Now, let us view the scenario from another angle employment. The central tourism ministry mentions that tourism, either directly or indirectly, accounts for the employment of almost 90 million people. Add to this the 100 million-odd people who are employed in the travel sector and you can understand its significance. Now here’s the bad news: 20 million jobs can be put to immediate risk if the travel sector fails to come out of this dire situation, while some experts estimate it a notch higher at 50 million.
Kerala, as discussed in the previous blog, churned out INR 28,000 crore from foreign and domestic tourism in 2018. Tourism contributed to a quarter of the state’s employment figures. The same rings true for Kashmir, Sikkim, Goa and Rajasthan. Not to mention Tamilnadu (that is manufacturing-focussed) and Uttar Pradesh (mainly an agrarian economy) depending on tourism for revenue. The two added up to more than a third of India’s total tourist visits in 2018.
This is the story in most states that are dependent upon the travel sector. As for Kerala, the current situation can prove havoc for specific regions and districts. And Kashmir, Uttarakand, Bihar and Rajasthan are no different as per some ground reports. Reports show that 95 per cent of hotels and guest stays, and almost 80 per cent of tour operators are closed temporarily citing losses. Needless to say, more number of people will be actually affected by the ongoing economic crunch fuelled by lockdown after lockdowns than the pandemic.
There have been several unsuccessful attempts in the past to kick-start tourism, thanks to the growing COVID-19 cases in most states of India. I feel there has to be an integrated effort at the policy-making level both by the Central and state governments as well as by the stakeholders and industry participants to revisit the long-term perks of reviving the travel and tourism sector. The sector has to be viewed as an integral part of the bigger economic and social ecosystem. All said and done I admit that there are few man-made complications that hamper the mobility of people and transport system. We will continue our musings in the next part of the blog series.