- COVID is going to stay, and we have to learn to live with it, says Goyal.
- The majority of India’s tourists come between October and March, therefore, this upcoming season is vitally important.
- Thousands of travel agents and tour operators have already gone bankrupt. The only hope for survival is starting of e-tourist visas and scheduled international flights.
Goyal went on to say:
We have to fulfill our Prime Minister’s dream of making India a 5 trillion-dollar economy. Tourism is the only industry which is labor intensive and has a multiplier effect on the economy. Therefore, we need to act now before it is too late.
The tourist season for India is from October to March and we need not to lose this opportunity in the year 2021 since year 2020 was a total wash out.
In 2019, India earned Rs.2,10,981 crores Foreign Exchange from the period January to December or US$3.1 billion in the month of December 2019 (source MOT). The country received more than 10 million tourists in 2019.
International tourism accounts for almost 10 percent of India’s GDP and approximately 11 percent of direct and indirect taxes. Hospitality and the tourism industry employ about 58 million people directly and about 75 million people indirectly in India. About 10 million people have either lost their jobs or are on leave without pay.