Tourism Industry The Worst Hit Due To Covid-19 Pandemic

Volume 5, Issue 10, October – 2020 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology
ISSN No:-2456-2165
Tourism Industry: The Worst Hit Due to

Covid-19 Pandemic?
Fatima Vapiwala
Former Lecturer at Shri M. D. Shah Mahila College Affiliated to the S.N.D.T. University,
Mumbai, India.
Abstract:- This research aims to study the negative total employment in India. By 2028, it was expected that the
impact suffered by the tourism sector in India as well as foreign tourist arrivals will reach 30.5 billion in India. Also,
across the globe due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Covid- in 2019, India introduced the e-Visa facility to 169 countries
19 is the first pandemic that has adversely affected the of the globe as a measure to boost tourism.
economy especially the tourism industry and it has been
estimated by the United Nations World Tourism The Indian Government permitted 100 percent Foreign
Organization that the tourist traffic across the world will Direct Investment through the automatic route in the hotel
decline by 58% to 78%. Typically, one of the first sectors and tourism sector in an attempt to boost the sector. Also, for
to be affected and the last one to recover is the tourism the categories of 2, 3 and 4-star hotels which are located
sector during this global crisis created by the pandemic. around UNESCO World Heritage sites except for the cities
As a result of the pandemic, several nations have of Delhi and Mumbai, a tax holiday was offered by the
adopted strict measures for its citizens including Indian Government. Between April 2000 and March 2020, a
quarantines, entry bans and other restrictions. Apart cumulative FDI inflow of US$ 15.28 billion was received by
from this, nations have restricted their citizens not only the hotel and tourism industry. In 2019, India’s foreign
from travelling to foreign countries but also travelling tourist arrivals stood at 10.89 million which led to a growth
within the home country. Also, the willingness of the rate of 3.20 percent year on year whereas there was also an
people has reduced substantially on account of the increase of 4.8 percent year on year to Rs 1,94,881 crore in
pandemic which has led to the tourism sector of all the the Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEEs) from tourism and a
global economies being adversely hit. There has been a rise of 23.6 percent year on year to 2.9 million of the arrivals
great decline in business travel for the purpose of through e-Tourist Visa.
attending international conferences which has now been
very conveniently substituted by the use of online However, in India, after the imposition of lockdown in
meeting platforms like Zoom, Skype and Google Meet. the month of March, with travel restrictions extending for
This research tries to address the pandemic’s negative over 80 countries and the suspension of international flights,
impact on the tourism industry and what measures can there has been an enormous decline in the domestic travel as
be adopted to revive the same. well as the foreign tourist arrivals. It has been estimated that
the tourism sector of India will face losses worth Rs 1.25
Keywords:- Indian Tourism, International Tourism, trillion due to the close-down of several hotels and the flight
Tourism, Travel And Tourism, Tourism Unemployment. operations being suspended. As India now has the third-
highest number of Covid-19 cases in the world after the US
I. INTRODUCTION and Brazil, global customers are distressed about their
protection and safety with respect to travelling and will only
India is considered to be one of the nations that are the consider those destinations that have minimum repercussion
most electronically advanced with respect to the utilization of when exploring their travel options during the crisis of a
digital tools for the purpose of creating travel plans, travel pandemic.
booking, and delivering a great travel experience. In India,
due to the growth of middle-class consumers and the increase II. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
in purchasing power of the people, the inbound and outbound
tourism has received huge support prior to the occurrence of 1. To analyze the negative impact on the tourism sector due
the pandemic. The tourism industry in India offers a diverse to the COVID-19 pandemic.
portfolio of niche tourism products like cruises, adventure, 2. To assess the impact on unemployment in the tourism
medical, wellness, sports, eco-tourism, film, rural and sector at the national as well as global level.
religious tourism. 3. To find out the measures being adopted by the Indian
Government to revive Indian tourism.
The travel and tourism sector’s total contribution to the 4. To provide suggestions and recommendations to give a
GDP of India had been expected to increase from Rs 15.24 boost to tourism and facilitate its recovery.
lakh crore in 2017 to Rs 32.05 lakh crore in 2028. The total
revenue from this sector was targeted to reach US$ 50 billion
by 2022. In 2019, the tourism sector facilitated the creation
of 4.2 crore jobs which was approximately 8.1 percent of the
IJISRT20OCT101 www.ijisrt.com 114

