Airlines, hotels, tour operators and State are likely towitness substantial boom period in their economic activities and likely tocontribute Rs 12,000 crore revenues in the State coffers during the Maha KumbhMela, according to The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India(ASSOCHAM).
In a Forecast Paper on ‘Maha Kumbh Mela 2013 “ PossibleRevenue Generation Resources for UttarPradesh’ brought out by ASSOCHAM, it has been projected that the Maha Kumbhevent alone will generate additional employment opportunities for over 6 lakhsworkforce in sectors such as airlines & airports, hotels, tour operators,flyover besides medical & eco-tourism. The unorganised sectors activitieswould also gain the best out of Maha Kumbh event as its boom will accrue it themaximum economic gains.
The estimates of the paper further reveal that during MahaKumbh alone, about 1 million international foreign tourists are expected tovisit India for sightseeing which includes religious and eco-tourism.
According to ASSOCHAM Secretary General, D S Rawat,Australia, UK, Canada, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa, New Zealand,Mauritius, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka will be the main countries from where touristarrivals are expected to attend the Maha Kumbh.
Hotel industry is aiming at 100% occupancy rate forMaha-Kumbh which currently is 70% on an average and will witness a growth of25% during Maha-Khubh from current growth rate of 15% including small, budgetand luxury hotels. National and international media will arrive in largenumbers. Duration of foreign tourists stay in India will be 20-30 days. Theseare likely to employ over 2.5 lakh skilled and unskilled workforce.
“Apart from Allahabad, other nearby States like Rajasthan(Jaipur, Jabalpur, Udaipur, Bhilwara, Kota etc), Uttarkhand (Nainital,Musoorie, Aulli, Dehradun, Haridwar,Ranikhet, Almora), UP (Agra, Lucknow) Punjab (Amrtisar, Chandigarh, Ludhaiana),Himachal Pradesh (Shimla, Kufri, Manali, Panchkula) will also be the majorbeneficiaries in revenue generationwhere large number of foreign tourists are expected to explore touristsdestinations”, said Rawat.
The Paper further projected that Airlines industryparticularly national and international Airlines will do much better, feels theChamber Secretary General.
Uttar Pradesh Tourism, privately owned hospitals, traders,railway and international airport are likely to earn whopping revenue of overRs 1,500 crore in Maha-Kumbh through increased inflow of foreign & domestictourists by offering attractive tour packages and medical tourism facilities,according to ASSOCHAM paper.
“The Maha Kumbh will generate so much of direct and indirectactivities in almost every key segment that touches masses with large number ofbeneficiary, the fruits of which hopefully benefit the masses of UttarPradesh”, Rawat said.
Interestingly, the ASSOCHAM estimates the overall business duringthe stretch of two months of Kumbh could touch anything between Rs 12,000 to15,000 crore and contribute revenues in the State coffers, said Rawat. Kumbhwill not just reap short time benefits but it will also have a long timebenefit.
Rawat also said security of women would be given priorityand besides deploying a large number of female constables, special arrangementswill be made to check incidents such as eve-teasing.
According to ASSOCHAM, over 1 million foreign tourists willexplore popular tourist destinations during Kumbh and the lead countries willinclude Australia, UK, Canada, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa, New Zealand,Mauritius, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka etc. Outof these 1 million, Uttar Pradesh tour operators attracts over 5 lakh foreigntourists for their attractive and different tour packages and each foreigntourist spends an estimated amount of Rs 25,000/- in tourist packages. UttarPradesh Tourism organises variety of tour packages which can attract foreign& domestic tourists.
