Maha promised, didn’t deliver

Dharmendra Singh Chauhan, Maharashtra Chapter Chairman, Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India (ADTOI), says his members are completely broken now and the help that Maharashtra government promised last year was not fulfilled by them.

Hazel Jain

Fresh lockdowns have brought with them the same problems agents faced last year. Dharmendra Singh Chauhan says that tourist movement from Maharashtra to other states had just restarted and because of that, a lot of his member agents had attended the association convention at Kevadia recently. “After that, the bookings had increased rapidly for places like Himachal Pradesh and Kashmir. But since March, all our members are seeing so many cancellations – it is causing chaos and has taken the members by complete surprise. Today, there are very few movements happening from Maharashtra – only those who have cars. Curfew is not hampering road movement. But no inbound into Maharashtra is happening,” Chauhan says.

Government is silent

He is upset that Maharashtra Tourism has not made any effort to reach out to the Chapter members. “They have not shown any inclination to engage us or educate us all this while. It is only India Tourism that has been active – whether by conducting multiple roadshows or webinars for us. In fact, Valsa Nair, Principal Secretary, Tourism, Excise & Civil Aviation, Government of Maharashtra, had promised us a waiver of state property tax and electricity bills for last financial year. But nothing was done despite reminders to her. And we are in the new financial year now,” Chauhan adds.

This is the time to get bookings for agents whether it is Chardham or Kashmir – all the planning happens now, he says. But now, with this dangerous new strain, everyone is sitting at home. “Even after a year of dealing with COVID, our members are still not ready to handle the situation. They are completely broken – financially and emotionally. Every day I get calls from my members asking me what they should do. All we can do is try and keep their spirits up. They have spent all their savings. What the EC members are doing now is motivate the members and keep their morale high,” Chauhan adds.

His team had planned two more outings for members in April including one to Jawahar which is a new tourism destination in the state. But given the situation, they will be postponing them. The Chapter had recently attended a Watermelon Festival at Wada.