Religious Tourism: An Insight Into the Government's Efforts to Promote “Incredible India”

Abstract

This chapter is focused on India's destination marketing strategies that promote religious tourism. It sheds light on the Government of India's initiatives to attract faithful tourists to sacred locations including holy temples and places of interest for spiritual pilgrims. The tourism business in India has gone through numerous phases of growth. This research reveals how the state government and central governments have stepped up their commitment to develop tourism, including religious tourism, on multiple fronts. It confirms that India can be rightly considered as the land of faith, as spirituality and religion are very prominent, as evidenced by its holy temples and landmarks, located in different regions of the subcontinent. In conclusion, it discusses about the challenges for the future, and elaborates on the opportunities related to promoting religious tourism to target faithful pilgrims and other visitors to “Incredible India.”

Citation

Bhadeshiya, H. and Prajapati, U. (2024), "Religious Tourism: An Insight Into the Government's Efforts to Promote “Incredible India”", Camilleri, M.A. (Ed.) Tourism Planning and Destination Marketing, 2nd Edition, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 237-258. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80455-888-120241012