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MUMBAI, INDIA, March 13, 2004: International media coverage and the celebrities descending on the 2001 Kumbh Mela in Allahabad for their holy dip marked a new opportunity for religious travel tours. Religious tourism, until lately the domain of small-time tour operators, is fast turning into a lucrative market for travel companies. A visit to Vaishnodevi, for example, which attracts more than 4.5 million pilgrims every year, need not mean rickety buses or eating at road-side dhabas anymore as travel companies have moved big-time into organizing religious tours. Says Ajay Seth, general manager of the Bharat Dekho division, Cox and Kings, “We went into it in a major way during the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad in 2001. The main target then was the international media and foreign tourists. We provided deluxe accommodation for them — tents with plush interiors. The religious tourism sector is expected to grow by almost 25 percent this year.” Seth adds that more and more people are looking at pilgrimage trips, not from a religious angle but as a spiritual break from their stressful lives. “Another reason for the popularity of religious tourism is the fact that the entire family can visit these places.” “As of now, we are targeting upmarket Indians and overseas tourists for whom safety, comfort and luxury are top priorities, adds Seth.”

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