‘Election tourism’ gets a vote

Introduced in 2012 during the Vidhan Sabha elections, the Election Tourism concept is the brainchild of Manish Sharma, Chairman, Akshar Travels, based in Ahmedabad, and Chairman, Tourism Development Society Gujarat. Today, it has not only become popular with Indians but also international tourists who want to understand the Indian democracy.

Hazel Jain

Manish Sharma, Chairman, Akshar Travels, based in Ahmedabad, and Chairman, Tourism Development Society Gujarat, is gung-ho about his innovative offering – election tourism. Sharing about its inception, Sharma says, “We introduced this project in 2012 during Vidhan Sabha elections in Gujarat where our CM at the time, Narendra Modi, encouraged this project. At that time, we invited more than 300 tourists from all over the world and India to explore elections in Gujarat. This project was a huge success. After that, in 2014, we introduced this again at the Lok Sabha elections pan India. That was again a huge success and we attracted more than 2,000 tourists from around the world.”

He thought of this concept to showcase the world’s biggest democratic nation. “People choose their political leaders by vote. For other countries this is a totally new concept. And they want to know how the system works up close and how people choose their political leaders,” he adds.

His agency organises participation in rallies and in sabhas, as well as one-on-one meetings with the political leaders. Apart from that, he also includes day trips to the leaders’ hometown as well as heritage spots in that city into the tour package. “Foreign travellers are very interested in this. We receive a lot of tourists from the US, UK, Japan, France, Germany, Africa, Middle East. This time we also invited South Koreans. This specially appeals to those in whose home country there is no democracy,” he adds. Akshar Travels is now busy with the 2024 Parliamentary Elections. Election tourism is not only a popular attraction for international tourists, but also offers a valuable opportunity for Indian citizens, traveling across the country to attend election speeches, witness their leaders in action, and sometimes even meet them in person which provides a firsthand look at the political landscape. This can help individuals make informed choices when selecting their representatives. Recognising the growing interest in election- related travel, Akshar Travels offers a variety of tourist packages to make the experience more convenient.

He plans to attract foreign tourists through the Indian embassies and consulates across the world and various international tourism boards, and international trade associations. Packages vary from 4, 5, 6 nights, along with most prominent places of tourism and election scenarios. Sharma has also created a special package for Varanasi – Modi’s constituency – that includes religious tourism, and showcasing Varanasi to international tourists, who are showing huge interest in it.