Impact of

Religion on
Development of
Tourism In India
Anubhav Shukla
Abhigyan Anupam
Avijit Jamloki
Abshar Aghwani
Gunjan Kabdwal
Fareed Laiq
WHAT IT IS?
Religious tourism can be defined as travel with the
core motive of experiencing religious forms, or the
product they induce, like art, culture, tradition, and
architecture.
Perspective of Religious Tourism
in India
There are two distinct aspects to Religious Tourism in
India; one, the faith of the domestic tourist, who has a
spiritual attachment to the deity/destination in line
with their religious beliefs; the other is the 'foreign’
tourist, someone belonging to a different religion,
region or country, for whom the destination and the
religious practices have the dimension of 'novelty', a
spiritual experience different from their own, despite
the ethical values being delivered remaining the same.
Cont..
From the domestic market's perspective, there is a fine
line dividing business and belief. Many temples,
mosques, churches, gurudwaras and other major
religious centres, in today's socio-economic structures,
are tangible assets in terms of infrastructure and the
workforce they employ, thereby implying that the
institution has to monetize itself in order to be able to
meet its everyday survival in societal environments.
Religion in India
1.9 0.8 0.4 0.6
2.3

13.4

80.5

Hindus Muslims Christians Sikhs Budhisht Jains Others

Religious Tourism In India


A study by the Delhi based National Council for Applied
Economic Research (NCAER) shows that of the 230 million
tourist trips undertaken in India, the largest proportion is
made up of religious pilgrimages. Such journeys, which are
undertaken by both rural and urban Indians, outnumber
leisure holidays in hill stations, getaways to sea beaches and
even trips to metropolitan cities. The research also shows that
of all the package tours organised in India, religious trips
accounted for 50 per cent, much higher than leisure tour
packages at 28 per cent.
 Contd.
For instance, as many as 23 million people visited Tirupati, a temple
town near the southern tip of India to catch a glimpse of a deity
known as Lord Balaji. Tirupati’s annual list of pilgrims is higher
than the total number of travelers visiting Mumbai, Delhi,
Bangalore and Kolkata put together. To manage such a large
number of people, infrastructure has been beefed up by religious
trusts, state governments, private chains and the central
government.
Religious Tourism India’s USP

 Vaishno Devi
 Uttrakhand Char Dham
 Jagannath Temple, Puri
 Kumbh Mela
 Tomb of Moinuddin Chisti
 Golden Temple
 Shirdi
 Mathura
 Dwarka
 Rameshwaram
 Haji Ali
 Jama Masjid
Development of Religious
Tourism in India
Buddhist Circuit
Other Tourist Circuits
Issue Faced in Developing
Religious Tourism
 Carrying Capacity
 Waste Management
 Air Pollution
 Monetizing Religion
 Lack of scrutiny of religious trusts
Points for Development of
Religious Tourism in India
 Developing Religious Tourism Circuits through a Hub and Spoke
Model
 Providing the tourists with a holistic tourism experience
 Marketing religious tourism destinations needs special training
 Developing integrated infrastructure
 Enhanced emphasis of minimizing the impact on the environment
 Scrutiny of religious trusts
 Developing appropriate Institutional Framework to stimulate the
 growth of Religious Tourism
 Pricing of religious tourism products
 Improving connectivity to specific religious tourism circuits to
promote them
Jai Hind!