Lav Sharma of Gujarat's Akshar Travels has already booked four groups of tourists - more than 90 individuals - from the UK, Dubai and Germany for late April. He had introduced "election tourism" packages during the Gujarat state elections in 2012. "International tourists want to see Indian democracy, and how political rallies take place in India. It is very different from what they would ever see at home," says Sharma. Interestingly, the Dubai lot is a group of 16 businessmen. The tours, typically for six days and seven nights, cost upwards of $1,200.
Sanjeev Chhajer, vice president of Cox and Kings says that though they don't have an election tourism package, they have received requests for arranging tours during poll time in cities like Rae Bareilly, Varanasi and Barmer. A repeat trend from the last general elections, he puts the jump in enquiries to about 25%. "Most of the clientele comprises party volunteers and government officials locally, and journalists and internationally. For Gujarat, the US and UK expat community has expressed a lot of interest," says Chhajer.
Dharmesh Sharma, a businessman from Missouri, US is planning a trip in late April to Ahmedabad and Varanasi. He usually visits India during Diwali. "People here would pay to see Indian elections - the autorickshaws, the loudspeakers and all of that. American elections are very different that way. I want to visit Varanasi because Narendra Modi is contesting from there. I also want to try and meet Arvind Kejriwal. I know it is difficult, but still," says Sharma, who was born and brought up in the US.
Travel portals have also registered an upswing in bookings at election "hotspots". Though the bookings have not come through a special pre-set "poll tourism" package, the trend is attributed to the general elections. "We tracked year-on-year growth of around 12% in hotel bookings for Varanasi. The numbers have grown exponentially for bigger cities - hotel bookings in Lucknow grew by 60% year-on-year while Ahmedabad has witnessed 35% growth in the same period. The general elections will fuel travel demand with increase in rail, bus and flight-bookings; and hotels and guest-houses will see an increase in demand as well," says Mohit Gupta, chief business officer for holidays at MakeMyTrip.com.
Subhash Goyal, president of the Indian Association of Tour Operators estimates an influx of about 25,000-30,000 international tourists, including journalists, in April and May. "This is usually the lean season," says Gupta, when asked about the usual influx of international tourists in these months. His own agency, Stic Travel Group, has booked tours for from Singapore and Malaysia, political science students from the US, and other groups of tourists from the UK and the Middle-East who are specifically visiting to watch the elections unfold.
"The tour will consist of taking people for rallies in interior villages along with sightseeing. We also try and get them to meet local candidates from the area. We can't take them to polling stations since we don't have the permission for that," says Sharma, who says there is an increase in 25% in enquiries since the state elections for the election tourism packages, with a special interest in Varanasi, which has BJP prime ministerial candidate Modi contesting from the seat.
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