ISSN No:-2456-2165
III. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The Ministry of Tourism has estimated that in the
financial year of 2020-2021, India can face losses with
The data for the following research paper has been respect to tourism between Rs 72,000 crore and Rs 1.58 lakh
collected using secondary data sources such as online blogs, crores. It has been predicted by The United Nations World
websites, articles and various other secondary sources to Tourism Organization (UNWTO) that there will be a sharp
study the adverse impact on the tourism sector of the world decline in the overall spending in the tourism sector at the
as well as India due to the COVID-19 pandemic in order to global level ranging from 910 US billion dollars to 1 US
better understand the topic “Tourism Industry: The Worst trillion dollars. However, Mr. Amitabh Kant is of the opinion
Hit Due To Covid-19 Pandemic?” that the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is impermanent.
He believes that COVID-19 and that the pandemic has only
IV. REVIEW OF LITERATURE modified the progression of the industry and it is possible to
revive the sector using a phased recovery. He also stated that
Claudia Cramer, Director Market Research, Statista added that the sector will require a little aid but will surely
GmbH, on 15th September, 2020 presented current data and recover from the impact and mankind through its exploratory
news concerning the global tourism industry in which she essence will vanquish the impact of COVID-19.
outlined the growth experienced in the tourism industry since
1950 – from 25 million international tourists per year to 1.46 V. TOURISM INDUSTRY: THE WORST HIT DUE
billion. She said that when looking at the contribution of the TO COVID-19 PANDEMIC
tourism industry to GDP in various countries, tourism has
high relevance in the economies of each country – especially  Impact on the International Tourism Sector
in the Asian markets – but also in many European countries – The rapid spread of COVID-19 has brought business
where tourism is a “great provider of economic health and operations in the world to a grinding halt which has disturbed
growth. She added that on the other hand, with the Covid-19 the conduct of normal economic activities. Many nations, in
pandemic, revenues for the global travel & tourism market is order to control the outspread of the COVID-19, have
expected to witness a decline of 55% for this year, from a announced several travel restrictions. In a new report released
forecast figure of US$767bn to US$349bn which shows that by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has quantified
the current situation really has a huge impact on the global the destructive effect that the COVID-19 has on international
tourism market. She explains that the decline is primarily due tourism, warning that approximately 120 million jobs in the
to travel warnings and travel bans, and international border tourism sector are in danger with the economic damage
closures. There is also an effect from the decline in possibly exceeding 1 trillion US dollars in 2020 alone. It is,
household budgets and the overall economic situation, along therefore, essential to revive the tourism sector so that it can
with how different governments will subsidize these regain its position as a provider of decent jobs, stable
industries. incomes as well as for the protection of our cultural and
natural heritage. The World Tourism Organization expects
While some countries are more affected than others, the international tourism receipts to decline approximately in
trending travel destinations with the highest internal tourism the range of 910 US billion dollars to 1 US trillion dollars
revenues are the US, China, Germany and India. All which has the potential to set the international tourism sector
countries are of course seeing a huge decline in 2020, but fast behind by 20 years.
recovery is forecast for 2021, assuming that there will be no
second total lockdown. Domestic tourism from 2019 to 2020 Globally, the tourism sector is a crucial source of
has – in many cases – seen an increase – due to travellers employment. The tourism industry is labour-intensive and a
being restricted to their own countries. majority of the job positions are occupied by women which is
substantially higher as compared to many other sectors. Apart
At the second HT Tourism Conclave, the CEO of NITI from this, there is a significant amount of indirect
Aayog, Amitabh Kant said that India is distinctively employment in related sectors like construction and
positioned to offer experiential tourism, which will attract infrastructure development in addition to those supplying
tourism to India post the COVID-19 pandemic, considering food and drink and souvenirs to tourists. Furthermore, several
the wealth of diverse culture, customs, traditions and sites of employees have direct contact with tourists in travel
historical heritage in the nation. He predicted that the tourism agencies, airlines, ships, hotels, restaurants, shopping centres
sector will revive and prosper due to the yearning to discover and various tourist attractions.
and know diverse places, cultures and people which is why
the effect on the tourism sector is short-lived. He also Therefore, international tourism is among the economic
mentioned that tourism will progress using technology as a sectors that have been most impacted by COVID-19. Many
mechanism to create the impetus required in the sector which workers may become unemployed or displaced due to the
will also be the primary point of distinction and a driver of considerable shrink in the tourism sector. Even though
growth. The companies associated with the travel and displaced workers can shift to other industries within their
tourism industry will have to transform their operations in nation, however, it may not be easy to find a job in the other
line with the need of the hour to survive as people will be industries as well because all the nations are battling
more reliant on electronic modes. economic downfall. Thus, the negative employment and
wage effects are prominent in countries that are largely
dependent on tourism.

