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The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) is working overtime to raise awareness about the despair in the travel and hospitality industries and lobby with the Indian government as well as several stakeholders by creating a roadmap for the industries.
It has launched several ventures, among them a two-day Tourism E-Conclave, monikered ‘Travel and Hospitality: What’s Next’. It was inaugurated by Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State (I/C) for Culture and Tourism, and the various stakeholders discussed and debated how the two of the worst affected segments will revive.
Patel said the COVID-led lockdowns had led to a situation that was “completely unprecedented” and tested leadership at all levels. He recommended that the stakeholders—private and government— should collaborate to understand what needs to be done on priority, to ensure a revival.
Dr Jyotsna Suri, Chairperson and Managing Director of Bharat Hotels (the flagship company of the LalitSuri Hospitality Group), former FICCI President and the current Chairperson of the FICCI Tourism Committee, in her session with Tourism Minister Prahlad S Patel, stressed on the need for sustained coordination and collaboration among different states. “Tourism is going to be the torchbearer of the economy for India.
To help domestic tourism revive, the states will need to have synergies. Every state has a different policy —while some recommend a 7-day quarantine period, others want the quarantine period to be of 14 days. There needs to be some synergy and collaboration for any true revival.”
The tourism secretaries of Odisha, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh discussed the possibility of setting up internal travel bubbles between states that were not as drastically affected by the pandemic and had low levels of infection.
According to Vishal Kumar Dev, Secretary – Tourism, Odisha, the state had already begun work on long-duration interstate itineraries and is looking at signing MoUs with other states such as Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal. Their MoU with Gujarat was already in place.
Dev said the technology will play a key role in helping India to cope up the emergent crisis. He also said road trips will gain significance. “People will prefer travelling more by their means of transport for business and holidays, hence the stakeholders of the Industry shall accordingly realign their offerings to cater to this new emerging segment.”
Odisha Tourism, who are planning a scheme of “Road Trips to And Through Odisha” which target some major cities of Odisha’s bordering States like, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh from where tourists to Odisha shall be invited to travel by roads.
In one of the sessions leading lights from different industries and celebrities, not directly involved with the travel business, spoke about what they expect from the travel and hospitality industries in India. “There are certain transformations that are due in the way we travel. The next time we head out on a weekend journey, we will find a lot of detail in our ecosystem. We will have a better understanding of local cultures and how (that experience) translates into who we are. This sort of micro-travel will eventually make us a better society that appreciates its roots,” said Chef Ranveer Brar, touching on issues of sustainability and eating local and seasonal cuisine as part of the entire travel experience.
In another crucial session, ‘Future of Travel and Hospitality – What lies ahead?’, Meenakshi Sharma, Director General, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India; Suman Billa, Director, United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNTWO), Technical Cooperation & Silk Road Development; Sujit Banerjee; Secretary General, World Travel & Tourism Council, India Initiative (WTTCII); and Deep Kalra, Founder & Group Executive Chairman, MakeMyTrip discussed why secluded destinations that have managed to control the spread of the virus will become more popular, provided safety and hygiene are ensured across the board.
Among other issues they focussed on: Why it is important to maintain a uniform policy across states. “While many people want to set out on road trips, they are deterred because the norms in different states are unclear,” Kalra said. “It won’t be business as usual when the world reopens,” claimed UNWTO’s Suman Billa. “We will be factoring environmental costs over economic costs. We will look at destinations and establishments moving closer to zero-carbon footprint, zero-waste measures and zero-mile food. We will look for more community- centred and meaningful experiences. People will want to be more responsible and sustainable.”
