The hotel industry is gearing up to tap the booming pilgrimage tourism sector of India. With travellers ranging from celebrities to businessmen and young professionals, the demand for branded hotels at religious places has gone up.
For instance, Starwood is setting up a 180-room property, under the Sheraton brand, in Amritsar. It’s likely to be operational in the next two years. “It is a highly under-supplied market and hence a huge growth opportunity for some of Starwood brands like Sheraton, Four Points, Aloft Hotels. We are on a look out for opportunities in various places and talking to the local developers,” said Dilip Puri, managing director, Starwood Hotels and Resorts India. Besides Amritsar, where the hotel company wants to tap into the crowd coming to see Golden Temple, Starwood is also keen on opening hotels across Tirupati, Shirdi and Vaishno Devi, among others.
With 23 million visitors every year, Tirupati’s tally exceeds the combined tourist arrivals of Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Kolkata. Some of the upcoming destinations for hotel companies include Shirdi, Nasik, Ajmer, Tirupati and Mathura, among others. “Currently, the options are very few and most have to make do with guest houses and mom-and-pop outlets. There is a huge gap as people are willing to spend and upgrade, but there are hardly any branded hotels in these places,” said Pankaj Arora, managing director, Protiviti Consulting.
“Religious destinations have taken a top priority for us in the past one year and we are keen on opening hotels in some such destinations. The domestic tourism in India mainly comprises those visiting relatives or pilgrimage with the latter being a much bigger part,” said Jean-Michele Casse, senior vice-president, operations, Accor Hotels India.
Hotel Leela Ventures is also toying with the idea of launching its three-star brand Leela Gardens at pilgrimage destinations such as Banaras, Rishikesh, Haridwar and Nalanda.
Ginger Hotels, a budget chain part of the Indian Hotels Company Limited, is also expanding to cater to religious travelers in similar destinations.
| RELIGIOUS HOTSPOTS Destinations where major brands plan new hotels | ||
| City | Visitors* | Branded hotel chains present |
| Tirupati | 23.00 | Fortune hotel |
| Puri | 18.17 | The Hans Group, Best Western |
| Vaishno Devi | 17.25 | Carlson |
| Haridwar | 11.04 | Carlson Group, Ginger, Sarovar |
| Ajmer Sharif | 8.22 | Ambassador, Mansingh Group |
| Amritsar | 7.13 | Svaasa Group, Best Western |
| Shirdi | 6.21 | Sun and Sand hotel, Best Western |
| Badrinath & Kedarnath | 4.10 | Sarovar Group |
Also, Carlson Hotels, which operates the Park Plaza, Radisson and Country Inn brands, is developing additional five hotels and is focusing on locations such as Haridwar, Amritsar and Ajmer. These hotels would have a total of 491 rooms and is expected to be operational by 2014. The Sarovar Group, which manages 35 hotels across the country, will build three-star hotels – one each in the Himalayan temple town of Badrinath, Pushkar in Rajasthan and Shirdi in Maharashtra — next year. Sarovar Hotels & Resorts recently tied up with Africa-based Marasa Hospitality to set up four hotels in religious destinations at an estimated investment of Rs 180 crore. In the next five years, the group plans to expand to more religious locations with an investment of Rs 400 crore. In 2010, the total number of domestic travellers in India was estimated at 740 million. Tourism ministry plans to add over 100,000 star category rooms in such destinations by 2014. Various states are also waking up to the opportunities thrown by religious turism.
Himachal Pradesh government is planning to develop a religious tourist circuit by spending Rs 6.15 crore on the Una-Chintpurni-Bilaspur circuit to facilitate pilgrims visiting prominent shrines there. Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC), which runs the luxury train Deccan Odyssey, plans to use the train for religious tourism to the popular pilgrimage destination of Shirdi in Ahmednagar district.
MTDC will charge around Rs 20,000 per person for the round trip. The journey will also cover Trimbakeshwar, near Nashik. Besides, the Rajasthan government has put aside Rs 1.50 crore for development work at the Ajmer Dargah, Kailadevi, Salasar Balaji and Khatu Shyamji temples.
