Travel and tourism industry expected to flourish again in the post-vaccine era

Published on : Saturday, December 19, 2020

Although the travel and tourism sector is most affected by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is expected to flourish again in the post-vaccine era, said the Indian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL) MD and CEO Puneet Chhatwal.
Worldwide, the travel and tourism sector is the worst-hit sector and is even in India, it is expected to witness a loss of around USD 66 billion, Chhatwal said while speaking at the CII Partnership Summit 2020.

“Future of travel and tourism is definitely bright. It is an industry which is going to thrive, the question is how do we build the bridge between now and the next 18 to 24 months, which is the post-vaccine era,” said Chhatwal.
Chhatwal said about the survival and revival of the sector, reopening of the services sector in general and tourism in particular would need the industry to be safe, lucrative and economically feasible for all stakeholders.

“Crisis is also an opportunity to change and we can come up with innovation on new products, services, business models so that revival is faster,” Chhatwal said.

Technology would definitely help in reviving the industry, accelerating digital skills training for the youth, revitalizing the business, although a complete recovery might take 2 to 3 years.