COVID-19: A Critical Appraisal on Tourism and Hospitality Sector in India

Abstract

The COVID-19 or Corona Virus Disease 2019 belongs to the family of Corona Viruses. It was first identified in the Wuhan city of China in December 2019. COVID-19 strained and enforced the governments of all affected Nations to shut down everything. Accordingly, from March to April most of the countries and its citizens observed complete lockdown. It had affected even production houses too. It is assumed that tourism is the first affected, most affected and the industry that will recover in last, therefore, among all affected sectors, it is believed that tourism is the worst affected industries of the world. In India, first COVID-19 case was reported on 30th January 2020. Every year, the peak season for international tourists fall in the months between October to March, therefore, the COVID-19 had affected the Indian tourism industry from February to March of the year 2020 and it is expected that the crisis will similarly impact the service industry in upcoming peak season too. During these two months, it spoiled both the inbound and outbound tourism industry of the country and later in summers destroyed domestic season too. During summers all Indian tourist destinations were closed. Few tourist attractions were opened in the last part of the June month but attracted a very few numbers of tourists. For this paper, a piece of literature has been selected from various journals, edited books, newspapers, reports, official websites of different Government and Non-Government organizations. It aims to understand the views and analysis of different professionals, academicians and scholars about the COVID-19 impacts on Tourism and Hospitality Industry. The study revealed that the pandemic has affected a lot to the industry and now special packages need to be declared by the responsible authorities.

Keywords: COVID-19, Tourism, Hospitality, Challenges, Tourist

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