Lok Sabha Polls Attract Foreign Tourists To India

NEW DELHI: India’s tourism industry is witnessing a boom thanks to the ongoing Lok Sabha polls, which have fuelled interest in foreign visitors to throng the nation to witness electioneering in the world’s largest democracy, according to an Assocham study.

During the election period, there is likely to be an upsurge of 10 to 15 percent in tourists visiting India from the U.S.UK, UAE, France and Singapore, among others, besides over 62 rise in domestic tourists, who are travelling for electioneering, the study found.

Online travel portals have noticed a rise in bookings to destinations, which are political hubs and places where major rallies have been scheduled.

Flight bookings for Delhi, Lucknow, Varanasi, Gujarat and other high profile constituencies are up 15 percent in the past two weeks, most online tour operators polled by the survey said.

Moreover, there is an increase of over 15-20 percent in rail bookings in the Delhi, Lucknow, Varanasi and about 10 percent increase in the Lucknow-Ayodhya route, the survey said.
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