Pandemic hit many sectors, but the most affected sector was and has been tourism. Lockdown and curfew affected the sector like never before. According to the survey by Bloomberg, slumping tourism reported a loss of 4 trillion dollars to the global economy in 2020-2021.
At India Global Forum, in a Q&A session with Puneet Chhatwal, MD and CEO of the Indian Hotels Company, he touched on what is to be done to revive travel and tourism.
“It is difficult to predict the next 3-6 months because a lot needs to be done, in alignment in terms of travel protocols, vaccine passports, quarantine, PCR tests etc. I think eventually, between 6 months and 1-year of time, things will settle down and travel will come back strong, as it is a fundamental need of a global citizen. Yes, we lost 4 trillion in the world economy in terms of tourism, but the long-term outlook, was, is and will remain positive,” said Chhatwal at IGF 2021.
He praised those who work in hotels stating that they stood bravely in the pandemic, especially in India. Keeping India in focus, he said that hotel staff worked more or less like front line worker. They haven't only hosted medical staff in hotels, but they served food to them and to the migrant worker population as well. He added that at Taj Group, last year, they served 3 million meals and more million, the other day.
“The phenomenal job was firstly done by our associates in becoming more or less like frontline workers. Secondly, it is very important that we have been able to vaccinate more than 90 per cent of our staff, which is a positive development so that hotel will be the safest place to be in. Thirdly, we put in the protocol, which was needed based on the guidelines, in terms of social distancing, in what circumstances we can operate. Now, because of the lockdown and curfews, the business was demolished. In the Q1 of the last year, in certain weeks we were almost at zero revenue. However, I think the industry has shown resilience, has shown courage and I am sure we will be innovative enough to bounce back,” said Chhatwal.
On reviving the tourism, he said that it is now the responsibility of the world leaders at this time to get alignment in the next 3-6 months on travel protocols, amongst nations, amongst regions, and people who have the vaccine and negative PCR test should be allowed to travel freely. Also, if the quarantine regulations cannot be relaxed for security reasons, then at least after a 5-day period, if the PCR test is negative, people should be allowed to move, he said.
“This will help encourage travel, but more important than travel is the contribution to the sector that Indian tourism needs for the creation of jobs. Pre-covid, 25 per cent of all the new jobs that were created globally were related to tourism directly and indirectly. It’s a very important factor for lives and livelihoods that are dependent on tourism,” said Chhatwal at IGF 2021.
