Religious Tourism: The Indian Travel Industry’s Next Big Bet
Skift Take
The money from the pockets of Indian devotees is overflowing from the donation boxes in temples and spilling onto the travel industry. Hotels, airlines, and travel agencies are all placing their faith in the business of religion.
Picture this: A sea of 50 million people, all accumulated in an area of 4,000 hectares for one purpose – to celebrate the holy Hindu gathering of Mahakumbh 2025. In its 45-day run, the once-in-144-years festival was visited by over 660 million devotees, well above projections for 400 million.
For 24-year-old Kaustubh Kambiri, the trip to Mahakumbh was an opportunity to visit the historic festival, as well as explore the diverse culture that finds its roots in the Indian hinterlands.
Kambiri went to Prayagraj for the festival and combined it with visits to Lucknow, Varanasi, and Ayodhya.
“I met people from all walks of life during the visit to Mahakumbh, and then at the Kashi Vishwanath Temple, and Ram Temple in Ayodhya. It was a great way to get a glimpse into the diversity within India, a truly immersive travel experience that went beyond just spirituality."
Mahakumbh is just one example of a trend that has emerged as a key force in India’s travel industry, and hotels, airlines, and online travel agencies are all taking note.
Consider some of the opportunities:
India is the third-largest source of non-domestic travel for Saudi Arabia’s Hajj pilgrimage after Indonesia and Pakistan, according to Statista. Within India, there are many religious sites for Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Muslims, and Christians. In 2024, 512,000 devotees went on the annual Amarnath Yatra trek to the Hindu shrine of Amarnath Temple in Jammu and Kashmir, the highest in the past 12 years, according to Indian home minister Amit Shah. The Sikh religious site of the Golden Temple in Amritsar is visited by about 100,000 devotees every day. The Ajmer Dargah Sharif is considered to be among the holiest Muslim shrines in India. An estimated 30,000 pilgrims visit the shrine every day. The Tirupati Balaji Temple in Andhra Pradesh is visited by an average of 70,000 Hindu devotees a day. Last year, Goa held the exposition of the relics of St Francis Xavier for public viewing, an event that comes every 10 years and an important one for Catholics across the globe. Over 45 days, there were more than 8 million visitors, according to Goa daily Gomantak Times.What’s more, the trend spans generations, as data for the Mahakumbh from online travel agency Ixigo shows. “Notably, young travellers aged 20-25 make up 26% of total bus boo
