The money-makers of tomorrow

(The writer is Assistant Professor, K.C. Das Commerce College, Guwahati. She can be reached at e-mail id-gargisarma16@gmail.com)

Tourism has developed as one of the influential sectors for its notable contributions to GDP. Indian Tourism & Hospitality sector has recorded impressive growth since 2015. The statistics from the Indian Tourism Sector demonstrates its escalation. India has seen an exponential hike in the scores earned from the tourists. This picture can be encapsulated as an exceptionally majestic growth.

Statistics of 2019 voice India's status as the Major Tourist Destination in the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report (Courtesy-World Economic Forum). India celebrated the jubilation of yet another score hike between 2017 and 2019. The prime patrons of this score were: Inflow of Domestic & Foreign Tourists, Easy Connectivity between States & Countries and Tourist Destinations' vogue.

India has been a dogged learner and has appropriately employed its learning in marking a grand success in the Tourism & Hospitality Sector. "The key to success lies in the strategy one adopts." Achieving growth and a stagnant score requires a strategy. With this credo, India drafted the Strategy "Art of exhibiting the Nation's rich Cultural and Historical Heritage" which brought in a new facet of achieving scores. Following this strategy, the State Tourism designed superlative Campaigns which were coupled with the best choice of a celebrity endorser. These campaigns worked miracles as they succeeded in showing up a handsome return. All the hyped places relished the satisfactory inflow of tourists. The credit of such wonder scores achieved by the Tourism & Hospitality Sector can be crowned to the drafting and execution of exceptional State-Level Strategies.

Alas! The good scores shuddered with the arrival of COVID-19 in the year 2020. Despite the quality arrangements made to mark a new score in this sector; it had to announce an infinite halt. The virus brought in a paradigm shift as it obstructed the growth of tourism. India's tourism & hospitality sector has experienced the worst phase ever since then. Ongoing pandemic brought in the CUTBACK PHASE to this sector. It can be characterized by the travel restrictions imposed on the tourists by the Government in the entire country. The humble scores froze. The rising number of cases compelled the authorities to seal the boundaries. The calculated scores had to be kept aside for execution in 2021. However, with an aggravated pace of the pandemic, the drafted plans lost their validity. This phase marked the entry point of numerous challenges. Efforts had to be given to revise the drafted plans or to re-draft new plans to combat the new challenges. The primary focus shifted from maintaining stagnant scores to the survival of the sector. Blue days showed no mercy to the business houses engaged in the Tourism & Hospitality Sector. The gloomy phase continued till the end of the lockdown in the country.

The end of the lockdown marked the entry of RECOMMENCE PHASE. This phase can be characterized by the downturn of COVID cases, a continuation of India's battle with the virus and lifting of travel restrictions. 'Challenge ushers new opportunities' was rightly rationalized by this phase. The challenges naturally led to an avenue of opportunities to refurbish the old score. Amidst the enduring battle, people decided to put on their travel shoes once again. This decision brought back the lost spark into the sector. Thus, the sector began to rejuvenate with the inflow of tourists. Interstate travel was limited to health tourism destinations only. The upshot directed towards a different approach. With the relaxation of the travel restrictions, people had the option of choosing an interstate destination or a foreign destination. But they were guided by their self-restrictions to safeguard themselves from the fear of COVID-19. These anonymous restrictions, however, couldn't defeat the travel zing of people. 'Travel is the panacea for everyday hustles of life'. Travel has become an important part of everyone's life. Who doesn't want to take a break from their routine work! The self-restrictions vs. the growing need to announce a break from their schedule forced the populace to discover Ecotourism and Leisure Travels as the momentary solution. The solution worked as a remedy for the Tourism & Hospitality Sector (conversely) and also for the tourists. A captivating pro of this phase was 'Travel Months'. Perfect weather and the appealing charisma of nature augment the travel destinations in these months. Therefore, travel months used to be the money makers for this sector. Though the scores went in contrast with the ones earned before the arrival of COVID-19 it, gave a chance to earn a few.

Ecotourism glittered during this phase. It strived to be a very exciting part of this sector for countless tourists around the country. The reason behind this is the priceless charm of Nature. 'Nature never fails to lure anyone. India, being blessed with such an incredible natural heritage roof, several ecotourism spots. This resulted in a good inflow of local tourists mostly and a climb in leisure travels. Local Tourists tried to minimize the loss suffered by this sector from the decline of interstate tourists. Hospitality at the ecotourism spots also picked up the public eye. A short trip for the weekend or a night stay amidst nature became a travel mantra. People could fix up their choice easily as they were travelling to spend a day off from the busy life or travelling to seek peace from nature. This started the re-positioning of the campaigns. The hotels and resorts providing a beautiful stay with nature or ensuring a good escape into nature kicked off with their campaigns to entice the tourists. Leisure travels or long drives to serene places offering food & stays ruled the charts. The untapped pleasures were relished by the people when they opted to discover their fondness towards nature and peace. 'A day with nature became the new jargon'.

People embraced Ecotourism in the Recommence Phase. The prior efforts of the Hospitality sector to make people fall in love with natural escapes have coined the key to success in this phase. The social media platform and the budding entrepreneurs in the tourism & hospitality industry have contributed to maintaining the momentum of the achieved score. The contemporary era well demonstrates the people's craze of following a man-made cult over social media platforms. Undoubtedly, this craze has always helped the tourism sector earn its desired scores. Ecotourism spots grew popular through the help of social media handles. And the populace followed the cult which transformed ecotourism and leisure travel to be the most important medium of earning revenues for the tourism & hospitality sector. It can be thus stated that the sparkling effect of ecotourism in the social media platforms succeeded in luring people to the zenith extent.

Sadly, with the rising of the COVID 19 cases, the nation is again on the verge of reaching the CUTBACK PHASE. The Government is forced to seal the boundaries yet again to safeguard people's health. The picture from the RECOMMENCE PHASE doesn't depict the old score of Tourism & Hospitality. But, it well elaborates the resuming of the lost travel glory via Ecotourism & Leisure Travels.

'A challenge doesn't bring in conclusion, but initiates a change'.

This is one of the extracts from the ongoing COVID 19 scenario. The upcoming challenges demand the sector to be prompt in identifying the best way to combat a challenge and draft an exceptional strategy. The new choices of travel by the tourists and use of social media can work miracles for the private houses of the Tourism & Hospitality Sector. Ecotourism & Leisure travels can be predicted to grow in the next few years. The sector will have to be indebted towards the 'incredible charisma of Nature' for its prospective growth. The potentials and people's penchant for Ecotourism & Leisure Travel thus mark them the money-makers of tomorrow.