Empowering Aviation

viation worldwide

Beta Aviation Pvt. Ltd.

Helicopter tourism
in Bihar.
Feasibility Report

Shiva Kumar | Marketing Head

11/25/2009
 Index
S.No. Topic

1 Indian Tourism: An overview

2 Bihar Tourism: Scope

3 Helicopter Tourism in India

4 Air Taxi Service

5 Key Drivers: Tourism

6 Conclusion

7 Bibliography
Indian Tourism: An overview

Tourism will expand greatly in future mainly due to the revolution that is taking
place on both the demand and supply side. The changing population structure,
improvement in living standard, more disposable income, fewer working hours and
long leisure time, better educated people, ageing population and more curious
youth in the developed as well as developing countries, all will fuel the tourism
industry growth.

The arrival of a large number of customers, better educated and more

sophisticated, will compel the tourist industry to launch new products and brands
and re-invents traditional markets. The established traditional destinations founded
on sun-sea-sand products will have to re-engineer their products. They must
diversify and improve the criteria for destinations and qualities of their traditional
offers. Alongside beach tourism, the tourism sector will register a steady
development of new products based on natural resources promoting the rural
business, leisure and art and culture. Thus the study of new markets and emerging
markets and necessity of diversified products are the basis of our strategy, which
can enhance and sustain, existing and capture new markets.
Bihar Tourism: Scope

Bihar is one of the oldest inhabited places in the world with history of 3000 years.
The rich culture and heritage of Bihar is evident from the innumerable ancient
monuments that are dotted all over the state in eastern India. Bihar is home of
many tourist attractions. Bihar is visited by scores of tourists from all over the
World all the year round. Around total 6,000,000 (6 million) tourist visits Bihar
every year.

In the earliest day, tourism in region was purely based Educational tourism as
Bihar was home of some prominent ancient universities like Nalanda University &
Vikramaśīla University

Bihar one of the most sacred place of various religions like Hinduism, Buddhism,
Jainism, Sikhism & Islam, Many tourist travel to Bihar to visit their pilgrimage.

Mahabodhi Temple, a Buddhist shrine and UNESCO World Heritage Site is also
situated in Bihar. Mahatma Gandhi Setu, Patna, is one of the longest bridges in the
world.
Bihar is probably the one that enjoys a unique history. It is here that world
religions Buddhism and Jainism were born, even as Hinduism thrived. It is here
that a prominent proponent of a fourth religion - Guru Gobind Singh of the Sikhs
was Born. And it is here that the world's first university at Nalanda was
established. And if all that is not enough, it was in Bihar that Gandhiji first
launched his Satyagraha movement against British rule.
Bihar certainly bears the heavy weight of history, but bears it with much sensitivity
and awareness. For both Buddhists and Jains, the landscape is dotted with
monuments and sacred pilgrimage centres, while the Hindus have no less a
number. And yet, it has not shied away from embracing the modern. The old
learning centres continue in the form of newer centres of excellence, the olden day
trade centers have paved way for new economy and even newer technologies. So
much so that the per capita income in Patna, the capital, is higher that that of the
National average.

Rich in its historical traditions and ancient splendor, the culturally rich Bihar has
derived its name from "Vihar". It was called the land of "Viharas" for its having a
good number of recreational sites where people enjoyed activities in serene
surroundings by the side of ponds and lakes.

Endowed with a rich cultural and religious heritage, Bihar was a seat of power of
the vast and powerful Magadh Empire, whose might had checked further onslaught
of Alexander the Great. Bihar was cradle of civilization and nerve centre of
religious activities of Hindu, Boudh, Jain, Sikh and Islam.

It has seen rise and fall of prosperous empires. This is a land of ancient universities
of Nalanda and Vikramshila, the seat of higher learning, which spread knowledge
far and wide through its students coming from different countries of the world.
In this backdrop, Bihar has much to offer and showcase for promotion and
development of tourism. The remnants of the two ancient universities, Nalanda and
Vikramshila, the antiques and artifacts forming a treasure trove of Bihar's ancient
heritage are already attracting tourists.

