The property of a reputed hotel chain in Katra is witnessing a 100% appreciation in room rates and sold out inventory, even attracting some celebrity footfalls this year.
Following a two-year lull, religious and spiritual destinations are topping the charts for travel platforms and hotel chains, with many hoteliers keen on expanding their pipeline in such territories.
For instance, Tirupati topped the trending list by a substantial margin in terms of flight searches on Booking.com’s travel search engine KAYAK for travel during Ganesh Chaturthi with searches for the destination increasing by over 477% from the same period in 2019.
This was followed by Varanasi registering a 411% increase. In terms of flight fares, Shirdi at Rs 15,551 was the most expensive destination, along with Varanasi at around Rs 15,029. All prices were for return economy domestic Indian flights based on searches between August 1-22 for travel from August 27-31.
These were compared to searches in a similar time frame for August 2019 for travel between August 29-September 2 2019.
Vikramjit Singh, president at
said the chain’s hotels in Rishikesh and Katra are doing ‘phenomenally well.’
“As we expand, we are also considering the religious belt as the best part about the business in these destinations is that it’s not cyclical or seasonal. Besides Katra and Rishikesh, we have hotels in Dwarka, Amritsar and a property near the
Mahadev temple in Uttarakhand. Occupancies in these destinations are relatively higher than other tier two, tier three cities,” he added.
Nikhil Sharma, regional Director for Eurasia, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts EMEA said the number of travellers to spiritual destinations has doubled post the pandemic.
“We have witnessed a 20% growth in average day rates and occupancies compared to recent years, including 2019. We are looking to expand our properties in India with an active interest in places such as Amritsar, Tirupati, and Shirdi,” he added.
Wyndham operates properties such as Ajmer Ramada, Ramada by Wyndham Varanasi Katesar, Ramada Amritsar, besides a newly opened hotel in Katra.
Deepak Jain, founder of MayFair Consultants, which specialises in hotel, restaurant and real estate consulting said interest among owners for such destinations is seeing more traction post Covid-19. Mayfair Consultants was the advisor for the signing of Marriott Executive Apartments in Amritsar and a new Vivanta hotel in Haridwar this year.
“Ajmer, Mathura, Rishikesh, Vaishnodevi and Tirupati are attracting attention. Occupancies have shown a significant upside especially for branded hotels with the easing of Covid restrictions,” he added.
Zubin Saxena, MD and VP, operations, South Asia at Radisson Hotel Group said the chain is present in several religious destinations such as Gorakhpur, Amritsar, Nathdwara, and will soon open a hotel in Katra.
“We are exploring opportunities in locations like Tirupati. These hotels are commanding good footfalls, especially post the pandemic, and will continue to be a growth area for us in the future.”
Rikant Pittie, co-founder of EaseMyTrip said it is expected that bookings for destinations such as Varanasi, Mathura, Tirupati, Madurai, Amritsar, and Katra will increase in the coming months.
“Post pandemic, the travel industry has seen a major rise in the number of people who are travelling to these religious places. Places like Varanasi, Mathura, Tirupati, Madurai, Amritsar, and Katra have seen a 20-30% increase in bookings since the pandemic,” he added.
