Branded hotels see massive opportunity in India's underserved pilgrimage tourism market
India's pilgrimage sites attract millions, yet branded hotels are largely absent. This presents a significant opportunity for the growing religious tourism industry. Devotees now expect modern amenities, driving demand for comfortable accommodati...
By ET Bureau |
ET Bureau
India’s expanding religious tourism market offers branded hotels a major opportunity to deliver quality accommodation and modern hospitality at pilgrimage destinations. (Representative Image)
India's pilgrimage towns are awash with humanity, but starved of high-end hospitality. Ayodhya, Tirupati, Varanasi and Shirdi together draw tens of millions of devotees each year. Yet, branded hotels are conspicuous by their absence. Alan Watts, Hilton's Asia-Pacific president, is blunt: there is 'almost no branded supply' at such destinations. For a country that aspires to be the world's third-largest lodging market, this is a gaping opportunity disguised as a yawning gap.
Religious tourism is not a niche sideshow but a $60-bn industry, which is growing as India's upper-middle aspirational classes with money to spend demand comfort to go with their devotion. Pilgrims increasingly take air-conditioning, Wi-Fi and reliable service for granted. It's no longer a clean cot in a dharamshala.
Read more: FSSAI issued clear directives to 5-star hotels emphasising zero tolerance for any violations ahead of BRICS Summit: Sources
The Indian diaspora, too, wants to get a slice of this spiritual pie with five-star amenities. To make branded religious tourism thrive, three ingredients are essential.
One, infrastructure investment: airports, roads and utilities must keep pace with crowds. A luxury suite is of little use if the journey there is a penance.
Two, cultural sensitivity: hotels must blend luxury with reverence - prayer halls, architecture echoing temple motifs, aesthetics. Third, partnerships with temple trusts: legitimacy depends on being seen as enhancing, not exploiting, faith.
Read more: Launch of 6,000 luxury hotel rooms likely in Delhi NCR by 2030
The risks are real. Over-commercialisation of the high-end kind can provoke backlash. The line between lux service and opulence is thin. Yet, the rewards are immense. Branded hotels can capture a slice of a vast market while raising standards. A well-run luxury resort or hotel in, say, Madurai would be an apt statement of India's ability to marry tradition with modernity, faith with commerce.
Religious tourism is not a niche sideshow but a $60-bn industry, which is growing as India's upper-middle aspirational classes with money to spend demand comfort to go with their devotion. Pilgrims increasingly take air-conditioning, Wi-Fi and reliable service for granted. It's no longer a clean cot in a dharamshala.
Read more: FSSAI issued clear directives to 5-star hotels emphasising zero tolerance for any violations ahead of BRICS Summit: Sources
The Indian diaspora, too, wants to get a slice of this spiritual pie with five-star amenities. To make branded religious tourism thrive, three ingredients are essential.
One, infrastructure investment: airports, roads and utilities must keep pace with crowds. A luxury suite is of little use if the journey there is a penance.
Two, cultural sensitivity: hotels must blend luxury with reverence - prayer halls, architecture echoing temple motifs, aesthetics. Third, partnerships with temple trusts: legitimacy depends on being seen as enhancing, not exploiting, faith.
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Read more: Launch of 6,000 luxury hotel rooms likely in Delhi NCR by 2030
The risks are real. Over-commercialisation of the high-end kind can provoke backlash. The line between lux service and opulence is thin. Yet, the rewards are immense. Branded hotels can capture a slice of a vast market while raising standards. A well-run luxury resort or hotel in, say, Madurai would be an apt statement of India's ability to marry tradition with modernity, faith with commerce.
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