Bihar promises development of tourism to its optimum level. It has the sacred
Ganga river as its lifeline and a huge water mass in form of many rivers and
rivulets in North Bihar, the Gandak, Kosi and many more and the vitally important
Son river which forms the lifeline in South Bihar.

Bihar is surrounded by West Bengal in the East, Jharkhand in the South, Uttar
Pradesh in the West and it has the international boundary in the North with Nepal.

Bihar was a seat of power of the magnificent Magadh Empire from 6th and 5th
century BC when its great ruler, Ajatshatru, reined from its capital at Rajgriha
(modern Rajgir). Later, in the Fourth century BC the Mauryan ruler and great
warrior Emperor Ashoka wielded a vastly extended Magadh empire from its
capital Pataliputra, the modern Patna. Ashoka turned to Buddhism and had woven
well the unity and peace in a sublime thread of love, piety, harmony and sacrifice.

Ashoka's edicts and pillars across Bihar and other parts of the country are the
living examples of Bihar's rich cultural traditions and credentials attracting tourists
including scores of Buddhists from across the world.

The great Gupta Empire of Magadh kingdom reined by the Gupta rulers from
ancient Pataliputra had enriched art and culture heritage of the country in the 4th
and 5th Century AD. The Pal rulers ruled here till 1197 AD. Bihar also mattered in
the reins of the Muslim rulers from 12th to 17th centuries. A soil rich with cerebral
power of fearless Biharis had much to offer in freedom struggle against British
colonial rule. It even figured in the world politics of struggle against colonial
powers when Mahatma Gandhi on his return from South Africa experimented
Satyagrah first time in Champaran, which is famous as the karmabhoomi of Bapu
against the exploitative Neel (Indigo) farmers of British origin.

It has also the Ashoka installed pillar with Lion capital that has braved more than
two millennia raising its head in all its splendors.

With its rich heritage of antiques, artifacts, historical facts and figures going into
its favour, Bihar is a blend of beautiful and bountiful nature, natural resources, the
vital sparkling pure water, important archaeological finds, and rich culture. It has
been attracting domestic and foreign tourists from the ancient times.

The Travelogues of the Chinese travelers Huen Tsang and Fa-Hien describe
historical splendor of Bihar which offers much to tourists irrespective of their age
&class.

Herein, lays the history of the young prince of Nepal, Siddhartha, transforming into
Lord Buddha by getting enlightenment through sheer penance at Bodh Gaya under
the sacred Bodhi tree which is attracting the Buddhists tourists for ages from across
the world. Bihar has 22 Nirvan Sthals of 24 Jain Tirthankars attracting the people
following the Jain religion. Development of these tourist's sites has been
undertaken on a large scale to promote religious tourism.

Tourism has established itself as 'smokeless' industry in the world and its role in
the socio-economic development of a country is well established.
Helicopter Tourism in India

Helicopters have the advantage of linking inaccessible areas particularly in the hills
and ensuring comfortable and short journeys over difficult terrain, which would
take a long time by road. This sector is being expanding day by day with the
increase awareness among masses about utility of helicopters for tourism purposes
in the form of convenience, time saving etc. The usage of helicopter by the general
public in the tourism industry is growing, especially with the regular passenger
services connecting important tourist and religious places. This also caters to the
requirement of large section of people who find it difficult to otherwise commute
either due to health or age considerations. With the Bihar government giving a
fresh thrust to the tourism sector through enhanced budgetary allocation, the
footfalls of foreign tourists in the state have gone up by nearly four times in two
years.The number of foreign tourists visiting Bihar has shot up from 94,446 in
2006 to 3,56,446 in 2008.

Altogether 1, 77,362 foreigners visited the state in 2007, a rise of 87.79 percent
over the previous year which shot up to 3, 56,446 last years, registering an increase
of 100.97 percent.

Realizing vast potential of Bihar, home to a number of Buddhists, Jain and Sikh
shrines, for pilgrim tourism, the state’s NDA government substantially increased
budgetary allocations to the sector after coming to power in November 2005.

