Hotels include holy places on the menu

With domestic tourism booming, holy places have started figuring on hotel chains' radar. A number of hospitality groups have drawn up plans to start hotels in places of pilgrimage.

The Taj group-promoted Ginger Hotel, for example, is looking for the right place to house its new facility in Tirupati, where one of the richest shrines in the world is situated.

The group has already a hotel operational in the temple town of Hardwar and construction is in full swing at Nashik, another holy place in Maharashtra.

Sarovar Hotels, too, is planning to build hotels in Pushkar (Rajasthan), Mathura and Amritsar. The group has hotels in Badrinath and also Shirdi, where the famous Sai Baba temple is situated .

The group's interest in Pushkar is because of its proximity to another well-known place of pligrimage Ajmer Sharif.

Amritsar's Golden Temple is a hot spot for both domestic and NRI visitors.

Anil Madhok, MD, Sarovar Hotels, said: "In order to make most of their business trips, a lot of people visit these religious places."

Prabhat Pani, CEO, Ginger Hotel, said, "Many cities in India are both business hubs as well as leisure or religious destinations. Our requirement is to set up a hotel where we have a mix of business and a non-business traveller."

A group of 20 investors, lead by US-based NRIs, are planning to build upmarket dharamshalas in 20 religious places in the country.

Lack of proper accommodation facilities is also attracting these hotel groups to come up with alternatives.

Said an analyst, "Four years ago, there was not a single decent hotel in Nashik. Now there are many. Similarly, a few have come up in Hardwar."

The hospitality groups are also looking at a different and 'genuine category' of well-heeled religious tourists. "Organised trips are arranged to these places. Also, the strength of domestic tourists is big enough for the hotels to make a good business," said an analyst.

"However, lack of proper amenities are keeping people in the age group of 30-45 away from these places and this segment needs to be attracted," said an analyst.

However, not only the hotel industry, but temple boards too are realising the potential of tourists.

For instance, Sri Nathdwara temple in Rajasthan is developing the temple and its surrounding area with the help of Hiranandani Builders.