The coronavirus pandemic could deal a crippling blow to the Indian travel and tourism industry, specially with the government suspending all visas, with the economic impact being assessed to run into thousands of crores of rupees. According to industry chamber CII, this is the one of the worst crises ever to hit the Indian tourism industry impacting all its geographical segments – inbound, outbound and domestic, almost all tourism verticals.
With the WHO declaring coronavirus as a pandemic, the Indian Government announced the cancellation of almost all visas until April 15, a move that could damage an industry that caters to about 10 million foreign tourists a year.
Visitors to Rajasthan and Goa, India’s most popular destinations for visitors with its forts and palaces and beaches respectively have abandoned their plans. Bulk cancellations are happening every single day. This has clearly affected the tourism in those places. It was said that four in 10 people relied in some way on tourism in Rajasthan, where some of the first cases of coronavirus in India were reported last month among a group of Italian visitors.
Share prices of Indian airlines tumbled on, as the visa ban prompted ticket discounting in an already depressed air travel market. Other regional nations also took steps to combat the virus. The Maldives archipelago declared a public health emergency giving the government extra powers to ban pubic gatherings and Sri Lanka ordered schools closed for more than five weeks.
Indian Sports Secretary RS Jhulaniya told Reuters that the chief ministers of two states where India’s cricket national team will play South Africa this month have been told the matches can go ahead but that stadiums must be empty.
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