{"id":219223,"date":"2025-01-19T18:58:21","date_gmt":"2025-01-19T18:58:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/19\/rush-for-maha-kumbh-mela-leads-to-surge-in-tourist-footfall-in-ayodhya\/"},"modified":"2025-01-19T18:58:21","modified_gmt":"2025-01-19T18:58:21","slug":"rush-for-maha-kumbh-mela-leads-to-surge-in-tourist-footfall-in-ayodhya","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/19\/rush-for-maha-kumbh-mela-leads-to-surge-in-tourist-footfall-in-ayodhya\/","title":{"rendered":"Rush for Maha Kumbh Mela leads to surge in tourist footfall in Ayodhya"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/img.etimg.com\/photo\/msid-117378515,imgsize-115694.cms?ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Rush for Maha Kumbh Mela leads to surge in tourist footfall in Ayodhya\" title=\"Rush for Maha Kumbh Mela leads to surge in tourist footfall in Ayodhya\" \/><\/div>\n<div data-brcount=\"18\">The ongoing <a ref=\"dofollow\" data-ga-onclick=\"Inarticle articleshow link click#News#href\" href=\"https:\/\/economictimes.indiatimes.com\/topic\/maha-kumbh-mela\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Maha Kumbh Mela<\/a> in Prayagraj is sparking a surge in tourism in Ayodhya-cities in Uttar Pradesh about 170 kms apart-underscoring the booming <a ref=\"dofollow\" data-ga-onclick=\"Inarticle articleshow link click#News#href\" href=\"https:\/\/economictimes.indiatimes.com\/topic\/religious-travel-circuit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">religious travel circuit<\/a> in India.<\/p>\n<p><style><![CDATA[\n    \t    #sr_widget.onDemand p, #stock_pro.onDemand p{font-size: 14px;line-height: 1.28;}\n    \t    .onDemand .live_stock{left:17px;padding:1px 3px 1px 5px;font-size:12px;font-weight:600;line-height:18px;top:9px}\n    \t    #sr_widget.onDemand .sr_desc{margin:0 auto 0;}\n    \t    #sr_widget.onDemand .sr_desc{color: #024d99;margin-top:10px;}\n    \t    #sr_widget.onDemand .crypto .live_stock .lb-icon{8px 6px 5px 3px !important}\n    \t    #sr_widget.crypto.onDemand a.text{border-bottom:1px solid #ccc;padding-bottom:5px;display:block;width:100%}\n    \t    #sr_widget.onDemand .sr_desc .text p, #stock_pro.onDemand .sr_desc .text p{font-size:12px;font-weight:400;}\n    \t]]><\/style>\n<\/p>\n<p><!--\/article_liveblog.cms?msid=105115637&pos=toppotime:1-->Searches on online portals for Ayodhya have been rising steadily since last October ahead of Maha Kumbh Mela which began on January 13. Hotels in the city-home to the grand temple dedicated to Lord Ram-are fully booked even though the number of daily flights has fallen since the temple&#8217;s consecration in January 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Ayodhya saw a 510% spike in search activity in January 2024 compared to December 2023, as per travel website Ixigo. Searches in January searches were 50% more than February 2024, marking a peak in interest. However, search volumes have since moderated.<\/p>\n<p>Hotel booking data on online travel company Cleartrip showed January accounted for 16.2% of total 2024 bookings, but February saw a sharp 50% drop to 8.1%. Bookings remained subdued in subsequent months with March and April at just 2.0% and 2.9%, respectively. A recovery began in October with a 10.6% increase in searches, ending December at 12.0%. Travel industry executives attribute this to the Maha Kumbh Mela, which is drawing millions of pilgrims, many of whom are making Ayodhya part of their religious travel plans due to the moderate distance. Ayodhya&#8217;s growing popularity as a <a ref=\"dofollow\" data-ga-onclick=\"Inarticle articleshow link click#News#href\" href=\"https:\/\/economictimes.indiatimes.com\/topic\/pilgrimage-destination\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pilgrimage destination<\/a> is propelling religious tourism.<\/p>\n<p><!