While a meager Rs 3 crore was earmarked for tourism for 2005-06, it was raised to
Rs seven crore in 2006-07, Rs 25 crore in 2007-08, Rs 26.79 Crore in 2008-09 and
Rs 30 crore in 2009-10.State government’s efforts to rejuvenate and revitalize the
once moribund tourism sector, which has been accorded the status of industry by
the NDA regime, had resulted in the number of domestic tourists growing from 1,
03, 52887 in 2007 to 1,21,95,590 in 2008, a rise of 17.79 percent.

Tourism department had formulated a tourism policy for providing even greater
impetus to the sector in Bihar which would be presented to the cabinet for approval
soon. It had also been decided to build a five star hotel in the state capital and
starred hotels at Bodh Gaya, home to the most sacred of Buddhist shrines–the
Mahabodhi temple and Rajgir. The hotels would be constructed with public-private
partnership and tenders have already been invited for the purpose with nine bidders
including Tata-owned Taj group, ITC and Hyatt expressing their interest in the
projects. A new ropeway has been planned at Rajgir, which already has one, and
Mundeshwari temple in Kaimur district. With a view to making travel more
convenient for all tourists including foreign guests, steps were underway for
broadening and strengthening roads linking shrines on Buddhist, Jain and Sikh
religious circuits. Measures were being taken for developing tourist sites at
Vaishali, Jehanabad, Dobhi, Hisua, Maner, Kesaria, Lauria and Nandangarh. Bihar
government has also given tourism the status of industry and development.
After division of Bihar many tourism destinations went geographically into the
fold of Jharkhand state. Now Bihar needs afresh. It’s new distinct Tourism Policy
to be planned in a manner to promote tourism industry as a vital part of the vibrant
economic activities of the state.
Air Taxi Service

With the Bihar government’s initiation to start air taxi services to ferry tourists to
different tourist sites scattered across the state. We are planning to launch air taxi
services by using Bell Commercial helicopters to link various Buddhist sites
scattered across Bihar. The system is expected to start from the next year. What
actually encouraged us in starting this project was owing to the increasing number
of foreigners visiting Bihar and the inconveniences being faced by them in
reaching the tourist sites.

For this purpose we have selected two helicopters suiting this particular range.

The Bell 407

• Air supremacy

The 206L4 Longranger IV.

• Ready whenever you want
THE BELL 407

Chrome-plated exhaust pipes not yet standard. The full integration of speed,
performance and maneuverability. Reliable beyond measure. Outfitted with a
spacious cabin that seat up to seven, configurable for an array of tasks and
payloads. Composite dynamic components and unmatched rotor authority for an
incredibly smooth ride in virtually all conditions. The 407 is the first choice for
ensuring performance.

407 Highlights

 Superior performance with the best speed, payload and range available in its
class.

 Superior power to weight ratio.

 Exceptional passenger comfort with the smoothest ride in its class and wide-
open club seating for unparalleled visibility.
 Pilot-friendly attributes such as a twist grip throttle on the collective and a
FADEC for the engine.

 The high performance, combat proven, composite dynamic components of the

OH-58D Kiowa Warrior for unmatched handling.

Increased power and decreased noise are no longer incompatible. The 407's
sophisticated engine and composite rotor ensure a smooth ride and drastically
quieter operation.

Product Specifications: Bell 407

Maximum Gross Weight

Internal 5000 lb 2268 kg

External 6000 lb 2722 kg

Useful Load

Internal 2347 lb 1065 kg

Max External 2646 lb 1200 kg
 Speed & Range

Max Cruise Speed 133 kn 246 km/h

Maximum Range 330 nm 612 km

Safety features

 FADEC for responsiveness

 Shoulder harness for all seats
 Pilot exceedances warnings
 Rupture resistant fuel system
 Powerful transmission ratings
 Collective mounted throttle
 Composite hub and rotor system
 Improved engine margins
 Rollover bulkheads
 Rugged energy attenuating skid landing gear
THE BELL 206L-4 LONGRANGER IV

The Longranger IV is a remarkable combination of power, room and range.

