Tea Tourism is high on the West Bengal Government’s radar. It intends to upgrade accommodation, construct log-cabins, renovate heritage bungalows and undertake landscaping to give a boost to this sector. Some tea-estate owners have already got Tea Tourism off ground. Among these are Raja Banerjee of Makaibari Tea Estate, The Chamarias of Phaskowa and Anshuman Prakash of Glenburn Tea Estate.

Glenburn, which was opened to tourists around three years ago, is a exclusive boutique hotel where guests put up at the Burra Bungalow, or the Glenburn lodge on the banks of the Rangit River. At Rs 8,000-10,000 per person per night, it is very high-end, and as much as 80 percent of the clientele comprises foreigners.

Tea-tourism at Makaibari, an initiative that’s about a year old is of different kind. Visitors here have the choice to stay at the Heritage Stone Lodge where the four suites have separate toilets and running hot water, or they can stay in any of the 20-25 houses of tea-garden workers where they can be close to nature and the community.