Ayodhya To Drive Demand In Spiritual Tourism, Say Experts

People are flocking to Ayodhya in the hope of visiting the Ram Temple, boosting spiritual tourism in the historic city. Top business leaders and analysts expect the demand to stay high, not just during the initial two weeks but also after the hype around the city subsides.

The hospitality and travel industry is one of the major sectors that will reap the benefits of tourists visiting the city.

"The demand is very high and stabilisation will happen after the first 2-3 weeks, which is when availability and pricing might stabilise. Though I suspect that as time increases, even after the first two weeks, the demand will be very high as a lot of people are very keen to go to Ayodhya," Romil Pant, executive vice president and business head-holidays at Thomas Cook, told NDTV Profit's Tamanna Inamdar.

Puneet Chhatwal, the managing director and chief executive officer of the Indian Hotels Co., also echoed a similar opinion. "Demand is unstoppable and it will keep on increasing."

Looking at the demand, IHCL has signed a deal for a third hotel in Ayodhya and in the next few years, it targets having four properties with 500–750 rooms, he said.

This will generate 1,500–2,500 direct jobs and boost other sectors like travel and food, Chhatwal said. "In a few years, spirituality will be an important aspect of one's life, so why should India not be at the forefront of spiritual tourism?... This is just the beginning... There is a lot of room upwards, mainly because of GDP growth and the development of infrastructure," he said.

"Not only Ayodhya, all other religious destinations are also seeing a very meaningful jump at this point, in comparison to the previous year," said Dhruv Shringi, chief executive officer of Yatra Online.

Some regions are seeing a 35% jump in demand, which is the lowest, while others have seen a 120% jump in demand, which is the highest, he said.

While the hospitality industry is getting ready to cater to rising demand, airlines are also preparing to fly in more people to the city. "We need to provide connectivity from all corners of India to Ayodhya, and we are trying for it," said Ajay Singh, chairman and managing director of SpiceJet.

According to a recent release from the airline, it plans to have eight flights to Ayodhya starting Feb. 1.