Innovative doors and a spacious cabin make the Longranger IV ideal for corporate,
EMT, utility or law enforcement. And a better power margin means you’re flying
higher and further.

Longranger IV Highlights

 The patented Nodal Beam suspension system for the smoothest ride
available and club passenger seating for face-to-face conversation.
 Wide opening doors and a roomy cabin ideal for cargo hauling and law
enforcement missions.
 A simple high inertia two-bladed rotor system for superior safety and
excellent autorotation characteristics.
 An overall best value offering, this simple and durable design which
incorporates a powerful and reliable 650 horsepower engine makes the
206L-4 the best 7-place light helicopter available for the money.
 Lowest operating costs in class
 Superior autorotation characteristics
 Robust cabin structure
 Collective mounted throttle
 Rupture resistant fuel cells
 Shoulder harnesses

Inside and out, the Longranger IV represents leading edge design. Whether you're
a CEO who wants to get business done in the air, or an EMT who wants to save
lives, the Longranger IV can help you succeed. It offers a spacious and flexible
cabin, a high visibility cockpit, and a high performance Rolls-Royce engine with
power to spare, even in hot weather. You name the time and the place. The
Longranger IV is ready to take you there.

The 206L4 Longranger IV

Specifications + Capabilities

Everywhere you look; reliability, flexibility and safety

Features
 Lowest operating costs in class.
 robust cabin structure
 rupture resistant fuel cells
 superior autorotation characteristics
 collective mounted throttle
 shoulder harnesses
Performance

standard gross weight 4450 lbs 2018kg

(internal)

standard max gross 4550 lbs 2064kg

weight (external)

standard useful load 2123lbs 963kg

(internal)

standard useful load 2000lbs 907kg

(max. external)

Vne (never-exceed speed) 130kn 241km/h

engine take-off power 726shp 541kW

max range 324nm 600km

Mission Profiles

Corporate  Plenty of room for 6 passengers and 1 pilot, powerful

and dependable turbine engine, best safety record in
its class

 Max. Range of 324 nautical miles at long range cruise

speed, endurance of 3.7 hours at best endurance
speed, low acquisition costs, economical operating
costs and great resale value.

Utility  External loads of up to 2000 lb., Rolls-Royce 250-

C30P engine, rated at 726 SHP, power for speeds to
130 kts. Margin-of-safety features include collective-
mounted twist-grip engine throttle control and
rupture-resistant fuel system.

SAFETY FEATURES

 Optional wire strike protection

 High inertia rotor for safe autorotation
 Rugged energy attenuating skid gear
 Sturdy cabin structure (rollover protection)
 Throttle on collective
 Rupture resistant fuel cells
 Other Features

 Room to easily accommodate six.

 Simple, rugged, energy absorbing design packed with safety features.

 Proven Rolls Royce 250-C30P Turbine engine. This power plant family has
logged over 150 million flight hours.

 A 2141-pound useful load delivers maximum mission flexibility.

 The best auto rotational characteristics of any helicopter flying today.
Key Drivers: Tourism

1. Commercial Importance of Tourism:

 The world tourism industry accounts for direct employment to over

144 million persons and manifold indirect employment. For the
present, however, India has 0.4 per cent share of world tourism.
 International tourism industry has 10.2 per cent share of the global
GDP with 10.6 per cent of the global work force being engaged in
tourism.
 In India tourism and travel sector generate employment to 9.3 million
people with optimism of raising this to 12.9 million jobs to the people
by 2010. This will mean the tourism industry providing job to one
person out of 15 people by 2010 in the country.
 Every rupee spent by a tourist in the state changes hands thirteen
times. Every hotel room generates direct employment to three persons
and indirect employment opportunities to eight persons.
2. Role of State Government:

 As a catalyst.
 As promoter, facilitator and infrastructure provider.
 As pioneer, planner and joint investor with private groups to boost
tourism.
 As formulator of plans and policies.
 Maintenance of law and order.
 Deploying tourist police force.
 Disposing grievances.
 Standardizing quality of tourism product and services.
 Enacting suitable laws for tourism.
 Framing Rules and Regulations for tourism development.

