The Looming Grey Future of Travel & Tourism Industr

One of the worst hit industries due to coronavirus is the travel and tourism industry. This is much evident as within two months, the government revised its forecast from Rs.5 lakh crore in March 2020 to Rs.10 lakh crore (according to FAITH – Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism & Hospitality). Not just this, the sector that accounts for 12.75 percent of emloyment is looking at millions of disappearing jobs due to COVID and lockdown. According a report by KPMG, the Indian tourism and hospitality industry is staring at a potential job loss of around 38 million, which is 70 percent of the total workforce. On the other hand, World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) predicts that nine million jobs in the travel and tourism sector are at risk in India.

However, uplifting of lockdown wouldn’t bring sunshine for the industry as travelers would still reframe from travelling for months due to the fear of coronavirus resurgence. With no clear timeline for recovery and what’s in for us post the lockdown 3.0, it is quite challenging for the travel and tourism industry to prepare for the worst. Especially the middle and small enterprises who dominate the sector are unlikely going to revive soon. While people will start travelling within the country, international travel will take time until the beginning of 2021. According to WTTC’s most recent analysis, the Asia-Pacific region may lose 49 million jobs due to the pandemic, causing a loss of over $800 billion to the sector’s GDP.

For the revival of the sector, FAITH has requested NITI Aayog for a COVID 19 tourism fund of minimum Rs.50,000 crore, which can be used by the tourism enterprises in India as a 10-year interest-free loan to ensure employee care. FAITH also has requested several other measures to ensure the industry stands on its feet as soon as the pandemic is over. Indeed the industry needs immediate attention from the government and the stakeholders to ensure that the charm that travel and tourism sector had is resorted soon without killing it to the extreme.