(File photo) Amarnath: Pilgrims during the Amarnath Yatra, after the resumption of the pilgrimage from Panjtarni route, in Amarnath, on July 11, 2022
Photo : PTI
Spiritual tourism is back and it is booming, now that the pandemic is over. Several religious shrines and temple towns such as Kerala’s Guruvayur, dedicated to the LordGuruvayurappa, are witnessing double the number of visitors now. VK Vijayan, chairman of Guruvayur Devaswom told Economic Times that the shrine sees an increase in the number of visitors after August 15 but this year even relatively leaner months such as March, April and July saw a daily increase. This year the Kerala shrine has witnessed 6,000-7,000 visitors per day as compared to 4,000 visitors pre-pandemic, he added. Amritsar’s Golden Temple is witnessing at least 1 lakh visitors per day this year, the number is much higher than the pre-pandemic period, according to Rajwinder, a tourism officer at the Golden Temple. This number just constitutes domestic tourists, while international tourists are expected to increase the daily visitor figure even further once the inflow of international visitors starts in October, he added.
As many as 32,000-40,000 devotees per day flocked the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine this year against 10,000-15000 before the pandemic. “During the extended weekends, pilgrims had to be stopped at base Katra due to overcrowding at the shrine. They were allowed once the rush eased, said Rajesh Sharma, tourism officer at Katra.
Travel and tourism companies are trying to tap the potential of this booming yet unorganised market. A host of ready-to-book pilgrimages and customised spiritual journeys are offered by these companies ranging from Rs 20,000 for a five-day tour package to Rs 200,000 for a 6-day trip.Rajeev Kale, president & countryhead-holidays, MICE, Visa, Thomas Cook (India) told ET that not only older people but even millennials are increasingly embarking on such spiritual journeys. Thomas Cook and its group company, SOTC Travel, have witnessed a 35% growth in specific spiritual tourism packages over pandemic levels and 15% over pre-pandemic levels. Some of the top religious travel destinations include Char Dham Yatra, Do Dham, Vaishno Devi temple, Venkateshwara Temple, Golden Temple, Ajmer Dargah Sharif, and Velankanni Church.
Indian Hotels ( IHCL) which has a strong presence in the country’s top religious spots such as Amritsar, Ajmer, Tirupati, Katra, Varanasi, Nashik, Haridwar, Rishikesh Dwarka is witnessing a spike in hotel occupancy rates with Tirupati registering a 90% increase and 60% hike in places such as Ajmer, Amritsar, Rishikesh and Haridwar.
