Banks will play an important role in financing the weakened tourism sector

A special economic package has been announced to free the country's tours and travel industry from the effects of the Corona. In addition to providing free tourist visas to the first five lakh tourists arriving in India after the global opening up of the tourism sector, working capital loans and financial support have been announced to tours and stakeholders involved in the tourism sector. It is true that the finance ministry has announced an economic package, but there is no question that this will give an immediate impetus to the country's hotels and tourism sector. Given the average number of 1.10 crore foreign tourists visiting India every year, the number of five lakh free tourist visas is very low in terms of percentage.

For tourists, many countries in the world have closed their borders at present and India has also imposed rules on international tourists. With the second wave of the Corona now threatening a third wave, the influx of international tourists is unlikely to begin in the country in the near future. Similarly, people from India are not particularly keen on foreign travel. According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, the number of international tourists in Asia and the Pacific fell by 3% in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period in 2020, while in Europe it fell by 3% and in the US by 21%.

As far as India is concerned, some branded hotels in the country have even announced that they will not be able to resume business in the current situation. In such a scenario, there are doubts as to whether the announcement by the Reserve Bank of India to cover the tourism industry under the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme will be particularly successful. This is because lending is in the hands of banks and our banks, which are facing non-performing assets, are not particularly keen on lending to weaker sectors. Various rating agencies have provided a negative credit outlook to the hotel industry.

The tourism sector has a big role to play in creating employment all over the world, including India. As a diversified sector, the tourism industry has created new employment opportunities for skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled talent in the last few years. However, in the field of tourism, most of the talent comes from urban areas. Given that the tourism sector is becoming a major source of revenue for the country's treasury, the move to support the sector in the Corona era is welcome.

Keeping in view the changing lifestyle and mentality of the youth, the government is focusing on the development of the tourism sector. If we want to strengthen the image of this currently weakened sector as an employment generating sector, we need to prioritize the creation of talent bridges in the sector after the Corona period along with financial support and welcome talent from rural areas. Is going. Advances in technology have increased the demand for technology-savvy workforce.

Globally, there is a significant presence of women in the tourism industry, while the tourism sector in India accounts for only 15 to 18 per cent of the total workforce. A survey conducted by the World Trade Organization (WTO) found that in countries where the travel and tourism sector has developed, the number of women workers in the sector is also increasing.

The present government is placing special emphasis on the development of the country's tourism sector but the strain on infrastructure still remains a major challenge, which remains to be overcome. While today's high-earning youth are seen spending a certain portion of their earnings on tourism, the government has made efforts to encourage the youth to move within the country by developing more and more tourist destinations.

According to a survey, India is the second largest tourist attraction in the world after the United States and Australia. But when it comes to cities worth seeing, not a single city in India is in the top three. New York, Hong Kong and Sydney are on the list of cities to visit. With the exception of the Corona period, India's travel and tourism industries are among the fastest growing industries. With the ongoing development of this industry, policy makers need to come up with a system that includes special education and training systems that can accelerate the growth of tourism to make it a hub for job creation.