OYO's Ritesh Agarwal says Ayodhya's bookings surged by 70 per cent on New Year's Eve: 'Spiritual tourism will be...'

Saturday marked the start of a new chapter in Ayodhya's history as Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Maharishi Valmiki International Airport, as well as the revamped Ayodhya railway station.

The impact of the inaugurations was seen the following day when OYO CEO Ritesh Agarwal said that Ayodhya had seen a 70 per cent surge in bookings on New Year's Eve which was more than what was witnessed in other popular destinations such as Goa and Nainital.

Agarwal also predicted that spiritual tourism would be "one of the biggest growth drivers" of India's tourism industry, over the next 5 years.

"Holy destinations are now India's favourite destinations! Ayodhya saw a 70% jump in OYO app users vs Goa (50%) and Nainital (60%). Spiritual tourism will be one of the biggest growth drivers of the tourism industry in the next 5 years," Agarwal wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday.
Earlier in the day, Agarwal had posted about how 80 per cent users had searched for stays in the city.

"Na hills, na beaches! 80% more users are searching for stays in Ayodhya today! Seeing one of the highest spikes," he wrote.
 

Soon after the airport's inauguration, IndiGo's first flight left for Ayodhya from Delhi. The airport is situated 15 km from the main city and phase 1 of the facility has been built at a cost of over Rs 1450 crore.