Polls drawing tourists to Varanasi this summer

Tour operators, hoteliers see rise in enquiries and bookings for lean months

Varanasi (or Benaras) is the centre of action this summer. With political heavyweights such as Narendra Modi contesting from the ancient city and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor Arvind Kejriwal likely to jump into the fray, battleground Varanasi seems to have caught the imagination of not just the locals but also foreign tourists, political observers and international media.

Sanjeev Chhajer, vice-president of travel company Cox & Kings Limited, said, “It is like a mahotsav (grand festival) in Varanasi, with the eyes of the international as well as local media, political analysts, political workers set on this city in Uttar Pradesh for the coming few days. Already, enquiries for hotel bookings have picked up, and we expect hotels in the region to do brisk business during the period.” Chhajer felt that like medical tourism and adventure tourism, political tourism too is evolving as a genre.

Even organised travel portals like makemytrip.com have seen a year-on-year surge in bookings. “With the biggest political personalities contesting from Varanasi, the political climate in the holy city is heating up. Supporters of both parties are thronging the city to give a boost to their candidates. We have witnessed a year-on-year surge of around 12 per cent in hotel bookings for the city. Overall general elections will fuel travel demand through rail, bus and air; and hotels and guest houses will see an increase in demand as well,” said Mohit Gupta, chief business officer, holidays, MakeMyTrip.

Manish Sharma, owner of Akshar Travels and chairman of the Gujarat Tourism Development Society, who has tied up with 60 tour operators across the country and overseas to sell what he calls “poll tourism packages”, said Varanasi had clearly emerged as the favourite among travellers interested in poll tourism.

In the last two days, he has received more than 32 enquiries for Varanasi, including one from an all-women tourist group from London.

Varanasi is considered as the spiritual capital of India. The tourist season is mainly between October and March, when the weather is pleasant and the city celebrates several festivals. The summer months of April and May are lean periods. The elections, however, have given the hotel industry a reason to cheer.

“Just when we were bracing for the off-season period,  the hotel bookings were tapering down, the election announcement came. And there is a renewed interest in the city, not just among travellers but also political analysts and media,” said Garish Oberoi, president of the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Northern India. It would be the mid-range hotels that would see significant rise in business together with the small guest houses and dharamshalas spread across the city, he added.

S C Gupta, chairman, Uttar Pradesh chapter of the Indian Association of Tour Operators echoed the same view. The focus on the city is on such a high that even residents do not want to miss the chance to soak in the humdrum of election campaigning, sabhas and rallies. Arvind Kejriwal is all set to address a rally in the city on March 25. Ronald Benjamin Nadar, who runs agency Travel Assistance at Varanasi, said, "The elections have been declared at a time when the school holidays for summer would also begin. But this time, the people of Varanasi do not want to go out much. They want to remain in the city to experience the activities around the elections. We are not getting many bookings of outbound tourists."

Tour operators and fleet owners are, however, happy with the surge in bookings for taxis. As Nadar pointed out, "There has been a 70-80% rise in bookings for sports utility vehicles compared to previous year." As hundreds of supporters, volunteers, political workers throng the city to campaign for their leaders, cab bookings are set to rise further.