Ardh Kumbh in Prayagraj expected to witness 40 pct rise in foreign tourists

This year Ardh Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh is expected to witness up to 40 per cent growth in foreign tourist arrivals while it will also see considerable growth in domestic visitors, especially millennials, according to industry experts. Kumbh Mela, which began on January 15 and will continue till March 4 in Prayagraj (earlier known as Allahabad).

Tourists primarily from the UK, USA and rest of Europe and also from the Far East, including Singapore have been travelling to take part in the 49-day Mela, TUTC (The Ultimate Travelling Camp) co-founder Dhun Cordo told PTI here. With diverse offerings offered by various travel companies at Kumbh is offering pilgrims to experience the festival in many different moods with a lot of traction from both inbound and domestic travellers, Cordo said.

"The demand for the camps is very encouraging and our occupancy ranges between 80 to 85 per cent. It is a mix of Indian and foreign tourists in the range of 50:50," Cordo added. Echoing a similar view, Expedia India Marketing head Manmeet Ahluwalia said Ardh Kumbha Mela is a grand affair that attracts travellers from not just India but across the globe.

For the new generation travel enthusiasts, the mela has evolved from a religious gathering to an experience that is a mixture of rituals and spirituality coming together, he added. "In the past month, we have seen surge in query and booking rise by 35-40 per cent from across India. We have seen rise in query and traction from places like Delhi, Uttarakhand, Meghalaya, Tripura, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh. Internationally, we have seen a surge in query and booking go up by 17-20 per cent from Oman, Sri Lanka, Nepal, UAE, UK, Indonesia and US," he added.

Big Breaks.com managing director Kapil Goswamy said, the UP government having created infrastructure around the Kumbh Mela, promoted it globally and encouraged travel agents to sell packages for the event. He said, there has been an increase of 35-40 percent in the number of foreign tourists travelling to Prayagraj from around 70 countries, including Afghanistan, the US, Canada, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Argentina, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Cuba, Trinidad and Tobago, Mexico, El Salvador, Paraguay, Turkey, Tunisia, Sri Lanka, Belgium, Malaysia, South Africa have been travelling to take part in the 49-day Mela.

"There has been a very good demand, both from domestic and international tourists due to the high-end luxury accommodation available at Kumbh," he added. Meanwhile, Thomas Cook opined that there is a rising interest among millennials.

"There has been an increase in working millennials from metro cities. Interestingly, this year TCIL received over 800 requests from people for its Kumbh Mela packages, of which a majority came from the working millennials of the metro cities of Mumbai, Bangalore, and Delhi opting for short, affordable and experiential packages," Thomas Cook said.

Travel marketplace ixigo's CEO and co-founder Aloke Bajpai said, "we have seen an average of 30 per cent increase in travel searches from youngsters and working professionals." Youth travel is on the rise with 66 per cent Indian millennials between the age bracket of 15-35 years opting to visit the event, he added.