The global economic downfall brought about by the outbreak of pandemic in 2020 was triggered in big part by the collapse of tourism industry and tourism has played an equally important role in the recovery that one has seen around the world in the last two years .

It needs no further study to prove that tourism rescues and drives the economy. It helps in solving many economic issues that often plague even good and robust economies, such as employment generation, regional imbalances, lack of supplementary incomes, foreign exchange defects or balance of payments. Similarly, tourism also helps in solving many social and cultural issues even between the most diverse communities of the hosts and the guests.

In many civilisations, tourism began with teerthatan, where people travelled for religious and spiritual purposes but always supported economies as its natural benefit, and it also is the most sustainable social form of tourism till date and not just in India.

The state of Uttar Pradesh has been in the forefront and over the last eight years or so, the state has realised the power of spiritual tourism to drive the entire tourism industry forward.

Historically, too, domestic tourism in India has been dominated by spiritual tourism and visitations to key spiritual sites across the country outstrip global icons of spiritual tourism like the Vatican City and Mecca by a wide margin.

Diversifying tourism beyond Taj Mahal

Having relied for long on Taj Mahal as its focus for promoting tourism, domestic and international, Uttar Pradesh has been missing out on other destinations and aspects that could help it attract more tourists. Even the travel trade in the state and the country was content to rely solely on the Taj Mahal and Agra to drive their business ahead.

However, with the development of new destinations, notably in spiritual tourism, and improved infrastructure and connectivity within the state as well as of the state with the rest of the country and even overseas, Uttar Pradesh is now reaping the benefits of a broader appeal as a tourism destination.

In the past few years, the state government has been working consistently to leverage the power of tourism by way of four-pronged strategy, namely identification, planning, time-bound implementation and quantifiable monitoring .

Source: Jefferies Report & Statista

The mapping of tourism circuits of religious importance in the state was a huge step in this direction. Be it the Ramayana circuit or sites linked to deities like Krishna, Buddha, Jain Tirthankars or even the great Sufi saints, have all been mapped strategically, with a primary objective to boost the state’s economy through tourism in a time-bound manner.

In 2018 and later in 2022, the Uttar Pradesh Government came up with a very futuristic tourism policy that has attracted huge investments in the state which has actually become an example of planned tourism development for other Indian states to follow.

The policy not only incentivised tourism projects but also paid huge attention to employment generation, participation of women in tourism and skilling youth for tourism and more. The policy is quite holistic in nature and deals with rural, agricultural, ecological, urban and adventure tourism in equal measure and also conforms to the guidelines of responsible tourism. As a result, tourism in Uttar Pradesh is emerging as an economic equaliser, spreading benefits in all regions of the state.

For the first time, forlorn regions of the state, notably Bundelkhand and Poorvanchal, have been brought into focus. How interesting is the fact that tourism is an activity that can happen even in the regions that may not be so rich in natural resources or have fertile land. Where many businesses fail, tourism may still flourish. Regions that were long ignored have finally found a saviour in this government through tourism.

In 2019, Uttar Pradesh was the most visited state in the country, taking a sizeable share of 23.1 pc of overall domestic tourism market that translated into about 536 million tourists. In terms of international arrivals, the situation of the state was no less encouraging as it was visited by about 4.75 million overseas tourists, over 40 pc of the total foreign visitors to India that year.

When international tourism came to a stand-still due to the pandemic, it was domestic tourism that came to the rescue, and most of it was driven by spiritual purposes. The latest figures have far left behind the pre-pandemic numbers and in many places of the state, the annual footfall of the past is equal to the monthly footfall now.

Uttar Pradesh is one state where not only Gods dwelled, but Gods and saints were actually born, including Lord Rama and Lord Krishna and then, there were great sages and preachers too, who took birth here or made it their home, two names that very few would know are those of Swami Narayan of Akshardham fame and Maharishi Patanjali to whom the credit of Yoga and Indian traditional medicine system is attributed to. Saint Kabir, Ravidas, Goswami Tulsidas, Surdas and so many more were born here. Also, Lord Shiva made Kashi his home which is one of the 12 Jyotirlingas or holiest sites of Hinduism. There are also about five Shakti Peethas, or temples dedicated to Goddess Shakti and her avatars and of course, the Gorakhnath temple of Nath monastic in Gorakhpur.

