Task force on the anvil to revive leisure travel amid Covid-19 pandemic

Measures being planned to bring back consumers who have shied from tourism

With leisure and vacation travel virtually decimated both in the domestic and the international space because of the Covid-19 pandemic, a task force likely to come up with a plan for reviving the sector.

The task force will comprise key stakeholders and representatives from the government. It will include representatives from airlines like IndiGo, Vistara and Go Air, leading travel associations such as the Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism and Hospitality (FAITH), Travel Agents Association of India, Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO), and airport operators like Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL).  

The statistics tell the story of the terrible impact of the pandemic on tourism and leisure travel. For example, at Delhi airport, which is the largest in the country, domestic leisure and vacation travel in pre-Covid times accounted for 41 per cent of passengers, travel for friends and family comprised 33 per cent, and the rest was mostly business travel. However, after the lockdown was lifted and airlines got permission to fly again, in May–June, business travel accounted for 50 per cent of passengers, distress travel accounted for 43 per cent, and the rest was from others.

With the onset of the festive season, the share of various segments shifted again. Since the Dussehra, family and friends have accounted for over 63 per cent of all travel, and the bulk of the remaining share is coming from business travel. Domestic leisure and vacation tourism, which constituted the biggest share of the market before the pandemic, is negligible now and is mostly limited to Goa.

Last year, Delhi airport alone witnessed around 20.1 million domestic holiday travellers, who accounted for the largest share of its passengers. But from April, 2020, this has been down to a trickle. Says Subhash Goyal, chairman of FAITH: “We are seeing some leisure travel, but in motorable distances. The industry, together with the government, has to bring the trust back into leisure travel. The task force is meant to find ways to do that.”

This has a serious bearing on how quickly domestic airlines can go back to pre-Covid levels. In the month of October in Delhi, the total traffic from domestic flights was 43 per cent of the traffic for the same month last year, and the number of flights was 53 per cent of it during the same period. “While the cap on flights has been increased to 70 per cent (from 60 per cent) we believe the temporary spurt in demand is due to the festive season and will fall after that. January-March will be crucial. Without tourism and leisure picking up, reaching pre- Covid levels will not be possible anytime soon,” says a top executive of a leading airline.        

The story is replicated in the international space, too. India received 10.9 million international tourists in the calendar year 2019, and over 60 per cent of them travelled between October and March. Moreover, the country earned foreign exchange to the tune of $30 billion through tourism that year. But the prospect of getting anywhere near those levels is looking bleak now, according to industry experts.

Says Pronab Sarkar, president of IATO: “About 40 per cent of this business comes through group tourism and the profile of travellers is older, well-to-do vacationers, mostly from Europe. With the current health risks, and the fact that they plan for travel three to six months in advance, it is unlikely that they will come to India. We will be optimistic if even 10 per cent of what we got last year is retrieved.”  

MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, exhibitions) is the other big market, and usually constitutes 12 to 15 per cent of the travel business. But with most companies and their staff working from home, this, too, has been knocked out. 

The impact on the travel and tourism business is aggravated by the fact that even outbound international tourism has come to a virtual standstill. In 2019, over 26.9 million Indians travelled abroad for leisure and tourism, and nearly 53 per cent of inbound and outbound international traffic in Delhi airport came from leisure and vacation travellers. This has been pretty much wiped out during the pandemic.

The members of the task force will be looking at various proposals to try and kick-start leisure travel. 

One, start bubble-like flights in the domestic sector, where all passengers have to get a negative antigen test before they board a flight so that they are more confident about travelling for leisure. Two, have a joint advertising blitz by all stakeholders —airports, airlines, taxi operators and hotels — to showcase the safety procedures put in place. Three, push for common rules for passenger movement across states rather than the myriad rules and restrictions that are changed frequently.

 “In many cases while inter-state on-road movement is allowed, movement by air is not. There are numerous anomalies which need to be smoothened,” says a member of the committee.