There’s more to Mumbai beyond Bollywood and the stock market. Several new services are now in place for tourists in Mumbai, as part of a bid to upgrade the city’s tourism offering.
The Maharashtra state government recently identified nearly 20 tour operators and 50 tour plans to push tourism in the city. Some of these are a personalised shopping tour, a museum tour, Chor Bazaar Walk (through Thieves’ Market for antiques) and paragliding.
A new Museums Bus, launched in October, takes tourists to five of the city’s six top museums, including the historically important Jehangir Art Gallery and the adjoining Prince of Wales Museum.
The latest is Mumbai Gold Cabs, which will offer two and three hour long packaged tours in taxis.
The radio taxi operator is in talks with the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) to launch this month, targeting tourists or family accompanying businessmen in the city. At present, the company has a fleet of 150 air conditioned vehicles and is to add another 400 this month.
The MTDC recently also announced it will work with travel agents and service providers from untapped regions from around the state to extend Mumbai’s appeal and promote tourism along the state's Konkan belt. Under 'Mahabhraman', MTDC plans to bring tour operators and travel agents from Mumbai in direct contact with service providers like hoteliers, car rentals, resort owners and adventure tour operators in these untapped regions.