Rework the strategy?

TRAVTALK spoke to former secretaries of tourism on the sector not finding a mention in the stimulus package by the government, and the subsequent displeasure. This is what they had to say…

Could a change in strategy be the answer to the industry’s woes? While all the former secretaries that TRAVTALK spoke to believe that a tourism-specific package is needed, they also suggest the industry identify immediate needs and put those across to the government in order to convince them.

Shortlist immediate needs
It’s a grim situation for the industry, says MP Bezbaruah, Former Secretary (2002-2004), Ministry of Tourism; Permanent Representative (Hony.), UNWTO and Former Chairman, PATA. “As far as I can see the current scenario and tourism, the situation looks grim, particularly for the small and medium enterprises that make up about 80 per cent of the Indian tourism industry. I would have been happier if tourism, being such a big industry, had been mentioned in some way during the Finance Minister’s announcement on how it can benefit the economic recovery plan. But, this omission itself need not be taken as serious neglect. The government has been saying that focus is on rejuvenation of MSMEs,” Bezbaruah shares.

According to him, the industry needs to first identify which measures announced by the government are not helping and what is needed urgently for survival. “Such issues must immediately be taken up with the government and I am sure they will listen. These relief measures are not one-time measures; the whole recovery programme must go on. The Prime Minister has been a great supporter of the tourism industry as part of economic recovery. Hence, I don’t think it is the intention to ignore tourism, but if something is missing, it is the responsibility of both the industry and MOT to reflect on it and present it to the government,” he says.

Cooperate, don’t compete
RH Khwaja, Former Secretary (2010-2012), MOT, feels that this is perhaps the most serious crisis the industry has seen in living memory and so, a tourism-specific stimulus package is the need of the hour. “I must categorically say that if the government does not give a pragmatic package to the tourism industry, it will be doing the country great harm. We should not single out Government of India, as we have federalism, which should work in practice. It is what we commonly called cooperative federalism. Hence, things like taxes and relief packages have to be dealt with both at the macro level and at the micro level. The Central Government should give what it can, so should the state governments,” he says.

“Hotels, travel agents, aviation and transport employ people directly or indirectly. All of them will get affected when tourists and travellers don’t visit. Hence, everybody in the trade should be prepared for a hard time. I would tell the people in the trade that they should cooperate with each other instead of competing. One should take a share of the pie and not act selfishly,” Khwaja says.

Industry to re-orient itself
“Other parts of tourism are going to be affected correspondingly. Since civil aviation and tourism are going to be hurt the worst, they should be given some consideration as these sectors will have to re-orient themselves for at least the next one and a half years. Until a vaccine is invented and popularised amongst 7.5 billion people, everyone has to live on their savings for a while. It’s going to be a new game altogether as people are going to fear travelling,” says Parvez Dewan, Former Secretary (2012-2014), MOT. He believes that the different segments of tourism must be treated differently.

“The tourism industry has many segments, including hotels, restaurants, tourist guides, taxis, etc. Each segment has a different problem and a different solution to that problem. For instance, I will not travel in an air-conditioned railway coach anymore but would prefer a non-AC one. Since an aircraft cannot be non-AC, I am recommending them to go for flexi glass between the seats. I might be the first in the world to recommend it, but I believe that it’s going to happen. Hotels have to switch from central AC to window AC. Restaurants will have to re-orient themselves and many will have to become outdoor joints or go for rooftop settings if they can’t have a lawn. Human contact in the travel agent segment will have to be reduced and be replaced with online interaction. There are a lot of things which each sector and segment of tourism will have to work on,” Dewan advises.

First prioritise, then lobby
Tourism has come to a standstill and it is unlikely that people will travel for pleasure anytime soon, claims Rashmi Verma, Former Secretary (2017-2019), MOT. “The hospitality industry will be affected because hotels won’t have much occupancy; with fewer people travelling, the travel trade will also be affected. Restaurants and other related sectors will get affected. It will take some time for the tourism sector to revive,” she opines.

Verma also feels that while some parts of tourism can utilise the existing schemes, not all under the stimulus package can help the industry. “A lot of concessions have been offered to MSMEs and most of the tourism units fall within the MSME criteria. However, for revival of tourism, it is necessary to take focused steps, and a focused package needs to be carved out of the main package. For that, the tourism industry should clearly list out what exactly they would need urgently or within the next six months. Then, they can lobby for things within the main package that should be clearly earmarked for tourism,” she suggests. MSME is again a huge spectrum and not only tourism, but many other sectors fall within its definition. Hence, unless some money is earmarked for the tourism sector, it will be very difficult for tourism units to get any benefit out of it, Verma feels.