Tracing Buddha's footsteps

There hasn't been any significant change in the number of tourist arrivals to the Buddhist circuit of Bodhgaya, Kushinagar and other sites linked with the life of Sidhhartha Gautama Buddha in the past one decade, but Lajpat Rai, president of the Rs 10-crore, Delhi-based travel and hotel company Lotus Trans Travel Ltd, believes that the region of one of the major religions of the world, is waiting to take off as a major tourist destination. "I see a tremendous growth in this sector," says Rai.

With future profits in mind, Rai, whose core business is tourism and runs two Chinese restaurants "" Lotus Garden "" in New Delhi , has set out to create a hotel chain under the Lotus Nikko Hotels brand name in the region.

In 2001, Rai bought Bodh Gaya Ashok from the government-run ITDC for Rs 2.5 crore in 2001 and spent another Rs 2.5 crore to upgrade the 60-room, three star property's image and efficiency.

While he expects the Lotus Nikko Bodh Gaya Hotel to touch a turnover of Rs 2 crore by 2006, he plans to build another 60-room hotel in a six-acre plot in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, by 2008.

Rai currently runs two other 60-room hotels in Saravasti and Kushinagar. Saravasti, located 120 km from Gorakhpur, is the place where Lord Buddha is said to have meditated in the rainy months and is said to have died in Kushinagar 2,500 years ago.

"Gorakhpur is the main hub that leads to several Buddhist sites like Saravasti and Sarnath, where Buddha delivered his first sermon," he says. At present, Lotus Trans brings about 3,000 tourists from countries like Japan and Korea every year. According to him, there has also been positive response from countries like Thailand and Sri Lanka.

Annually, about 10,000 tourists land in India to see Buddha's birthplace. Lotus Trans charges $399 per person for a seven-day trip, inclusive of full meals to places like Bodh Gaya, Nalanda, Kushinagar, Rajagriha, Sarnath, Saravasti and Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha across the Indian border in Nepal.

While he admits that business from the Buddhist trail is purely seasonal, he hopes that the proposed Maitreya Buddha project in Kushinagar, where a 500 ft bronze statue of Maitreya Buddha is expected to come up, will boost traffic in the region.

The $250-million project, being executed by the Maitreya Buddha Trust, is expected to draw two million tourists a year, once completed.

Apart from eyeing the Chinese market, Rai also sees Thailand as a potential market as "90 per cent of its population are Buddhists". But lack of accessibility to the region is a major stumbling block . "Currently, 40 per cent of my travel business is related to this sector. I hope this business to grow by another 20 per cent in the next few years," says Rai.