Protecting Workers of Travel and Tourism Industry - A Commentary

The Lockdown has been re-imposed across various parts of India yet again due to an increase in Coronavirus cases. One of the industries which has been severely affected by this is the travel and tourism industry. Travel agencies are laying off employees and the hotels and airlines are considering doing so if they have not done so already. One does not even want to think of the owners who can no longer find running a hotel or a restaurant economically sustainable. The pandemic, unequaled in the shock it has given to economies, has arrived as a bane for the industry.

Structure of Coronavirus. A virus which has wrecked the peace of mankind!

Pic Courtesy - WikiImages

Being a trained Hotel Management professional and having been a part of the Hotel Industry at a point in time, I am aware of how important footfall is, of how important free movement of people is, for the health of the industry. Yet, when a virus makes the free movement of people impossible, the people who earn a living from this industry are left with no option but to look on, helplessly. They have to wait until the majority of the world's population is inoculated with a vaccine.

When I travel, I usually visit hotels that are budget properties. I usually go to economical restaurants. But it is these properties that are the worst affected due to the Coronavirus-induced pandemic. Oyo, one of the biggest names in budget properties, has suffered economically due to the Coronavirus-induced pandemic.

Whatever be the situation, the governments (state and central) need to ensure that the owners of businesses in the travel and tourism industry are insulated to a certain degree by the Covid 19 induced pandemic. 

Equally important, the governments need to make sure that the people working in the travel and tourism industry are protected financially. They need to do so because the travel and tourism industry is a great earner of foreign exchange (and also boosts local economies) and so the people who make all this happen need to be protected, keeping the future in mind when we would be needing them.

No tourist would want to check-in and find an inexperienced staff taking care of a hotel because the 'experienced' staff had to leave for greener pastures during the Covid 19 induced pandemic! After all, even they have families to take care of!

The Indian Government has announced that they have plans to help the tourism industry, plans which they will unveil once the unlocking process starts. That is a welcome start. Yet, my point is that my travel experiences were made awesome not just by owners of hotels but also by the drivers of canters (safari vehicles), forest guides, monument guides, the cooks, the cleaning staff, the servers, the cab drivers and the auto drivers. So, the governments (both state and center) should consider giving these people some form of stipend, for their sustenance, until a semblance of normalcy returns. 

All this should be done to ensure that when we go back to our favorite destinations or explore new ones, our travel experiences are just as enjoyable as it was earlier, if not much better.

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