Tourist inflow at temples to be mapped with new MTDC system

The data collection platform will track details like the number of tourist arrivals at the temple and its surrounding areas, their place of origin, and the duration of their stay. According to tourism officials, the data will provide valuable insights into tourist inflow and patterns, enabling better policy decisions.

Pune: The Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) launched an integrated data collection system at Kolhapur’s Mahalaxmi Temple in August, as part of its religious tourism reform programme. The system, currently in its trial phase, aims to streamline tourism data collection.

Mahalaxmi Temple at Kolhapur - Photo by Uday Deolekar

The data collection platform will track details like the number of tourist arrivals at the temple and its surrounding areas, their place of origin, and the duration of their stay. According to tourism officials, the data will provide valuable insights into tourist inflow and travel patterns in Kolhapur, enabling better policy decisions.

After the successful launch at the Kolhapur temple, MTDC now plans to extend the system to other prominent religious destinations across the state. “Discussions are underway to implement this model at Nashik’s Trimbakeshwar temple, Shirdi’s Saibaba temple, and a few others,” said Shama Pawar, deputy director, Directorate of Tourism, Pune.

Maharashtra is a major hub for religious tourism, with its pilgrimage centres attracting lakhs of devotees every year. Hence, the state government has initiated steps to modernise facilities at the pilgrimage spots under schemes like the Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive (PRASAD).

However, the data gap at various levels poses new challenges for the authorities to seamlessly roll out reforms without disturbing traditions, especially in the case of crowd management. For this, the pilot project for data collection has been launched in the Kolhapur temple, which will eventually be extended to other religious tourism hotspots as well.