(ET)
Ayodhya, the birthplace of Lord Ram, does not carry a “significant spiritual brand” such as Haridwar or Varanasi and does not offer “brand equity” of being a spiritual destination, the Yogi Adityanath government has said in a document aimed at efforts to bring foreign tourists to Ayodhya. A consultant is now being hired by the state government to sell Ayodhya as a destination to international tourists, after an analysis found that only 24,000 of the 1.7 Cr tourists who visited Ayodhya last year were foreigners.
“The international tourist market is largely untapped in the case of Ayodhya. The number of international tourists visiting Ayodhya has been very low, i.e. approx. 24000 in the year 2017. Ayodhya does not carry a significant spiritual brand such as Haridwar or Varanasi, which have a brand perception of being able to “wash away sins” (Haridwar), or attain spiritual freedom (Varanasi).
