Given the completion of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya this year, as well as a slew of initiatives taken by the Uttar Pradesh government to promote tourism, the State Bank of India's research wing predicts that total expenditure by domestic and foreign tourists in Uttar Pradesh will exceed Rs 4 lakh crore by the end of the year.

SBI Ecowrap forecasts that the state government will receive an additional Rs 20,000-25,000 crore in tax income as a result of a significant increase in tourism during fiscal year 2025.

According to the SBI Research report, the Centre's Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Heritage Augmentation Drive (PRASHAD) project, together with other state government initiatives, is expected to help boost India's spiritual travel industry. The rise in spiritual tourism has already significantly altered the tourism landscape in UP, resulting in improved physical and digital infrastructure, facilitating accessible connectivity, spurring a significant increase in travel, and encouraging people to engage more meaningfully with historical sites.

Domestic tourism in Uttar Pradesh, which boasts various holy locations and shrines such as the Ganga River, Varanasi, the Taj Mahal, and now the new Ram Temple in Ayodhya, is growing at a rapid pace. In 2022, 32 million domestic tourists visited Uttar Pradesh, with 2.21 million of them visiting Ayodhya alone, representing a nearly 200 percent increase.

"According to NSS data (at the all-India level), domestic tourists spend approximately Rs 2.2 lakh crore. Tourism expenditure in Uttar Pradesh totals Rs 2.3 lakh crore, including Rs 10,000 crore spent by foreign tourists. Given the completion of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya and the UP government's initiatives to encourage tourism, we think that total tourist expenditure in UP will exceed Rs 4 lakh crore by the end of this year," said Dr. Soumya Kanti Ghosh, Group Chief Economic Adviser, State Bank of India.

The rise of UP as the face of New India

Prior to the pandemic (2019), India's proportion of international tourism receipts was a meager 2.06%, ranking 14th. Even in the Asia-Pacific area, it held only a 7% market share and ranked sixth.

"As a countermeasure, in recent years, the central government's PRASHAD (Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Heritage Augmentation Drive) scheme, in collaboration with partnering states, has played a crucial role in the development of spiritual travel, creating an enabling ecosystem by augmenting infrastructure while disseminating knowledge at tier III and tier IV cities as well as the travel and hospitality sector integrates and gears up for the mega makeover to serve the hitherto. The state government can create an all-encompassing travel itinerary that provides discriminating tourists with a view of the magical history spanning many places of importance in the state as well as neighboring states, using a hub and spoke approach. Moving forward, India can look forward to building a tourism map that smoothly connects the ancient places here with those of Angkor Wat, Sri Lanka, Batu Caves, Pashupatinath, and Prambanan for the new age salvation," noted the report.

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