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With India reporting two cases of the Omicron variant of Covid-19, the tourism industry has again been impacted severely this year. Most of the tour operators have said that cancellations have increased during the holiday season in outbound travels, but the domestic travel plans have not been affected yet.
However, the tourism industry has been significantly affected due to Covid-19. In the last three days, travel agencies have witnessed 20{e9f0aada585b9d73d0d08d3c277fd760092386ec23cac37d50f4b8cd792b062a} cancellation in outbound travel. “Due to the new guidelines, there has been some confusion in the minds of the travellers, specifically those who were planning to travel internationally, but domestic travel has not been affected much. However, if more guidelines come up from the Central and state governments, it can create a sense of fear among travellers and may impact tourism. In December, people take long leaves, so the tourism sector was expecting some increase of travellers at the end of December and the beginning of January, but now that hope has been dampened,” Jaydeep Bose, co-founder of Say Rooms and Homes, told The Sunday Guardian.
While talking about the peak seasons, he said, “The peak seasons are April, May and June for hill stations in India. Again, during Durga Puja and Dussehra, we see a significant rise in the number of travellers. For international travellers, specifically, the inborn tourists, December, January, February are the peak seasons. For destinations like Goa, the peak season starts during September and October. However, due to Covid-19, the entire schedule is disrupted and there is a lesser number of international arrivals at the moment.”
He further added, “Since I am involved with hotel associations and homestays in northeast regions, the majority of the clients are from India. Apart from this, prior to Covid-19, we had tourists from SAARC countries. Also, travellers from the USA and Canada would visit Gangtok, Assam, Darjeeling and so forth. The peak seasons are December, January and February.”
Asked about the reasons for the delay of economic recovery in the tourism industry, Bose said, “There is a lack of coordination between the Centre and the state governments. For instance, the Maharashtra government had issued different guidelines, whereas, the Centre has different guidelines. All these circumstances affect the travel industry.”
Similarly, a Chhattisgarh-based tourist guide and homestay owner in Shakeel Rizvi said, “Though India relaxed the restrictions, many countries followed strict guidelines in 2020. They were not issuing visas to the tourists, and also, they didn’t have a sufficient number of vaccines, so many people were unvaccinated and were avoiding travelling.”
However, with guidelines for international arrivals, many travellers faced hard times, but the situation has been considered better than the previous year. Rikant Pittie, a Co-Founder of EaseMyTrip, said, “In comparison to January-March 2021, we have witnessed a 50{e9f0aada585b9d73d0d08d3c277fd760092386ec23cac37d50f4b8cd792b062a} jump in international travel bookings. People are gradually opening to the idea of international travel. In terms of Christmas and New Year, we have seen significant increase in bookings, with a 400{e9f0aada585b9d73d0d08d3c277fd760092386ec23cac37d50f4b8cd792b062a} jump in advance air ticket bookings across India for December. We have also witnessed a rise in domestic and international airfares. Domestic flights have seen a temporary jump of 30{e9f0aada585b9d73d0d08d3c277fd760092386ec23cac37d50f4b8cd792b062a} and international flights have seen a jump of 50{e9f0aada585b9d73d0d08d3c277fd760092386ec23cac37d50f4b8cd792b062a} for the month of December.”
This year, Dussehra and Ganesh Chaturthi witnessed a 50{e9f0aada585b9d73d0d08d3c277fd760092386ec23cac37d50f4b8cd792b062a} and 65{e9f0aada585b9d73d0d08d3c277fd760092386ec23cac37d50f4b8cd792b062a} increase in travellers. “This year, we saw a jump of almost 50{e9f0aada585b9d73d0d08d3c277fd760092386ec23cac37d50f4b8cd792b062a} for the Dussehra weekend and 65{e9f0aada585b9d73d0d08d3c277fd760092386ec23cac37d50f4b8cd792b062a} for the long weekend of Ganesh Chaturthi. Apart from the festive seasons, we also usually witness significant growth during the year-end week owing to the vacation time that travellers get during this period,” Pittie told The Sunday Guardian.
Tourism provides jobs to many people, and multiplies the revenue, as everyone gets jobs including people who aren’t highly educated. However, Bose also believes that if the new variant causes a threat, many people who travel internationally may shift to domestic travelling plans, which may be a boon for the domestic sector.
Various reports state that more than 20 million people have lost their jobs in the tourism sector from April 2020 to December 2020. However, to ease the harsh circumstances, oan up to Rs 10.00 lakh each may be availed by the Ministry of Tourism (MoT) approved Tour operator/Travel Agents/ Tourist Transport Operators. Similarly, loans up to Rs 1.00 lakh each may be availed by Regional Level Tourist Guides (RLGs)/ Incredible India Tourist Guide (IITGs) approved by MoT and Tourist Guides approved by State Government/UT Administration. “With the decrease in demand, many within the hospitality and airline sector had to let go of their workforce to keep up with the decreased demand and to be able to maintain their revenue. However, the tourism industry witnessed a strong revival in 2021 compared to 2020. With domestic travel reviving at a strong rate without any major disruptions, we believe that the complete resumption of international travel, once everything settles down, will enable faster recovery of the industry,” Pittie told this paper.
