Bleak future of the tourism industry amid the pandemic.

The novel coronavirus, which is one of its kind of humanitarian disasters, has affected people and businesses worldwide, triggering a world depression. Needless to mention, the tourism sector isn't being left behind.

India is one of every one of the developing nations known for its uniqueness in its tradition, culture and unparalleled hospitality. It's a significant destination for several international tourists, creating several employment opportunities and generating enormous taxes. Since the pandemic, there has been a 66.4% decline in overseas tourists’ arrivals in India. It's been estimated that there'll be about 40 million direct and indirect job losses in India, with an annual loss in revenue of around USD 17 billion. Although it's too early to mention what the future implications of the crisis are for tourism, a return to business as was common is highly unlikely. The tourism sector will be very different in the coming years from what it was in 2019. The longer the crisis continues, the more businesses and jobs will be lost, the greater the implications for traveller behaviour, and also the tougher it'll be to rebuild the tourism economy. This brings challenges for the sector, but also additional opportunities to encourage innovation, explore new markets, open up new destinations, and move to more sustainable and resilient tourism development models. Experts have emphasized the requirement to tap domestic tourism as the way forward to come back out of matters. It's expected to profit, as people will opt to stay local and visit destinations within their own country. “We have to go back to the strength of the domestic market to fuel its consumption and if we get that engine going, then we will be far less touched negatively,” Rupinder Brar, additional director general with the Ministry of Tourism, said during a webinar. The pandemic has once more exposed structural shortcomings within the tourism sector and also its vulnerability to external shocks. There's an urgent need to diversify and strengthen the resilience of the tourism economy, to better prepare for future shocks. Looking towards the bright side, the Crisis may be a once in an exceedingly lifetime opportunity to manoeuvre towards fairer, more sustainable and resilient models of tourism development.

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