--\/include_growfast.cms?pagename=article&skipcss=1potime:2-->&#8220;Ayodhya has emerged as a major pilgrimage destination, witnessing a sixfold year-on-year increase in searches,&#8221; said Rajnish Kumar, Group co-CEO of Ixigo. He noted that bus travel to <a ref=\"dofollow\" data-ga-onclick=\"Inarticle articleshow link click#News#href\" href=\"https:\/\/economictimes.indiatimes.com\/topic\/spiritual-destinations\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">spiritual destinations<\/a> grew by 69% year-on-year, with Ayodhya being a top choice.<br \/>The Maha Kumbh Mela is currently driving the region&#8217;s religious tourism circuit. &#8220;It is a common religious circuit for pilgrims. You can finish the Maha Kumbh Mela in a day and then head to Ayodhya to visit the temple,&#8221; said Garish Oberoi, general secretary of the <a ref=\"dofollow\" data-ga-onclick=\"Inarticle articleshow link click#News#href\" href=\"https:\/\/economictimes.indiatimes.com\/topic\/up-hotel-and-restaurant-association\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">UP Hotel and Restaurant Association<\/a>.<a ref=\"dofollow\" data-ga-onclick=\"Inarticle articleshow link click#News#href\" href=\"https:\/\/economictimes.indiatimes.com\/topic\/maharishi-valmiki-international-airport\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Maharishi Valmiki International Airport<\/a> in Ayodhya handled 81,036 passengers on average per month from January to October 2024, according to a reply in the Lok Sabha. Despite a 19.5% reduction in frequencies to 558 flights in October from 693 in March, the airport saw steady growth in passenger traffic.<\/p>\n<p>Vinod Kumar Garg, airport director at Ayodhya said the decline in flights to Ayodhya was due to a shortage of aircraft rather than a drop in demand. &#8220;Flights from Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru are the top three destinations,&#8221; he said. <\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<style><![CDATA[\n    \t    #sr_widget.onDemand p, #stock_pro.onDemand p{font-size: 14px;line-height: 1.28;}\n    \t    .onDemand .live_stock{left:17px;padding:1px 3px 1px 5px;font-size:12px;font-weight:600;line-height:18px;top:9px}\n    \t    #sr_widget.onDemand .sr_desc{margin:0 auto 0;}\n    \t    #sr_widget.onDemand .sr_desc{color: #024d99;margin-top:10px;}\n    \t    #sr_widget.onDemand .crypto .live_stock .lb-icon{8px 6px 5px 3px !important}\n    \t    #sr_widget.crypto.onDemand a.text{border-bottom:1px solid #ccc;padding-bottom:5px;display:block;width:100%}\n    \t    #sr_widget.onDemand .sr_desc .text p, #stock_pro.onDemand .sr_desc .text p{font-size:12px;font-weight:400;}\n    \t]]><\/style>\n<p><!--\/article_liveblog.cms?msid=105115637&pos=botpotime:1--><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/economictimes.indiatimes.com\/news\/india\/rush-for-maha-kumbh-mela-leads-to-surge-in-tourist-footfall-in-ayodhya\/articleshow\/117378515.cms\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The ongoing Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj is sparking a surge in tourism in Ayodhya-cities in Uttar Pradesh about 170 kms apart-underscoring the booming religious travel circuit in India. Searches on online portals for Ayodhya have been rising steadily since last October ahead of Maha Kumbh Mela which began on January 13. Hotels in the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":219224,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/img.etimg.com\/photo\/msid-117378515,imgsize-115694.cms","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[602],"tags":[2710,172567,172565,37311,65073,648,12811,158134,172571,32902,172568,172566,3636,172570,2130,172569,18908,172572],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219223"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=219223"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219223\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":219225,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219223\/revisions\/219225"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/219224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=219223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=219223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}