ISSN No:-2456-2165
 Impact on the Indian Tourism Sector It is essential to prepare a strategy involving the
The Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) has participation of the government as well as the industry
estimated that the hotel, aviation and travel sector combined stakeholders focusing on 3 phases to Survive with the
may face losses of approximately ₹85 billion on account of intention of to saving businesses and jobs, to Revive by
the imposition of travel restrictions on tourists thereby adopting a nimble and aggressive strategy for specific micro-
leading to cancellations on a massive scale. Forward markets and to Thrive by an adaptation to consumer
bookings for various conferences and leisure travel bookings preferences and tourism policies over the world.
to foreign destinations have already been cancelled given that
various travel restrictions have been imposed by the Indian Other measures that may be adopted are as follows :
government.  Governments could help the hospitality companies in
managing the financial losses incurred by making use of
The Indian tourism sector provides employment to 8.75 empty rooms in hotels as backup options for extra bed
crore people from the hospitality industry, tour operators, capacity and paying a small fee to hotels.
travel agents, homestay owners, drivers, guides, small  Incentives may be provided to tour operators to promote
traders, artisans and craftsmen among a host of other service tourism both at the domestic and international levels.
providers which forms 12.75 percent of the total employed  The hospitality sector may focus on improvising its
population in 2018-19. The tourism sector also has strong business model based upon the changes introduced on
forward and backward linkages to other sectors such as account of COVID-19 rather than simply relying on
agriculture, transport, handloom, and FMCG to name a few government measures.
and the disruptions in the tourism sector will render many  The companies must focus on the safety and hygiene
people unemployed even in the sectors that are linked to the needs of the customers in order to provide reassurance.
tourism industry.  Higher focus on the use of cashless payment methods
and contactless food deliveries is an effective strategy to win
It can be said that the tourism sector of India may be the trust of customers.
proceeding for annihilation as there is a continuous upsurge
in the COVID-19 cases. The international and inbound The world is facing the biggest pandemic of the century
tourism has been restricted starting 22nd and 25th March, which will most certainly have an economic impact across all
2020 respectively on account of a nationwide lockdown. As the sectors and on all the nations. In the words of Winston
of now, even though most of the domestic air travel routes Churchill, “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” The main
are operational, experts believe that the nation may not see an focus right now should be to enable the tourism sector to pull
improvement in the tourist arrivals as people are unwilling through these difficult times and help the industry survive
and adopting a cautious approach. By now, the considerable these tough times and successfully outlive this global crisis.
decline in the number of foreign tourist arrivals has All individuals and organizations whether government or
influenced millions of employees in the tourism sector on non-government must contribute collaboratively to this aim
account of which several businesses are facing a financial so as to secure a positive response from the consumers must
crisis. post COVID-19 when the lockdown restrictions are eased.
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ISSN No:-2456-2165
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Tourism Industry The Worst Hit Due To Covid-19 Pandemic

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Volume 5, Issue 10, October – 2020 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology

Tourism Industry: The Worst Hit Due to

IJISRT20OCT101 www.ijisrt.com 114

IJISRT20OCT101 www.ijisrt.com 115

VI. RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION REFERENCES

A significant role in creating a strong tourist economy [1]. http://ficci.in/sector/40/Project_docs/Tourism-

IJISRT20OCT101 www.ijisrt.com 116

IJISRT20OCT101 www.ijisrt.com 117

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