COVID-19 hit hard travel and tourism industry but it will revive: Culture & Tourism Minister

Tourism and Hospitality industry has been worst hit due to sudden outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic followed by the four phases of lockdown. Despite all the adversaries, Union minister for culture and tourism Prahlad Singh Patel expressed hope for speedy revival while addressing a virtual seminar organised by Maharshi Dayanand University.

New Delhi:The current COVID-19 induced lockdown has hit hard the travel and tourism industry here bringing their entire operations to a grinding halt. As the nation moves forward with Unlock-1, hotels, restaurants and religious places were allowed to open from Monday.

As many as 820 centrally protected monuments under the ASI which have places of worship were also opened after the announcement by union minister for culture and tourism Prahlad Singh Patel. But overall domestic tourism industry remains shattered because of travel restrictions enforced by the states and also due to the fear factor of community transmission.

With the continuous increase in the number of positive cases across the country, it is obvious that the nation is not going to get back to normal anytime soon and that bothers an industry with approximately 10% contribution to the GDP of the country.

As per CII (Confederation of Indian Industries), evaluation of the industry suffered a loss of 5 Lakh crores and 5 crore people lost their jobs due to the unprecedented situation arose after Coronavirus spread.

Despite all the adversaries, Union minister for culture and tourism Prahlad Singh Patel expressed hope for speedy revival while addressing a virtual seminar organised by Maharshi Dayanand University.

"India has not only successfully fought against this pandemic but even helped other countries to fight against the disease. The leadership of India has set up a benchmark at the global level. Due to this pandemic, the Hospitality and Tourism industry has been affected badly, however, the Indian government is trying its level best to revive the sector. The industry has also great role in fighting this difficult situation" he said.

The minister further discussed the opportunities emerged for the hospitality and tourism sector due to the pandemic. He said that India has a great potential for wellness tourism and in the coming time it will emerge in a big way.

The MDU has organised a week-long webinar on the topic "Tourism & Hospitality Industry Post Covid-19: Challenges and Opportunities" where experts from the industry will be discussing on the burning issues the sector is gripping within the current situation.

Rajbir Singh, Vice-Chancellor MDU Rohtak said that the Covid-19 has hit the hotels and the tourism industry from all corners but professionals need not worry as this will emerge soon with full pace and bring new opportunities for the professionals. The experts also discussed the changes tourism and hospitality industry is looking forward post Cover scenario.

"No doubt this industry will observe lots of changes like touch-free check-ins, fewer amenities in the guest room etc. New types of tourism like wellness and yoga will emerge once the situation is over" said Professor Nina Singh, Dean Academic Affairs MDU.

According to experts, the industry will start functioning in full swing only after the situation gets to normal and people fee free to travel places but with cases of COVID-19 positive in the country going above 250000 and rising death tolls, it is hard to anticipate if the spread could be controlled even by the end of this year.