The typical Indian’s religious journey for peace and redemption now has an keen set of companions – within the form of journey planners and hoteliers.Pilgrimage tourism has rebounded within the nation of a number of faiths after two consecutive years of Covid-induced curbs, prompting resort firms and repair suppliers to construct new and premium amenities at spiritual websites historically identified for spartan lodging.Tata Group’s Indian Motels Co (IHCL), which owns the Taj chain, introduced the signing of two new motels in Ayodhya this week. Each the Vivanta and Ginger branded motels are greenfield initiatives.Parveen Chander, government vice chairman, gross sales and advertising, IHCL, stated the chain had additionally signed a resort in Vrindavan lately because the historic metropolis is a ‘vital’ a part of the Krishna pilgrimage circuit.“In response to the growing demand, we’re including a 100-room tower to Taj Ganges in Varanasi,” Chander stated.IHCL might be opening an IHCL SeleQtions branded resort in Tirupati and a Vivanta branded resort in Haridwar on this monetary 12 months.“Each locations have already got Taj branded motels which are doing very effectively,” he added.Nikhil Sharma, MD for Eurasia at Wyndham Motels & Resorts, the world’s largest resort franchising firm, stated the chain is taking a look at potential alternatives in Ayodhya, Tirupati, Pushkar and Shirdi. Wyndham presently has seven properties throughout areas equivalent to Ajmer, Varanasi, Dwarka and Amritsar.Ajay Ok Bakaya, managing director, Sarovar Motels and Resorts, stated the chain’s current and upcoming openings for 2023 embody the Golden Tulip Tirupati (quarter one 2023); Sarovar Portico Ayodhya and Sarovar Premiere Amritsar (quarter two and quarter three 2023) and Sarovar Portico Haridwar (quarter 4 2023).“We additionally plan to enterprise into newer locations the place we see potential and the fitting partnership alternatives,” Bakaya stated.Oyo will add 50 properties in Ayodhya this 12 months. The corporate stated it’s being ‘actively supported’ by Ayodhya Improvement Authority and Uttar Pradesh State Tourism Improvement Company to start out these properties in a ‘time sure’ method. An organization spokesperson stated Varanasi outpaced Goa when it comes to bookings on New 12 months’s eve.“Our summer time reserving developments additionally point out a rise in demand for pilgrimage locations, significantly in Uttarakhand,” the Oyo spokesperson stated.An ITC Motels spokesperson stated Ayodhya has ‘nice potential’ and the chain is taking a look at numerous alternatives there.”Non secular tourism in India has been gaining recognition and is drawing curiosity from home and worldwide travellers. Therefore, there was a rise in demand of resort properties in tier two and tier three cities,” the spokesperson added.ITC Motels presently has properties equivalent to Mementos Udaipur, Welcomhotel Katra, Storii Dharamshala, Welcomhotel Amritsar and Fortune Park Haridwar.The spiritual locations market is presently experiencing an upsurge in demand for branded resort rooms, stated Nandivardhan Jain, CEO of hospitality advisory agency Noesis Capital Advisors.“As an illustration, over the previous three years, the Katra market, that had restricted branded provide, now has all the most important resort manufacturers throughout segments equivalent to Vivanta by Taj, Radisson People, Vacation Inn, Lemon Tree, Clarks, Greatest Western, Sarovar, Ramada, totalling about 1045 rooms within the branded area,” he stated. “Different key spiritual markets like Tirupati, Puri, Varanasi, Amritsar, Shirdi, Rameswaram and Dwarka are additionally witnessing vital model affiliation for unbiased motels,” he added.Radisson Resort Group is exploring alternatives in areas like Tirupati and can quickly be opening motels in Ujjain, Prayagraj, Deoghar, and Guruvayur, stated Zubin Saxena, managing director and space senior vice chairman for South Asia on the chain. “We’ve got noticed an uptick in praycations. We’re already current in a number of spiritual locations equivalent to Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Amritsar, Nathdwara and Katra. These motels are witnessing good footfalls and can proceed to be a development space for us sooner or later,” he added.Rajesh Magow, co-founder and group CEO, MakeMyTrip stated as per information on the platform, the property listings throughout spiritual locations have grown by 44% over the pre-covid interval. “Within the month of March, spiritual locations had a ten% larger occupancy as in comparison with different leisure cities,” he added.Greater than 40% of the searches on Yatra.com are for motels in spiritual locations and most of those searches have transformed into bookings for cities equivalent to Varanasi, Haridwar, Tirupati, Shirdi, Katra, Amritsar and Rameswaram, stated Sabina Chopra, COO, company journey and head of trade relations at Yatra.com.“After renovations of the Kashi Temple, travellers are visiting Varanasi with massive teams and households. Maintaining this in thoughts, now we have added 35-40 lodging listings together with homestays, motels, mattress and breakfast and eco retreats. The tent metropolis initiative began by the federal government is effectively appreciated by the travellers and they’re eager to expertise it,” she added.