Skift Take
Bulbul Dhawan
According to a report by real estate services firm Colliers, spiritual tourism will contribute to further development of tourism-related infrastructure in India’s emerging cities.
In its latest report, Colliers identified seven emerging cities – all religious centres – where the hospitality sector is expected to drive real estate growth: Amritsar in Punjab, Ayodhya and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, Dwarka in Gujarat, Puri in Odisha, Shirdi in Maharashtra and Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh.
The report highlighted that spiritual tourism is set to become a major driver of development in several temple cities in India, thanks to government policy support and infrastructure development.
Improved infrastructure such as improved roads, the opening of major railway lines and new airports are expected to attract property investors to these spiritual destinations.
Badal Yagnik, CEO, Colliers India, said improved infrastructure, affordable real estate, skilled talent and government initiatives have led to smaller towns emerging as dynamic contributors to the Indian economy. “We expect to see significant momentum across residential, commercial, retail, hospitality and industrial segments,” he said.
Religious travel drives Indian tourism
The travel and tourism industry contributed approximately $199 billion to India’s GDP in fiscal 2022-2023. As per a Colliers report, spiritual tourism accounts for 30% market share in India’s travel and tourism sector and 60% of the domestic tourism market.
According to data from India’s Ministry of Tourism, more than 1.4 billion tourists visited religious sites across the country in 2022. These religious tourism destinations generated revenue of 1.34 trillion Indian rupees (more than $16 billion) for the year.
Tourist destinations in Uttar Pradesh such as Ayodhya and Varanasi are undergoing major renovations to better accommodate tourists. In a recent interview with Skift, Priti Srivastava, Deputy Commissioner for Tourism, Uttar Pradesh, said that following the opening of the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor in December 2021 for tourist management in Varanasi, the state’s tourism industry has been transformed.
Spiritual Tourism and Hospitality Development
Spiritual destinations in India are seeing huge investments by hotel companies. These cities include:
Ayodhya
- Ayodhya is expected to attract 23 million tourists per year, and a report by brokerage Jefferies estimates that it could attract more than 50 million tourists per year. Recent developments are expected to boost land prices by over 100% in 2024 compared to 2019. However, the hospitality sector currently has a low presence as most projects are under development.
- The Radisson Hotel Group opened Park Inn by Radisson in Ayodhya in January and has another project in development.
Indian Hotels Company (IHCL) also signed two hotels in the city under the Ginger and Vivanta brands last year and a third hotel this year under the IHCL Selections brand.
Lemon Tree Hotels is planning a 200-room hotel in Ayodhya and has also signed a hotel under Wyndham’s Ramada Encore brand.
Amritsar:
- According to a Colliers report, Amritsar receives an annual visitor count of 30 million people, resulting in a large presence of name-brand hotels in the city.
- Last year, Marriott opened the Le Meridien hotel in Amritsar in December.
- IHG Hotels announced that it has signed a deal to build a new Voco hotel in the city.
- Home to the Golden Temple, the holiest shrine in Sikhism, the city is also where Wyndham brand’s Trademark Collection launched in India earlier this year.
- Accor also plans to open a Grand Mercure branded hotel in the city.
Varanasi:
- Varanasi has seen a significant rise in tourism since its renovation, and Srivastava said a total of more than 130 million tourists are expected to visit the pilgrimage city in 2022 and 2023 after the opening of the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor.
- Last month, IHCL signed a deal for the city’s fourth hotel under its budget brand Ginger.
- Wyndham Hotels opened the Ramada Plaza in the city last year.
- Hilton is opening a DoubleTree by Hilton in Varanasi in September 2023.
Government promotion of spiritual tourism
The government’s focus on spiritual tourism is boosting the sector, according to the report. “Considering the potential, the market size of the sector grew from $44 billion in 2020 to around $60 billion in 2023,” it said, adding that the sector is expected to grow at 9-10 percent annually to reach $130 billion by 2032.
Recent government schemes such as the Pilgrimage Revitalisation and Spiritual Heritage Enhancement Drive (Prashad) and Swadesh Darshan 2.0 to develop sustainable destinations have led to an increase in tourist-friendly pilgrimage sites.
“Various government initiatives in recent years have also boosted infrastructure and the real estate market in certain spiritually-oriented tourist destinations,” the report said.
The government has emulated Varanasi’s renovation in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, for the Mahakaleshwar temple and is now considering renovating Mathura as well. This will make the flow of tourists to these destinations more systematic, creating the potential for better tourism management. The Madhya Pradesh Tourism Department is considering introducing a tourist registration system to tackle overcrowding and overtourism.
The number of airports has doubled in the past decade, giving a boost to the aviation sector to spiritual destinations, with airports being built in smaller cities catering to devotees, such as Shirdi in Maharashtra and Kushinagar in Bihar.
Photo credit: Spiritual tourism accounts for 30% market share in the country’s travel and tourism sector.
