As we discuss the impact of the second wave of COVID-19 on the travel industry, it is likely that the industry may well take several months to restore to normalcy, assuming that the pandemic restrictions, including state-wide lockdowns, social distancing, RT-PCR tests and 50 percent capacity, are gradually relaxed.  Even before the vaccination, the travel economy was slowly picking up. The recovery phase was mainly due to travel operations in the northern and eastern states of India.

States including Maharashtra in the west and Kerala down south were still recovering from the first pandemic wave, though the number of Corona cases were comparatively low in the beginning of this year against last year. Non-metro routes had higher passenger demand than metros due to the sudden surge of COVID cases, and travel restrictions as a result of it.

Nonetheless, the demand for travel will not be much until overseas travel stages a comeback.  Though the developed countries, including Europe and the US, have been able to vaccinate a large chunk of their population, it still remains to be seen how it will actually help the inbound travel sector in the immediate future. If you take India, the US and Europe make only 16 per cent of international inbound and outbound passengers.  Even the task of vaccinating 50 per cent of the Indian population can prove challenging in itself, and further delaying (with a confluence of travel policies and restrictions) can only push the travel industry to the brink of an existential crisis.  When it comes to the travel trade, the ground situation doesn’t paint a rosy picture yet. The biggest question confronting travel operators is how they could get their business back, with now everything coming to a near standstill.