India’s tourism sector is about for a boom as more travelers take trips across the country for religious purposes.
The South Asian country with the world’s largest Hindu population could see a further 50 million to 100 million tourists a 12 months on account of the brand new Ram Mandir — a temple within the northern city of Ayodhya inaugurated on Monday — in accordance with Jefferies.
This expected footfall in the brand new temple might be much higher than the annual numbers for the Taj Mahal (6.5 million) in India, Rome’s Vatican City (9 million) and the Mecca in Saudi Arabia (20 million), the note showed.
Other religious sights in India akin to the Tirupati Temple in Andhra Pradesh — 25 million visitors annually — and the Vaishno Devi Temple in Jammu and Kashmir — 8 million visitors per 12 months — also hold a robust spiritual, historical and cultural significance in India, the investment bank said.
“Religious tourism remains to be the largest segment of tourism in India … the creation of a latest religious tourist centre (Ayodhya) with improved connectivity and infrastructure can create a meaningfully large economic impact,” Jefferies highlighted.
Indian media reported that around half 1,000,000 people visited the Ram temple on its opening day which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The YouTube broadcast of the opening ceremony on Modi’s channel alone received greater than 11 million views.
“The multiplier effect of travel is humongous. If it continues develop tourist destination including religious tourism, likelihood is that an increasing number of people will come to go to India and it should even profit on the foreign exchange side,” said Nilesh Shah, managing director at Kotak Mahindra Asset Management.
Devotees queue to get glimpse of a statue of the Hindu God Ram sooner or later after the consecration ceremony of the Ram Mandir on January 23, 2024 in Ayodhya, India.
Ritesh Shukla | Getty Images News | Getty Images
India saw 10.93 million foreign tourists in pre-pandemic 2019, and 6.43 million between January and September last 12 months, in accordance with the Press Information Bureau.
The world’s most populous country is about to be the fourth-largest global spender on travel by 2030, with travel and tourism predicted to turn out to be a $410 billion market — a surge of greater than 170% from $150 billion in 2019, Booking.com data showed.
“India has so much to supply to all types of travelers, from beaches to historical landmarks, backwaters to spiritual locations,” Santosh Kumar, country manager of India, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Indonesia for Booking.com said.
“The federal government is encouraging the promotion of domestic tourism, while also working towards improving cleanliness, specializing in water conservation, promoting locally made products and adopting digital methods … for locals and tourists alike,” Kumar told CNBC via email.
AYODHYA, INDIA – JANUARY 23: Devotees queue to get glimpse of a statue of the hindu god Ram sooner or later after consecration ceremony of the Ram Mandir on January 23, 2024 in Ayodhya, India. The Ram Mandir, a temple built at a site regarded as the birth place of Lord Rama, a big figure in Hindu religion, was inaugurated on Jan. 22, 2024. (Photo by Ritesh Shukla/Getty Images)
Ritesh Shukla | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Air travel takes off
Indian carriers have placed orders for greater than 1,100 planes over the past eight months, signaling massive demand for travel.
Indigo in June last 12 months placed the largest industrial aircraft order in history for 500 Airbus A320 aircraft which might be delivered between 2030 and 2035, topping Air India’s deal to buy 470 planes from Airbus and Boeing the identical month.
Akasa Air last week ordered 150 Boeing 737 MAX planes.
Kashmiri Umrah pilgrims boarding an IndiGo flight on the Delhi Airport in India on December 13, 2023.
Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images
India’s improving air and road connectivity has made travel easier and helped push sector-wide growth.
Air India Express, owned by Air India, has announced direct flights to Ayodhya from Bengaluru, Kolkata and Delhi. Low-cost carrier IndiGo too has announced direct flights to the holy city from Delhi, Ahmedabad and Mumbai.
The Atal Setu, India’s longest sea bridge spanning 21.8km, was opened earlier this month to scale back travel times between cities and improve connectivity between Mumbai International Airport and the Navi Mumbai International Airport.
All it is a blessing for the hospitality industry.
Hospitality names akin to Indian Hotels Company Limited and OYO Rooms, and fast-moving consumer goods corporations including Hindustan Unilever, Jubilant Foodworks and Britannia Industries are all set to learn from the boom in Indian tourism, Jefferies said.
“Along with traditional hotel settings, Indians are increasingly search for accommodations akin to apartments, villas, homestays and other unique places to remain,” Booking.com’s Kumar said, citing the firm’s ‘How India Travels 2023’ report.
— CNBC’s Naman Tandon contributed to this report.
