealthy end of the tourist market, charging about 20,000
rupees (RM1,560) per night. – Reuters
Green Tea | Oolong Tea | Black Tea | White Tea | Herbal Tea
| Buy Tea using PayPal! Imperial Tea Garden accepts payments with Visa, Master Card, American Express and PayPal |
| Copyright 2003 - Imperial Tea Garden All Rights Reserved |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
Today's Date:
Tea News