Identifying Religious Tourism Potential Through Sustainable Approach: A Study on Punjab State of India

Introduction

India is an important market for travel and tourism. Sailing has a wide range of special products such as medical, adventure, health, sports, motivation, ecotourism and tourism and faith tourism. India has become a spiritual destination image for tourists and foreigners. The Prime Minister of India has asked the public to visit 15 tourist destinations in India by 2022 to promote and promote tourism. India ranks among 34th in the 2019 Tourism Competitiveness Report published by the World Economic Forum. In addition, India is the country with the most digital travelers in terms of digital technology used throughout the planning, booking and travel experience. These two reasons that will support the development of Indian tourism; empowering Indians in up to 15 places in the country and digitizing the country.

Figure 1.

Total contribution of travel and tourism to GDP

(Sources: https://www.ibef.org/industry/tourism-hospitality-india)

The rise of India's middle class and rising disposable income fueled growth in domestic and foreign trade. In India, the direct economic contribution to GDP is expected to increase by about 10:35% annually from 2019 to 2028. Tourists benefit from Indian tourism and hospitality, America should reach $50.9 billion compared to $28.9 billion in 2018. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), India's travel and tourism industry contributes 6.8 percent to GDP and ranks 10th out of 185 countries. India's tourism industry is expected to grow from US$75 billion in 2020 to US$125 billion in 2027. The size of the Indian air travel market is estimated at US$20 billion and is expected to double by 2027. Increased access to infrastructure and passports FY2027 due to airport improvements. India is diverse and democratic, and its non confrontational foreign policy has been an important part of India's sales force. India is considered an important region in all Southeast Asian countries, and its strength comes from the culture that has been cultivated for more than two thousand years. Religion is part of this historical theme, and even today pilgrims from Southeast Asian countries continue to visit India. Also, India has the ability to improve the soft image of India in the East Asian context through religious beliefs. Every state in India has a religion and culture where people put faith and belief above all else, leading to a sense of spirituality and local connection. While India is rich in diversity that can offer tourists the opportunity to travel, there are states that contain all the riches of tourism and Punjab is one of the states with rich travel opportunities (Kaur and Singh, 2016).

The Indian state of Punjab is located in the northwestern part of the Republic of India and is part of the greater Punjab region. Punjabi is also written as Panjab. The state is bordered by the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast, Rajasthan to the west, and Punjab, Pakistan to the west. However, as a state, Punjab is often viewed as a destination for tourists and foreigners heading to Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. Punjab is famous for religions, palaces, ancient and historical monuments, wetlands etc. It is the land of great gurus with great heritage. Therefore, these interests will provide unity for the religious belief and development of the region. Sustainability should be integrated into the management and development of attractions, services, environment, maintenance and other infrastructure or places of interest in the region.

Source: State/ UT Tourism Departments.#: Data for 2021 is estimated by applying all India growth rate for 2021/19 on 2019 data