Destination Idéale

LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh has seen a tremendous growth in the tourism sector in the past few years. With an impressive line-up of recent and upcoming events, like the MotoGP, G20 presidency, Kashi Vishwanath corridor, World Cup matches, inauguration of Ram Temple in Ayodhya and the mega Deepotsav, the state is on its way to becoming one of the top destinations for the world-class events in the country.
In 2019, UP attracted the most domestic tourists sweeping 23.1% of tourist share of India, counting about 53.6 crore domestic tourists, while international figures, too, were no less encouraging at about 47.5 lakh.

In 2018 & 2022, the UP government came up with a very futuristic tourism policy that has attracted huge investments in the state. The policy not only incentivises tourism projects but also pays huge attention to employment generation, participation of women in tourism and skilling youth for tourism and more. The policy is quite holistic in nature and deals with rural, agricultural, ecological, urban and adventure tourism in equal measure. As a result, tourism in Uttar Pradesh is emerging as an economic equaliser, spreading benefits in all regions of the state.
The mapping of tourism circuits of religious importance in the state was a huge step in this direction. Be it Ramayana, Krishna, Buddha, or Jain, all were mapped strategically in Uttar Pradesh, with a primary objective to boost the state’s economy through tourism in a time-bound manner.

In another major step, UP is now popularising new thematic tourism products also such as eco-tourism, adventure tourism, rural tourism as niche tourism products to build interest in new age tourists and travellers.
Mukesh Kumar Meshram, principal secretary & director general, UP tourism, said, “Our focus is to promote theme-based activities like wellness, heritage, adventure, cuisine tourism, eco-tourism and film tourism – to name a few. In the past years, we have attracted great investments and the state is only flourishing. We have also identified over 200 villages to be developed under rural tourism. The motive behind promoting all kinds of tourism in the state is to give a unforgetting experience to our tourists and travellers so that they wish to stay back 2-3 more days while visiting UP and witness its grandiosity.”

Recently, the state government also approved a policy that aims at making the state a water tourism and adventure sports destination.
Besides leading five-star brands like the Taj, Renaissance, ITC hotels, Ramada, other companies are also lining up to open new hotels in Lucknow, Ayodhya, Gorakhpur and other cities. With the state government focusing on creating good infrastructure to connect Ayodhya with main cities like Lucknow and Gorakhpur and other major economic centres, hospitality industry players feel that the city will attract more tourists across all segments.
According to recent data, 29 budget hotels in Ayodhya – 26 hotels, two resorts, and a dhaba – have been registered and proposed to come up in the coming years, followed by 18 hotels, two amusement parks and four budget hotels in Lucknow. Other properties have also been registered in Pilibhit, Prayagraj, Jalaun, Gorakhpur and several other cities.
“With Ram Temple coming up in Ayodhya, scheduled makeover of Naimisharanya in Sitapur, the state capital emerging as the top destination for Bollywood film and OTT shootings, and so many other national and international events lined up, we are seeing more and more people coming in and we are expecting 6-7 hotels in the upcoming 4-5 years in the state,” said one of the spokespersons of the Taj Mahal hotel, Lucknow.
The Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) is coming up with one more Taj branded hotel in Lucknow in Gomtinagar. Two properties in Ayodhya of the same brand – a 100-room hotel under Vivanta brand and another 120-room Ginger hotel – are expected to be operational in three years. Apart from the Taj Mahal, Lucknow, IHCL has one more existing hotel – Ginger Hotel in Gomtinagar.
Post 2005, Lucknow welcomed several brands including, The Piccadily, in 2006. A huge influx of luxurious properties, three-star, four-star and five-star hotels lined up in the city after 2015 with the opening of Renaissance Lucknow Hotel (Marriott International property), the tallest hotel in the city with 100-plus rooms and breathtaking views of the Ambedkar Memorial park and Gomti riverfront. The brand opened its second property in 2016 – Fairfield by Marriot – with one of the largest room inventories of 200-plus. Both the hotels soon became preferred properties for business conferences and leisure staycation.
Hilton Garden Inn also opened its doors in Gomtinagar in 2018.
Moving away from the centrally located properties and closer to Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport and Kanpur city, the Wyndham hotels and resorts opened its Ramada Hotel & Convention Centre and Ramada Plaza by Wyndham on Kanpur road in 2016 and 2019, respectively. Further strengthening their presence in UP, the brand is planning to come up with another hotel under the midscale lifestyle – Ramada Encore – in agreement with Deep Distilleries & Breweries Private Limited, part of the Deep Group of Hotels.
While a wave of international hotel franchises opened in the city and turned around the hospitality industry in the state, Lucknow welcomed its own homegrown brand, The Centrum (under the Mansingh Goel Group), which opened in 2021. The five-star hotel is a glaring example of ‘Vocal for Local’ as each and everything used in the hotel is of local significance, from use of Chinhat potteries in the interiors to adding elements of chikankari and lakhauri bricks.
“Today, in Lucknow, we are not only catering weddings but also national and international events, educational conclaves, corporate meets, mega events like UP Investors Summit & G-20, which has given us an edge in the hospitality industry. Moreover, domestic and leisure travel has been on the rise where people are choosing the hotel as a staycation for one or two days,” said Sarvesh Goel, chairman of Mansingh Goel Group and promoter of the hotel, adding, that the group is planning to expand the hotel in five Indian cities, including Ayodhya, and international destinations with direct connection with cities in UP. “Talks are on to open Centrum hotel in Ayodhya, Varanasi, Goa, Mumbai and also Bangkok. Since Bangkok has direct flight connections with cities like Lucknow and Varanasi, it will help in boosting tourism for both the countries,” he added.
Prateek Hira, chairman, Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO), UP chapter, said that with growing infrastructure, redevelopment of heritage properties, malls and hypermarkets, one should not put the cities of UP under tier-2 (Y) category anymore. “UP is central to tourism in India. The Taj Mahal has always been an attraction here, similar is the case with Varanasi. Kumbh in Prayagraj has been another awe-inspiring experience for the tourists. As the state grew, so has the state capital and in the past five years, we have added 500-odd rooms here. We are eyeing more developments with several hotels proposed to come up in Ayodhya and other cities. In Lucknow, we have the Sheraton Hotel in the making, an addition of 100 rooms to the Hilton. Moreover, due to the World Cup, musical concerts and several other factors contributing to the influx in tourism and hospitality, we have been noticing that the average room rate and leisure occupancies have gone higher. This is something which has now become a trend that people are paying more for leisure accommodations,” said Hira.
While the state is getting ready for the formal inauguration of Ram Temple in January 2024, tour operators say that the flow of tourists has already increased in the state capital and is set to go further January onwards.
“Lucknow being the nearest city to Ayodhya, majority of tourists will stay in the state capital as it is strategically located. Moreover, Lucknow airport is in for an expansion with terminal-3 coming up, which makes it the main airport for tourists to deboard or catch flights from until Ayodhya airport gets ready. Since accommodations also are in a waiting list in Ayodhya, it will be an add-on advantage for Lucknow. Development of one place of tourism is a boost to the entire region,” he added.