Ayodhya set to develop into a far bigger tourism destination
As the tourism and hospitality players are assessing opportunities in the city, it is believed that the initial investments would come from this sector only.
After the recent Supreme Court’s verdict which cleared the way for construction of Ram Temple at Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh, the town is set to be developed into a far bigger tourist destination of the state. The apex court on November 09, 2019 ruled that Hindu parties would get 2.77 acres of disputed land, and a trust would be set up by the central government in three months to monitor the construction of the much awaited Ram Temple
in Ayodhya.
According to the Ministry of Tourism 2017 report, Uttar Pradesh was the second-most visited state by domestic tourists after Tamil Nadu. In 2016, nearly 20 million tourists and pilgrims, including 150,000 foreigners had visited Ayodhya. The huge popularity of the destination among the Hindus, and its close proximity to Varanasi – another prominent religious place and the capital city of the state – Lucknow, Ayodhya is poised to attract lot of investment from the tourism and hospitality sector.
The current government of the state, under the dynamic leadership of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Tourism Minister Neelkanth Tiwari is working on three mega initiatives – Ayodhya Airport, World’s Tallest Lord Ram Statue and New Ayodhya township at the birth place of Lord Rama in the temple town of Uttar Pradesh.
The state government has been allocating large funds to develop the tourism market in the city. Recently the state government had sanctioned about Rs 446 crore for the construction of 725-feet tall Ram Statue on the banks of the Saryu River as part of Ram Nagri project.
The state government has already approved Rs 640 crore for the development of an international airport over 285 acres at Ayodhya to attract domestic and foreign tourists in large numbers. Having an airport would not only uplift the city’s economy but generate higher number of jobs. The tourism department is inviting the applications for Design Development of the Queen Huh Memorial Park project at Ayodhya.
Opportunity for Hotel Development
As hotel and tourism players are assessing opportunities in the city, it is believed that the initial investments would come from the tourism sector only, and once the Ram Temple is constructed, there will be a plenty of business activity which would further boost tourism.
The government has started scouting for land to set up a 200 room star hotel in the temple town. The hotel project is among the slew of big infrastructure and tourism projects proposed by the government to develop the sleepy Hindu religious centre as a modern tourist hotspot.
UP Tourism Minister Neelkanth Tiwari recently directed departmental officials to identify suitable land in Ayodhya for the hotel project and forward the proposal to the headquarters for further action. In fact, the tourism department is working on a roadmap to ramp up its hotels network in all the major towns, equipped with all modern amenities, including ticketing.
“Now that the Ayodhya issue has been put to rest, the holy city is poised to emerge as a huge center of tourism and hospitality. I am confident that within the next 10 years Ayodhya will emerge as a pilgrims’ paradise,” says S N Srivastava, President & Co-founder, Clarks Inn Group
of Hotels.
According to him, “We hear that a lot of developers, hotel companies and operators are scouting for land to build hotels in Ayodhya. There are talks about a leading Indian luxury hotel chain to acquire a big heritage property in this area. Most of the hotels that are operating in Ayodhya today are operating at 100 per cent occupancy. The lands rates have gone up many times because of the increased demand. There are several big hospitality players keen to invest in Ayodhya today.”
Furthermore, the government also has huge plan to develop Ayodhya according to its stature. There are several infrastructure projects being lined up. “Beautification of the holy town, riverfront development, plan to build an over 300 m tall statue of Lord Rama that will probably be the tallest statue in the world once completed, and the center of attraction the Ram Lalla temple complex, among others, will make Ayodhya bigger than Varanasi as a pilgrim and tourist destination once completed. Ayodhya will also benefit from its proximity to Lucknow as it is just a couple of hours drive from the state capital,” added Srivastava.
A homegrown hotels brand Leisure Hotels is planning to pick a heritage property in Ayodhya city which will be convert into a boutique hotel with about 25 rooms. Leisure Hotels is operating as an upscale operator in Uttarakhand, and specifically in tourist destinations like Haridwar, Rishikesh, Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri
.
It is expected that the construction of Ram Temple at Ayodhya will begin by April 2020 and will be ready by 2022. It may be marked by a special event on Ram Navami, which falls on April 2 next year. The temple could take two-three years to complete. The Ram Mandir trust may be based on those for other major temples such as the Somnath Temple, the Amarnath Shrine Board, and the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board. The new trust will registered with the Ministry of Culture.