A hectic spiritual calendar

Being home to so many religious sites of importance, Uttar Pradesh has a a very busy spiritual calendar, with numerous festivals and events that attract millions of pilgrims from all over the country and even across the world.

The biggest such event is the Kumbh Mela, which is held at Prayagraj, earlier known as Allahabad, on the confluence of three rivers, the Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati. The main Kumbh takes place every 12 years and is recorded as the largest gathering of humanity in the world and by a wide margin. Over a period of barely 60 days, as many as 250 million pilgrims and other visitors gather on the banks of the rivers to offer their prayers and be part of a key event on the Hindu calendar.

The next edition of the ‘Maha Kumbh’, as it is called, will take place in a few months from now and is slated to begin on January 13, 2025. The last Kumbh, which was not even a ‘Maha Kumbh’, held in 2019, saw over 250 million pilgrims and tourists and next year, as many as 400 million visitors are expected within a span of less than 2 months.

Prayagraj is also a host to an annual religious fair at the same site named as Magh Mela, which can be best described as a miniature Kumbh Mela and is quite popular with the tourists. Other major spiritual events in Uttar Pradesh include Ram Navami, which marks the birth of Lord Rama, and Diwali in Ayodhya, Shiv Raatri, honouring Lord Shiva, in Varanasi, Krishna Janamashtami, the birth of Lord Krishna and Holi, the festival of colours, in Mathura-Vrindavan and Eid and Muharram in Lucknow. All of these events attract a large number of tourists and contribute significantly to local economies in terms of revenues and employment.

Buddhism is yet another important attraction for spiritual tourism in Uttar Pradesh with important Buddhist centres like Sarnath, Sravasti, Kushinagar, Kaushambi, Kapilvastu and Sankisa which are a must-visit for Buddhist pilgrims, not just from India, but also from China, Japan, Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Laos and Mongolia. Many Buddhists from Europe and the Americas also turn up here.

Pathways for progress

Looking ahead, as part of its programme to develop the sector further and boost tourism to Uttar Pradesh further, the government has initiated several projects of which at least three mega projects can prove to be game changers. These are Kashi Vishwanath Corridor in Varanasi, Ayodhya Development Project and the Vindhyanchal Corridor. All these are examples of urban planning with tourism in focus, proving that the state government sees tourism as an economic driver of growth.

Ayodhya, in particular, is the highlight, as it has emerged as India’s hottest tourist destination. With planning from scratch and all-round and time-bound development of infrastructure, Ayodhya has become the most popular destination in the present times where everyone wants to visit and be blessed by Lord Rama.

In terms of infrastructure, Uttar Pradesh now has the highest number of international airports in India, and about 20 airports connect the state to the rest of India. Uttar Pradesh also has an impressive and enviable road network which includes a network of almost 10 expressways, highest in any state of India and many others under planning or construction. The government is also increasing the network of heliports which will provide last mile air-connectivity even to the remote locations. Similarly, many river cruises have begun operating in Rivers Ganga and Saryu, and an increasing availability of water sports activities in the numerous rivers that criss-cross Uttar Pradesh are also leveraging the growth of tourism here.

The launch of international airports at Kushinagar and Ayodhya are examples of building robust infrastructure for tourism and the biggest boost to connectivity would be provided when Jewar Airport in Greater Noida, a greenfield project, will become operational. Not only would it be in contention to become India’s largest and the most superior airport, it would change the destiny of Indian aviation and tourism. Similarly, Agra is about to get a new civil airport to make it more accessible by air with the rest of India. Then there are developments for enhanced passenger and cargo capacities at existing international airports of Lucknow and Varanasi which would also boost air connectivity of the state significantly.

Being a large state, rail connectivity in Uttar Pradesh has always been good, but now with the modern and high speed trains like Vande Bharat and Tejas touching the state’s important tourist places and a highly awaited glass dome train in Dudhwa National Park passing through the dense forest that is home to a rich wildlife, are all set to further enhance tourist connectivity and experience in the state.

Historically, Uttar Pradesh was always a major tourism destination and the continued efforts of the state are poised to propel this growth to the next level. The government of Uttar Pradesh has set a target to double the state’s economy to USD 1 trillion by 2027 and contribute significantly to India’s vision of becoming a USD 5 trillion economy. And I am certain that the development of tourism would play a key role in helping the government achieve its target.