Goa, known as the land of Sun, Sand and Susegado (Relaxed Living). It has been the highest grosser in terms of Tourism for the country – India. The Government has tried to promote it as a destination for ‘365 Days of Holiday’. But it would be fair to say that the tourist season begins only in September with the start of charter flights. They arrive from countries like UK, Russia, and other European Nations. The season was just about to get in its prime by the end of the year 2019 when the onslaught of Corona Virus aka Covid -19 hit the world by storm and disrupted many plans. The impact of Covid-19 on the Travel Industry in India is massive. India went into nation wide lockdown mode from March 22nd 2020 and seems to be leading the fight with the virus by reaching a stage to flatten the curve according to initial reports by May End.
“What the world needs now is solidarity. With solidarity we can defeat the virus and build a better world”
UN Secretary General – Antonio Guterras Impact of Covid-19 on Travel Industry – Goa
Goa as a focus of this article has managed to ward off the virus thanks to quick actions by an active Government led by Chief Minister Dr. Pramod Sawant and Health Minister, Mr. Vishwajeet Rane who invoked the Epidemic Act and proceeded for an effective lockdown after initial hiccups and push to conduct pending ZP Elections amidst protests. A state like Goa could have been one of the worst affected with millions of tourists visiting every year, by some estimates 2.5 million a year, which is double Goa’s local population. After the ban on Mining in Goa due to the excessive exploitation of mines by illegal traders before 2014, Tourism Industry has been the main revenue generator for the state of Goa along with other sectors which have not got much focus due to the employ-ability factors of Tourism.
Goa Tourism stake holders include Hoteliers, Travel Agents, Tour Operators, Taxi Drivers, Travel Service Operators, F&B Service Providers, MICE and Wedding Event Operators who are responsible for the growth of Destination Goa Slump in Tourism
Tourism in India is looking at a slump over INR 1.25 Trillion according to an article published by Business Standard . Various travel restrictions imposed by the Indian government as well as governments across the globe. Forward bookings for various conferences and leisure travel bookings to foreign destinations have already been cancelled. In India, most of the summer holiday bookings have also been cancelled (about 40-50 per cent). Thereby impacting domestic tourism. Recovery time for the same will also be at least 2 years. Considering the production version of Covid – 19 vaccine will launch in late July. Holiday plans for atleast a year have already been cancelled.
Deserted Goan Beaches in a Lockdown Scenario post-March 23rd | Pic Credits: The Economic Times Tourism Industry should now be looking for an overhaul and going by global trends boutique properties / AirBnBs / homestays will be the first to start getting bookings as these are easy to maintain newer hygiene standards and risks of contamination are lower. Taxis should be focusing on local populations to supplement tourist incomes and can move towards app based solutions like Goa Miles, Uber or Ola. A lot of opposition was seen but this might now seem as a necessity to feed empty stomachs. Casino Industry in Goa might be worst hit if lockdown restrictions are not lifted soon and employee lay-off will be inevitable over time. Operating with a lean workforce is going to be the new norm and innovators will have to find newer solutions in order to automate a lot of processes cutting costs as and when possible.
READ HERE: Beyond Covid – Emerging Business Models
Time to Up-skill
Focus will also be shifted to educational institutes like those offering BBA (Travel and Tourism), MBA (Travel & Tourism) also the Integrated MBA program of Goa University to engage with the industry in finding solutions beneficial for the industry and creating industry ready workforce. Re-skill and Up-skill are two key words for the future of the industry. Learning and Development budgets will be curbed but the expertise of the educational institutions to supplement this with an outsourced model will be one of the key takeaways of this phase.
“Experts in education should realise that youngsters must be equipped with fundamental learnings and be able to apply them to understand and solve problems around them,”
N R Narayana Murthy, Chairman Emeritus and co-founder of Infosys. The Government of Goa has admitted that we have never witnessed such a kind of disaster and have put in place measures to revive the economy by setting up an Economic Revival Committee under the chairmanship of eminent businessman, Mr. Shivanand Salgaoncar and vice chairmanship of industrialist Mr. Nitin Kunkolienkar who along with eminent members of the Industry, Academia and Financial Institutions have suggested ideas to revive the economy and share incentives to the industry. We would also need to look at proper financial planning in professional as well as personal life by micro managing our expenditures and maintaining strict budgets. Smarter use of technological supports for digital outreach and promotions using social media and custom solutions to innovatively bridge the gap between supply and demand while also exploring and tapping newer business opportunities in this Post – Covid -19 world.
