Domestic tourism has picked up but foreign tourists would be key to revive post-Covid economy

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Jodhpur, Rajasthan’s popular holiday destination, especially for foreigners continues to wear a lacklustre look though domestic travellers have started flocking into the city. Since the outbreak of the Covid 19 pandemic last year, India has suspended issuing tourist visas.</p>
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“Income flow has dried up as few tourists visited the city. Only recently domestic tourists have started coming in but there have been no foreign tourists for months now—they are the major spenders,” a private taxi driver said.</p>
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And now even as India announced allowing entry of foreign tourists from November 15, there is little hope amongst those engaged in the tourism sector that life will return to the pre-Covid days anytime soon.</p>
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“We do not see any major inflow of foreign tourists in the coming winter months that have typically been busy season for us,” he said.</p>
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Though domestic tourism is picking up, staff attendance has not reached the pre-Covid levels at most hotel chains.</p>
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People with direct knowledge on this said that about 15-20 million people engaged in India’s tourism industry have been affected. Either they have lost their jobs or have gone without any pay.</p>
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About 40 million people – 8 per cent of the total employment–are directly engaged in the sector. Another 70 million are indirectly associated with tourism.</p>
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The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) data revealed that the tourism sector accounted for 6.8 per cent of India’s GDP in 2019.</p>
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“We need to act now before it is too late. There is no reason why India should not allow foreign tourists who are fully vaccinated to come in,” Subhash Goyal, President, Confederation of Tourism Professionals told India Narrative.</p>
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Goyal added that while domestic tourism has picked up considerably with the ease in Covid 19 numbers, inflow of foreign tourists is critical for foreign exchange generation.</p>
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“Domestic tourism has indeed picked up and most hotels are now going full but to ensure that the sector can operate normally, we need to allow foreign tourists,” Goyal said, adding that several countries in Europe and Africa have already opened up for Indian tourists. “We need to at least allow citizens of these countries to come into India for tourism purposes,” he said.</p>
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In 2019, India earned $ 3.1 billion in foreign exchange from the period January to December and received more than 10 million tourists.</p>
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A senior executive at a five star hotel chain said that things are expected to normalise only around the middle of next year.</p>