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In November at the U.N. Climate Change Conference, or COP26, influential leaders in travel and tourism signed the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism, a commitment to cut emissions in half by 2030 (and reach net zero by 2050). It’s a big deal involving some big names (including VisitScotland, Norway, and Skyscanner). Intrepid Travel’s cofounder and chairman Darrell Wade—who participated in a recent AFAR Live conversation devoted to sustainability—told the New York Times: “It’s the first time I’ve seen real concrete commitments from industry and governments.”
So what are those commitments? How will the industry show up at this crucial time? We posed follow-up questions to our AFAR Live panelists and their partner organizations, all thought leaders, to explore what it will take to move from idea to action.
These interviews have been edited and condensed for clarity.
Darrell Wade: For Intrepid, the Glasgow Declaration is seriously important. For too long our industry has not been taking its responsibility seriously enough. As an industry, travel and tourism accounts for more than 8 percent of global emissions. Sure, we talk and say fine words, but what is actually needed is solid commitments and actions that can be verified through measurement. The Glasgow Declaration provides such a platform. Specifically, Intrepid will help our industry colleagues understand what’s involved and how to enact carbon reduction plans. We’ve got a lot of experience and expertise in this space.
Gavin Landry: Environmental policy is a key priority for the U.K. government, as outlined in its Green Industrial Revolution 10-point plan and the U.K.’s targets to reach Net Zero carbon emissions by 2050. Hosting the recent COP26 in Glasgow provided an opportunity to reaffirm the U.K.’s commitments to climate action on the global stage.
Amid the global challenges of climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic, VisitBritain has set out its priorities to aid the recovery of both domestic and international tourism and business events, including rebuilding a more resilient, sustainable, and accessible industry. Our recently published Sustainable Tourism discussion paper sets out our approach, including championing regional dispersal and low-carbon transport, sharing resources and best practice with businesses, and working with our trade partners on itineraries that support sustainable and responsible tourism.
Patrick O’Meara: We are launch partners of the Declaration, which means we are helping to set the scene as sector leaders and are leading by example on our own behalf. We are encouraging our members to sign up to the Glasgow Declaration if it is appropriate for them to do so.
Most importantly, we are building a robust Pathway to Net Positive Hospitality, which we announced in conjunction with the Glasgow Declaration at COP26. This Pathway is intended to be a suite of tools, methodologies, and resources to enable and support them on their journey to net positive, for use by every hotel, no matter what brand, location, size, owner, or state of maturity in its sustainability journey.
It is not intended to be a benchmark and we are not imposing timelines for advancement or completion. We have decided to be courageous here by setting our goal as net positive, not just net zero. Net positive in the sector has yet to be defined, but we are driven by the belief in the inherent good in the sector, based on the good it already does and driven by the ambition that we can be regenerative for people and the planet. The Pathway will be formally launched at ITB, Berlin in March 2022.
DW: It’s pretty simple really. If you’re a travel operator of any form, open the Declaration, read it, understand it, and sign it! Then start developing a carbon plan. There are lots of resources available now to help companies in this decarbonization process. It used to be daunting, but it’s much easier now. If you’re a customer, start using your power and asking if suppliers are signatories.
PO: The Declaration requires signatories to have in place concrete plans within one year. The Alliance response is the Pathway to Net Positive. The immediate task, which we have begun, is to define Stage One of the Pathway, i.e., the tools, resources, and enablers for businesses, small and large, who are at the beginning of their journey to sustainability. Stage One of the Pathway will outline the basic frameworks a business should have in place and tasks it can undertake in the short term.
We have launched a new partnership with WTTC, other hospitality businesses and stakeholders, to build the Basics Framework. It will be launched at ITB as Stage One of the Pathway to Net Positive.
GL: Many businesses and organizations are already putting sustainability at the heart of what they do. . . . The recent COP26 Summit in Glasgow provided us with a timely and valuable opportunity to promote Britain’s sustainable tourism offer across international markets, including building our global sustainable tourism content “hub” for visitors with itineraries, activities, and experiences to enjoy a sustainable stay in Britain.
PO: It will have direct and indirect impacts that could be profoundly positive. . . . It is a timely and urgent call to action for the entire sector. It is stewarded by a respected and trusted authority in the UNWTO; it highlights the need for intra- and cross-sector collaboration to achieve meaningful goals; and it offers a timeline, in headline form.
At best it will catalyze action now—to help businesses understand that there are many practical starting points, that they don’t need to do everything at once. That they can make a great start.
DW: There has never been an industry-wide attempt to reduce emissions before, so that in itself is significant. More than that, the Declaration contains a high level of urgency with specific goals not only for 2050, but also 2030. This is developed in line with science-based targets and the aspirations of the Paris Agreement, to keep the world within 1.5 degrees of warming. At the end of the day, if we fail to achieve this, we probably don’t have a travel industry—our destinations will be so distressed they simply will no longer be attractive. It’s an existential issue for our industry.
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