COVID 19 and the fall in Indian Tourism
With the coming of this pandemic COVID-19, all the industries and businesses are affected at a global level. However, we can significantly notice the fall into the Indian tourism industry this year. Especially speaking states like Rajasthan, Kerala, Northeastern states which depend a lot on tourism revenue have been struggling to meet their ends. There has been a lot of back and forth in terms of strategies used to cope up with the revenue loss due to a fall in tourism.
To start with a reduction in the rate of GST is the need of the hour. GST plays a significant role in various stages of tourism ranging from GST on travel bookings, hotel accommodations, tour operators, restaurants, etc. With revenue loss due to a fall in tourism, input credit getting blocked in terms of working capital is also affecting the liquidity in the tourism sector and hospitality sector.
A lot of small-scale businesses like local vendors, handicrafts & the handloom industry which was linked to tourism is also been affected due to loss of revenue. With unlocking advancements in India although travel is again started tourism is still yet to pick up. This brings in the need to bring a standardized system for safety measures to ensure COVID-affected tourists undergo proper quarantine guidelines and are treated with utmost care. The government of India needs to focus on the recovery of the tourism industry not because it is the most affected sector but also because it’s the only source of employment in many parts of India and various households depend on tourism.
With the coming of the pandemic, almost all industries or sectors have started exploring avenues for virtual or digital business. Similarly, even the tourism sector has started organizing virtual tourism experiences with the comfort and ease of being at home at own safety and enjoying the virtual tour to their desired locations like virtual safari, various visits to historical monuments, etc. The response has also been overwhelming to this initiative.
Government across the nation have used the empty rooms in hotels as a backup option for extra bed capacity to facilitate quarantine for pandemic affected victims and to support the loss in revenue for the hotel industry. A relief or moratorium shall be allowed as per government guidelines for the hospitality sector to help them with repayment of term loans are the industry is badly affected due to COVID -19 and reduction in travel.
Contributed By- Pragya Agarwal,
Content Writer at Mitti Ke Rang.
Our Social Media:
Website: https://www.mittikerang.org/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitti-ke-rang-mkr-81b230120/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mitikerang?s=08
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mitti_ke_rang?r=nametag
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Mitikerang/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLlifUqAQ_4vv8R4B5tqzPg
