Praycation: Religion To The Rescue Of Covid-Battered Travel Sector

By investing in the development of pilgrimage destinations, governments are harnessing the potential of religious tourism as a growth driver for the overall tourism sector. At the same time, it is good politics too

- Rajat Mishra

 In December 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Kashi Vishwanath corridor, connecting the Kashi Vishwanath temple to the adjacent Ganga river. The sprawling corridor, spanning over five lakh square feet and constructed at a cost of Rs 339 crore, houses 23 buildings, including a tourist facilitation centre, city museum and viewing gallery among others. Ten months later, in October 2022, Modi inaugurated the magnificent Mahakal Lok corridor in Ujjain, which was constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 860 crore.

These two corridors hold the story of the government’s push for spiritual tourism at a time when the tourism sector has not yet fully recovered from Covid-19 and continues to face challenges amidst global economic slowdown. Domestic tourists, especially the ones headed to religious places, seem to be making up for the lack of international tourist arrivals.

The government’s signature corridors are fast eliciting politico-religious interest among domestic tourists, while the government is happy to count the spurt in revenue at these sites. “Since the inauguration of the Kashi Vishwanath corridor, over 10 crore pilgrims have visited it, which is an accomplishment. Currently, the daily visitor count on weekends goes up to 2.5 lakh. On weekdays, the number stands somewhere around one lakh to 1.25 lakh,” Sunil Verma, CEO of the Kashi Vishwanath Trust, tells Outlook Business.

According to him, ever since the new corridor was inaugurated, the revenue of the Kashi Vishwanath temple has risen by 500%. "We had a revenue of Rs 20 crore in FY20, which went up to Rs 100 crore in FY22. We are expecting over Rs 200 crore in revenue in FY24," he adds.