The India faith based tourism market provides tourists a unique experience of religious travel in India by visiting various pilgrimage sites, temples, mosques, churches, monasteries and ashrams located across the country. Faith based tourism enables spiritual growth of travellers through visits to popular religious sites and participation in religious activities and rituals. The key motivation for faith based tourism is to seek blessings, peace of mind, solutions to personal problems and reconnect with faith.
India faith based tourism market size is estimated to be valued at US$ 3,158.9 Mn in 2024 and is expected to exhibit a CAGR of 15% over the forecast period 2024 to 2031.
Key Takeaways
Key players operating in the India faith based tourism market are MakeMyTrip, Thomas Cook (India) Ltd, Cox & Kings Ltd, Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India Ltd, Yatra Online Pvt Ltd, International Travel House Ltd, Expedia, Ibibo Group, SOTC Travel Limited, Kesari Tours, Cleartrip, EasyMyTrip, Balmer Lawrie Travel & Vacations, Holy Voyages, Soul of India., Tour My India, and Prime Travels.
The key opportunities in the market include increasing popularity of last minute bookings, customized religious tours and pilgrimages, promoting lesser-known religious sites, and offering ancillary spiritual services and wellness therapies along with trips.
Technological advancements such as virtual/augmented reality, blockchain, artificial intelligence and messaging platforms are enabling smooth and seamless bookings, payments and assistance for travelers. This is expected to boost the India Faith Based Tourism Market Size in India.
Market Drivers
Increased religious engagement of millennials and growing influence of social media are the major market drivers for India faith based tourism. The digital native millennials are more interested in having unique spiritual experiences during their travels. Proliferation of social networks is facilitating recommendations and reviews which is influencing travel plans of millions.
Current Challenges in India Faith Based Tourism Market
The india faith based tourism market is currently facing few challenges which includes lack of proper infrastructure at religious places, lack of higih quality accomodation and transportation facilities near religious sites, shortage of guides who can explain significance and history of religious places, lack of basic amenities like clean washrooms, drinking water and proper signages at various religious destinations. Sometimes overcrowding during major religious festivals also creates problems for visitors. The authorities need to work on improving these areas to enhance visitors experience and promote faith based tourism in the country.
SWOT Analysis
- Strength: India is known for its diverse culture and rich heritage of various religions which attracts both domestic and international tourists. The presence of major pilgrimage sites of multiple faiths makes India an important faith based tourism destination.
- Weakness: Despite high tourism potential, the infrastructure and facilities near many religious sites still needs considerable improvement. Lack of coordination between tourism and religious authorities also affects proper development of tourist circuits and trails.
- Opportunity: With growing importance of spiritual and religious tourism globally, India can further strengthen its position by developing new circuits and trails connecting lesser known faith based destinations. Digital marketing initiatives can boost promotion.
- Threats: Political and social unrest in certain regions adversely impacts visit of pilgrims. Natural calamities may also disrupt tourism temporarily to affected religious places. Competition from other Asian countries for attracting faith based tourists is a challenge.
Geographical Concentration
In terms of value, the north Indian states including Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana among others account for a major share in the India faith based tourism market currently. This is because of presence of highly revered pilgrimage destinations like Varanasi, Haridwar, Amritsar, Ajmer, Pushkar in these states.
Fastest Growing Region
The south Indian states particularly Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are emerging as the fastest growing regions in the faith based tourism market in India. This is attributed to factors like increasing promotion of lesser known temples and religious sites, local government initiatives to improve basic facilities and development of new tourism products focused around spiritual experiences and wellness. Cities like Chennai, Bengaluru, Coimbatore, Mysore and Madurai are witnessing steady rise in both domestic and international religious visitors.
*Note:
1. Source: Coherent Market Insights, Public sources, Desk research
2. We have leveraged AI tools to mine information and compile it
