Rush to block Ayodhya hotel rooms for Jan 2024 | Lucknow News – Times of India
“A majority of these requests are from travel agents, who are blocking the rooms for renting out at exorbitant rates later to devotees who are likely to make a beeline to the town during that week of January 2024, when the PM Narendra Modi would lead the inauguration ceremony,” says the owner of a luxury hotel in Ayodhya.
After the temple trust announced that the invitation has been sent to the PM, the enthusiasm among the people outside Ayodhya has gone up. We expect a large number of devotees in January, he adds.
General secretary of Ram Mandir Trust, Champat Rai, had also said that 10,000 guests would attend the consecration ceremony. Rai told TOI that they have given the dates between January 15 and January 24 to the PM, but the actual date would be decided by him.
The owner of another luxury hotel says that travel agents have offered to book the entire hotel by offering higher tariffs and full payment in advance. “These travel firms have appointed their local agents to get the bookings done,” he says.
Ayodhya at present has over 100 hotels – including one five-star, two four-star and 12 three-star – besides 50 guest houses and equal number of Dharmshalas. Besides, local residents with ample space are also turning their houses into homestays.
“We are regularly receiving calls from Delhi, Mumbai and other metro cities for advance booking,” says Sharad Kapoor, the managing director of Ayodhya’s oldest hotel, Shan-e-Awadh. “We are ready to welcome devotees, but I am keeping at least 40% of the rooms in reserve for VIP visitors.”
Given the heavy rush in Ayodhya, the online travel agents and aggregators have also started giving options for bookings in nearby places like Gonda, Balrampur, Tarabganj, Domariyaganj, Tanda, Musafirkhana, Bansi etc.
The Ayodhya administration has directed the hotel owners to be ready to welcome the devotees by making their places clean and tidy. On Wednesday, Ayodhya divisional commissioner Gaurav Dayal held a meeting with hotel owners and asked them to decorate their hotels to give a warm welcome to their guests during the ceremony and after that, as the number of people coming to Ayodhya would go up several times.
