JOIN USMaha Kumbh Mela is a propitious occasion for the devout, and for the Uttar Pradesh government, it is likely to be a Rs 12,000 crore revenue-generating event, besides generating business and employment opportunities.
A forecast paper titled “Maha Kumbh Mela 2013- Possible Revenue Generation Resources for Uttar Pradesh” by trade body The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) released on Saturday said that the event will bring cheers to airline companies, hotels, tour operators, reeling under subdued demand from a slowdown in the economy. In the process, it would also result in revenues of Rs 12,000 crore to the UP government’s coffers.
The Mela is also expected to generate about 6 lakh job opportunities, the paper added. The Maha Kumbh Mela will be from January 27 to February 25, 2013, at Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh.
Inbound tourism will get a fillip according to the paper; estimates reveal that about a million international foreign tourists are expected to visit India on the eve of the Mela. Uttar Pradesh tour operators attract over 5 lakh foreign tourists and each foreign tourist spends an estimated amount of Rs.25,000 in tourist packages. ccording to Assocham Secretary General, D S Rawat, Australia, UK, Canada, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa, New Zealand, Mauritius, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka will be the countries from where tourist arrivals are expected for the Maha Kumbh.
Hotel industry is aiming at 100 per cent occupancy rate for Maha Kumbh, which currently is experiencing 70 per cent occupancy rate on an average. The beneficiaries would include small, budget and luxury hotels. National and international media will arrive in large numbers. Duration of foreign tourists stay in India will be 20-30 days. These are likely to employ over 2.5 lakh skilled and unskilled workforce.
Rawat added: “Apart from Allahabad, other nearby States like Rajasthan (Jaipur, Jabalpur, Udaipur, Bhilwara, Kota etc), Uttarkhand (Nainital, Musoorie, Aulli, Dehradun, Haridwar, Ranikhet, Almora), U.P. (Agra, Lucknow) Punjab (Amrtisar, Chandigarh, Ludhaiana), Himachal Pradesh (Shimla, Kufri, Manali, Panchkula) will also be the major beneficiaries States in revenue generation where large number of foreign tourists are expected to explore tourists destinations.”
Uttar Pradesh Tourism, privately-owned hospitals, traders, railway and international airports are likely to earn whooping revenue of over Rs. 1,500 crore in Maha Kumbh through increased inflow of foreign & domestic tourists by offering attractive tour packages and medical tourism facilities, according to the paper.