The grand opening of the Ram temple in Ayodhya may help the town attract at least 50 million tourist a year — higher than religious tourism hotspots of Golden Temple and Tirupati Temple — as massive spend on infrastructure such as airports will put the once out-of-the-way town in Uttar Pradesh on the tourism circuit.
Corridor Jefferies estimates in a report that a $10 billion renovation of Ayodhya with a new airport, a renovated exercise station, a township and increased road connectivity will likely lead to a multiplier effect with new hotels and other economic activities. more than 50 million tourists a year. “
Golden Temple in Amritsar gets an estimated 30-35 million footfalls a year while Tirupati temple sees 25-30 million visits. Globally, Vatican city gets around 9 million tourists every year and Mecca in Saudi Arabia around 20 million.
”Religious tourism is still the biggest segment of tourism in India,” according to Jeferies. ”Several popular religious centres attract annual tourist traffic of 10-30 million despite the existing infrastructural bottlenecks. And hence, the creation of a new religious tourist centre (Ayodhya) with improved connectivity and infrastructure can create a meaningfully large economic impact.” Tourism contributed USD 194 billion to FY19 (pre-Covid) GDP and is expected to grow at an 8 per cent CAGR to USD 443 billion by FY33, it said, adding tourism to GDP ratio in India at 6.8 per cent of GDP is below most of the large emerging/developed economies; which are higher by 3-5 percentage points.
Claiming that Ayodhya could simply be a way to boost tourism in India, he said 85 billion rupee ($10 billion) renovations are expected to transform the ancient city from a quiet city to a global religious and spiritual tourist hotspot. “In addition to strengthening and strengthening economic and devout migration to Ayodhya, various sectors are expected to benefit, including hotels, airlines, hospitality, consumer goods, accessories, cement, etc. ,” the brokerage firm said.
Phase 1 of a new airport in Ayodhya is consistent with the national and can serve 1 million passengers. Additional domestic capacity and a foreign terminal are expected until 2025, with a capacity of 6 million passengers. The station has been upgraded to double its capacity to 60,000 passengers per day. A new 1,200-acre township is being planned and road connectivity is also being strengthened.
At present, Ayodhya has around 17 hotels with 590 rooms. 73 new hotels are being prepared, 40 of which are already under construction. While Indian Hotels, Marriott and Wyndham have already signed deals for hotels, ITC is exploring opportunities in Ayodhya. upload 1,000 hotel rooms in Ayodhya.
Jefferies said India offers a geographical variety, diversity, culture, heritage sites, and treasures of art, music, and cuisine that make it a popular global tourist destination. And the Ayodhya temple will only unlock India’s tourism potential, which has transparent advantages: Ranked as the seventh most beautiful country by Forbes in 2022, it is home to 42 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, one of only three countries in the world to have white and white deserts, and ranks tenth in the Medical Tourism Index.
(This story has not been edited through Devdiscourse and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed. )