09/24/2020
Every kind gesture begins with trust : Let's save Indian tourism together, in solidarity
The Covid 19 pandemic has adversely affected most businesses. However, the tourism and hospitality industry, which until last year was amongst the fastest growing industries, has become the worst hit victim of all.
Millions of jobs have been lost all over the world since the beginning of this crisis. Businesses have shut down. With international flights not starting, the Indian tourism industry has to look for domestic tourists. However the fear of the virus runs deep amongst the people, and domestic travel is not picking up.
The industry has been working very hard to assure that safe travel and stay can be made possible for all guests across all the links of the travelling chain. The measures include robust sanitization efforts, regular employee testing, and stocking of sanitization tools and preventive, protective and testing gears, all across the chain.
The travel industry, collectively, requests the dear people of our tall nation, to give us the chance to uphold and deliver our promise of providing fond experiences with safety and trust.
We request the state governments to extend their support by removing the travel bans. We request the central government to provide aid to the industry by giving soft loans. Some countries are sharing the employee salary of domestic businesses thus preventing job losses. India can do something similar for domestic travel companies. The Indian tourism industry can join forces with neighbouring countries like Nepal, Maldives, Bhutan etc for a joint action plan by opening up the borders and promoting domestic tourism as it will be difficult to restart international tourism till a credible vaccine is developed against Covid19.
We also extend our request to all the citizens of India to join hands in solidarity for the 53,000 travel agents, 1,15,000 tour operators, 15,000 adventure operators, 2700 MICE operators, 19,11,000 tourist transporters, 53,000 hospitality staff, and 5 lakh restaurants, who have previously done their utmost best to put a memorable smile on your face.
We urge you to remember the flight attendant who brought the blanket without you having to ask, the tour executives who received you at the airport with a warm greeting, the drivers who brought you safely to the destination with tireless driving, the happy faced hotel staff that brought you the cake and made your anniversary worth remembering, the tour guide who went the extra mile to help you pose with the Taj Mahal hanging by the tip of your fingers, and the waitress who made the special recommendations to make sure your experience was worth every last penny.
Today all those individuals risk losing their livelihood. If we fail today, then more than 5 crore smiles will be lost. More than 5 crore jobs risk being lost.
Every kind gesture begins with trust. Together we can save the tourism industry - with trust, with solidarity, and with love. Together we can return the happy smiles to the faces that once did the same for us.
# Save Tourism
# World Tourism Day
Deepak Manwani
Director
Beckon Tours