The Increasing Significance of Religious Tourism: A Case from Uttar Pradesh, India

• Main Author: Aruna Dhamija
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Technological University Dublin
• Series: International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage
• Subjects: tourism; religious; spiritual; domestic; international; Analysis of Variance
• Online Access: https://arrow.tudublin.ie/ijrtp/vol8/iss8/12

Tourism, in its numerous forms is a major source of income for various nations. India is no exception to this. Within some countries, a few states bring the major chunk of tourists. Uttar Pradesh is one such state for India which, on the virtue of its diversity, population and geographical size, has been at the forefront of attracting tourists from not only the country but globally. There has been a consistent shift in the profile of visiting tourists as they have displayed a marked change from those seeking recreational activities to those who visit a tourist destination owing to its religious significance. The present research study is an attempt in this direction whereby rigorous work has been carried out by empirically analysing secondary data employing such tools as Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Regression. Compound annual growth rate has been used to evaluate the comparison of religious tourism and general / non-religious tourism. It is important to understand overall tourism as well as religious tourism to arrive at various results which could be utilised by stakeholders like government agencies, religious bodies & shrines, hospitality industry players and other concerned entities. The study examines the total influx of tourists in Uttar Pradesh along with exploring the data according to various parameters such as international, religious and recreational tourists and derives findings that note the increased speed of international tourists which has surpassed that of domestic tourists in recent years (2014-18). Also, the contribution of religious tourists in the overall tourist numbers in the state has gone up considerably with time thus implying that the concerned bodies would do well if they serve this segment of tourists. The findings of the study, along with their implications, point in this direction.