Recommendation for a Sub-sector in India’s Econometrics

Economists and statisticians have divided Indian economy into three sectors, namely, Primary, Secondary and Tertiary. Each of these sectors is further classified into a number of what I call sub-sectors, mainly because I find that there is a major, quantifiable sub-sector that is not mentioned.

I come directly to the point – Religious Tourism. I have lived in Kanchipuram and Srirangam, two major religious urban areas, with an anchoring deity and more than a few of other deities. I have also lived in Chennai, the first 12 years of my life and been to many temples, including those in Mylapore and Thiruvellikkeni.

I have made an annual trip for about 13 years to Tirumala and Tirupati (Govindarajaswamy Temple), and a few times to Kalahasti. I have also visited Chidambaram, Rameshwaram, Thiruvannamalai, Thiruvanaikkaval, Samayapuram, Marudamalai, Madurai, Thiruvayyaru, Thirutthani, Kanyakumari, Thirunelveli, Thiruchendur, Guruvayur, Dhakshineshwar (Kolkata), Puri (as an infant), Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kumbakonam and quite a few temples in Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai (when it was Bombay) including Mahalakshmi Temple; I believe the list is perhaps less than half of the temples I have visited at least once in my lifetime. Therefore, I believe none of the gods should be angry with me.

Every day, whether astrologically special or not, I have seen tourists boarding or alighting from dozens of tourist buses. I currently live right next to Srirangam Railway Station and I can see the force of attraction of the anchoring deity (Lord Sriranganathar). None of our relatives who visit us leave without the trips to the temples.

One can thus imagine the magnitude of economic transactions by these tourists (I am not including such transactions attributable to the natives going to the temples in their towns).

Now comes the problem – travel and tourism are mentioned as sub-sectors of Tertiary Sector in economics. Religious tourism combines two sub-sectors, travel and tourism and it would be difficult to equitably allocate portions of this specific economic activity between the two.

It is for this reason, I propose another sub-sector under Tertiary – Religious Tourism. Our models for Indian economy is incomplete without this sub-sector, which would of course, downsize the influence of Transport, Tourism, Hospitality, at the very least to avoid double-counting.

Raghuram Ekambaram