3. Timely execution of policies, qualitative improvement and up gradation

of comprehensive master plan of the state with a focus on regional, sub-
regional areas and tourist circuits etc.

 External assistance.
 Central assistance.
 State Government Assistance.
 Private Sector investment for a planned tourism development and
creation of infrastructure.
4. Basic Infrastructure for Tourism:

 Keeping in view a great potential of tourism in Bihar, the creation of

basic infrastructure for tourism development is imperative. Important
components for infrastructural development are-- Arranging
accommodation for increased number of tourists, building of
highways on tourist circuits, international level airports with total
aviation back up and facilities, local transport, rail routes linking
tourist spots with full amenities and facilities, the vital
telecommunication link, continuous quality electricity supply with
elaborate arrangements, and other essential amenities.

Religious circuits for the Boudh, Jain, Hindu, Sikh, and Islam
religions are to be developed with special work plans to promote
religious tourism making the religious circuits attractive with suitable
tour packages and facilities. Hindu, Boudh, Jain, Ramayan, Sufi,
Gandhi and Eco tourism have to find profound expression in
development of tourist sites and spots.

 The state government as well as the private sector shall contribute

their mite in growth of tourism infrastructure with the state playing
the lead role of a catalytic agent in some sectors. The state will
endeavor to promote private sector participation in infrastructural
development for the tourism industry.
 Efforts will be made to dovetail external assistance, central assistance
and state plan resources with private investments to attain the set
goals as under the Master Plan.

 The state government will prepare an area-based Master Plan for

developing infrastructure as necessary for the respective areas and
regions. Potential of the tourist destinations will figure in developing
the tourism sector as per the Master Plan. The Master Plan will evolve
Investment Plan for segment wise (area wise) tourism development.
The investment plan would be further subdivided into annual action
plans to achieve the set growth targets as per the directed goals under
the Master Plan to be achieved in a time bound manner. New areas to
be brought under pursuit of tourism development are water tourism,
health tourism, Ayurvedic medicine, Yoga, Spiritual tourism, tourism
entailing courageous feats, promotion of Shilp Gram (Crafts Village)
and development of recreational facilities to attract tourists.

 Tourism entails multi-sectoral activities with participation of several

agencies. Efforts will be made to coordinate the agencies participating
in the tourism development endeavor by evolving suitable
administrative mechanism.
 5. Foreign Tourists

The foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) in India during the year 2008 were 5.37 million
(Provisional) as compared to 5.08 in 2007, registering a growth of 5.6%. FTAs
during the period January-March 2009 were 14.61 lakh with a growth rate of (-)
13.8% as compared to the FTAs of 16.94 lakh and growth rate of 12.2% during
January-March 2008. Tourism is an important sector of Indian economy and
contributes substantially in the country’s foreign exchange earnings. The foreign
exchange earnings (FEE) from tourism during 2008 in US$ terms are estimated at
11.75 billion as compared to 10.73 billion during 2007, registering a growth of
9.5%. FEE from tourism in US$ terms during the period January-March 2009 were
US$ 2731 million with a growth rate of (-) 30.6% as compared to the FEE of US$
3935 million with a growth rate of 31.3% during January-March 2008.In rupee
terms, the FEE from tourism during 2008 are estimated at Rs. 50730 crore as
compared to Rs. 44360 crore during 2007, showing a growth of 14.4%. FEE from
tourism in rupee terms, during January-March 2009 were Rs 13582 crore with a
growth rate of (-)13.2%, as compared to the FEE of Rs. 15655 crore with a growth
rate of 18.2% during January-March 2008.
 Tourism and Hospitality

India offers myriad exciting experiences to tourists. Tourism industry in India is being
utilized as a powerful tool to facilitate international understanding and enable building
of broader cultural horizons. According to the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness
Report 2009 brought out by World Economic Forum, India is ranked 11th in the Asia-
Pacific region and 62nd overall in a list of 133 assessed countries in 2008, up three
places since 2007. In terms of travel, India stands 9th in the index of relative cost of
access (ticket taxes and airport charges) to international air transport services, having
almost the lowest costs in the world.

