Sun-chase, a tourism lesson from Europe

On Wednesday, Europe demonstrated how even the heavens can be monetised. A total solar eclipse, visible across Greenland, Iceland, Spain and part of Portugal, and partial eclipse across other parts of the continent, may have lasted a few minutes, but it was cause for a week-long tourism festival. Cruise ships sailed to prime viewing spots. Iceland threw all-day parties. Spanish towns brimmed with visitors who had booked hotels at eye-watering rates months in advance. What is usually a fleeting astronomical spectacle, became a high-end economic bonanza.

With infrastructure, organisation and a flair for packaging in place, even the most ephemeral event can be hitched to the tourism and hospitality economy - in a scalable, non-piecemeal way. One, infrastructure readiness: air connectivity, cruise liners and road networks ensured thousands could reach remote corners without chaos. Two, service industry innovation: festivals combined science lectures with music and gastronomy, turning eclipse-chasing into cultural immersion. Three, luxury positioning: curated packages offered champagne at sea or mountaintop observatories, elevating astronomy into exclusivity.

In India, we have our own celestial spectacles - meteor showers, lunar eclipses, not to mention moon-spotting on Karwa Chauth and Id ul-Fitr - that attract millions. Yet, the experience is often chaotic, under-supplied and undersold. Ladakh monasteries could host eclipse-watchers, Rajasthan deserts offer meteor-viewing safaris, Varanasi ghats combine lunar eclipses with curated cultural performances. With the right investment in transport, crowd management and safety, India could take it a few notches up to transform its natural phenomena into destinations for high-end travellers.