Rajasthan becomes a year-round tourism hub, even during the hot summers

Rajasthan, known for being a seasonal tourism destination, is turning out to be a year-round travel hub.

People traditionally visit the state between October and March. But the trend is changing gradually. Figures show that tourists are visiting Rajasthan round the year, even during the hot summers.

Between January and September this year, over 10.80 crore domestic and international tourists visited the state compared to 6.96 crore during the same period last year.

According to trade experts’ estimates, over five crore tourists are expected to visit the state in the remaining three months of the year.

Gajendra Singh, a tour operator in the state, said that the forts, mansions, stepwells and hospitality of Rajasthan were attracting domestic and foreign tourists. He said that an important factor was the trend of destination weddings among Bollywood celebrities.

“The state becomes more famous when Bollywood celebrities like Katrina Kaif, Priyanka Chopra, Kiara Advani, and more recently Parineeti Chopra choose Rajasthan for their weddings. All of them got married in different seasons. Some preferred winter, some in the scorching heat, and some preferred the rainy season. So the word went far that Rajasthan is now a place to visit all year round,” Gajendra said.           

The changing trend in tourism patterns was seen especially after the Covid period, said Surendra Singh, a hotelier in Rajasthan. He said that the occupancy in hotels had also seen an upsurge — at times touching between 70 and 80 percent — particularly during the April-September period.

“This increase of over 3.80 crore (tourists) during the first nine months of this year proves that the state with its forts, palaces, heritage, desert, art and culture is becoming a popular travel destination even during the period which usually was considered lean,” said Surendra.

Tour operator Gajendra said that during the Covid period, the tourism industry was fighting for survival but now, with tourism booming, the industry was providing jobs to many.

He said that this year, Rajasthan attracted a lot of domestic travellers — particularly from southern states — during the summer, monsoon and autumn seasons as they find these periods convenient.