Indian Tourism: The Great Patient of COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

In late December 2019, a previous unidentified coronavirus currently named as the 2019 novel coronavirus, emerged from Wuhan, China, and resulted in a formidable outbreak in many cities in China and expanded globally, affecting 215 countries and territories around the world. The COVID-19 outbreak has brought the world to a standstill with unparalleled and unforeseen impact in our lives, our economies, our societies and our livelihoods and there are growing risks of a global recession and amassiveloss of jobs. The spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is becoming unstoppable and as on June 24, 2020 ith as infected more than 9.3 million people in 215 countries across the globe. While COVID-19 presently looms large on the global stage, the future will undoubtedly bring with it more crisis and shocks, many of them unparalleled in terms of their nature, scope and reach. The global outbreak of COVID-19 has demolished the global economy and there are no qualms that the tourism & hospitality industry is exception. With airplanes grounded, millions of people in quarantine and hundreds of travel bans in place, COVID-19 has engulfed the globe and has brought the global tourism industry to a grinding halt. In order to maintain checks and balances for control of spread ofnCovid-19, the travel advisories and restrictions which are enforced by the nations across the world, have crippled the business and economy which has resulted in revenue and job losses. The impact of this virus is so severe that the aviation and travel sector is expected to incur a business loss of Rs. 8,500 crore or even much more. Social distancing has become a norm in today’sCOVID-19 world and hotels need to re-evaluate and update their strategies to adapt to this change. Considering the unparalleled and fast-evolving nature of crisis, it is extremely challenging to estimate the impact of COVID-19 on Indian Tourism Industry. The paper seeks to analyze the impact of COVID-19 on Tourism and Hospitality industry in India.