Also according to the report, India has been rated well for its natural resources (ranked
14th) and cultural resources (24th), with many World Heritage sites, both natural and
cultural, rich fauna, and strong creative industries in the country. India also has quite a
good air transport network (ranked 37th), particularly given the country’s stage of
development, and a reasonable ground transport infrastructure (ranked 49th). India is
ranked 7th in terms of number of World Heritage cultural sites, according to a
UNESCO report (2008).

India is ranked 1st with regard to tourism fair attendance. Also, according to the
International Congress and Convention Association, India is rated 33rd in terms of
number of international fairs and exhibitions held in the country annually (average for
2006-07).

The World Travel and Tourism Report for 2009 for 180 countries worldwide also ranks
the Indian Travel and Tourism economy 14th in absolute size worldwide, 144th in
relative contribution to national economies and 5th in long-term (10-year) growth. The
contribution of travel and tourism to gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to be at
6.0 per cent (US$ 67.3 billion) in 2009 rising to US$ 187.3 billion by 2019.
CONCLUSION

The outlay for tourism development was Rs.8 crore in the third plan

Rs.186.46 crores in the sixth plan and Rs.326.16 crores in the seventh plan.

It was during the sixth plan that a tourism policy was formulated and

presented before the parliament. The sixth plan is an objective envisages

optimum use of infrastructure, regionalizing tourist traffic and increase in

accommodation and so on. However, the plan turned out to be a very mere

blue print for action for tourist development.

The seventh plan (1985-1990) set a target of 1.5-million tourist arrival by

1990 and 3 million by 2000 AD. It also recommended according industry

status to tourism in order to encourage private sector investment in tourism.

It was also recommended that public sector would focus on basic

infrastructure development, and the private sector would be in encouraged to

develop tourism. For the first time domestic tourism was sought to be

encouraged for promoting social and cultural cohesion and employment

generation. The national committee on tourism presented a comprehensive

report in 1988, which provided the basis of a long-term perspective plan for

tourism in the country.

The committee set a growth rate of 7% per annual for international tourists.

Arrivals by 2000 AD. Recommendations also included the following:

1. Set a tourism finance cooperation to extend financial assistance for

tourism project.

2. Developments of select tourist destination and circuits’ diversification of

tourism arrival of cultural destination to the leisure and holiday tourist.

3. Markets, exploration and development of new tourism generating center.

4. Increase the hotel accommodation by cent percent by stimulation

investment through appropriate package of incentives.

The committees major recommendation expects that of setting up a national

tourism board wherein accepted. In April 1989, the tourism finance

cooperation of India was set up. A working group of the state tourism

secretaries in July 1985 identify incentives for the industry. About 14 states

and 3 union territories have declared tourism as an industry however, despite

the efforts during the seventh plan for diversification of tourists for cultural

destinations to the leisure and holiday destination, India still remains as a

cultural destination. Budget outlays where diverted towards facilitating

trekking development of beach resorts, building shopping plazas, wildlife

tourism, facilities for conference is skiing etc. It is reported that the profile

of the average overseas and domestic traveler is changing. In the current

plan period as well one of the principal thrust areas would be modification of

the Indian tourism product by adding the concept of India.

Bibliography

1. Incredible India report on tourism figures 2006-

2008.

http://www.incredibleindia.org/PDF/Online%20Tender%2008-09.pdf

2. Bihar state government tourism policy report.

http://www.tourismbihar.org/dot/tourismpolicy.php

3. Bell helicopters India.

http://www.bellhelicopter.com/en/aircraft/commercial/

4. Bihar state tourism development department.

http://bstdc.bih.nic.in/