Anima Biswal
Bhubaneswar: Tourism industry plays an important role in our life, not only in Odisha but also for our nation which contributes significantly towards our economic growth. Novel coronavirus has a massive negative impact on the industry and Tourism has been the hardest hit out of all sectors. Tourism industry needs to revive &contribute for the recovery of the economy. COVID-19 has given us a challenging opportunity to redesign tourism in a more rational manner to enrich lives of individual and make ourselves financially self-sustainable in the long term.
It may be noted that, a month after corona virus outbreak in China, in March 2020 we had the first confirmed case in India. Gradually it spread across the entire nation causing more than 1 lakh covid positive cases and fatality around 3000 as on date. Odisha is not an exemption and Tourism industry of the state has come to a standstill with imposed quarantines, all borders closures and lockdown throughout.
It is difficult to predict how long the impact will continue, what shape it will take in times to come. From our general perspectives on Tourism Industry, it is highly resilient and comes back time and again from situations like 9/11 and recession in 2008-09 etc. However, for COVID-19, same rules may not apply as the situation is changing dramatically.
International Travel is likely to be restricted for some time; hence we need to focus how we can promote Domestic tourism to start with, as soon as we recover from the consequences of the pandemic. Since last few years, the domestic tourism is growing and it has contributed to a significant amount to our economy.
During 2018, more than 1.5 million domestic tourists visited Odisha which was an increase of 8.55% as compared to previous year. The earnings from domestic tourism for the year 2018 was Rs 15142 crores. Odisha has rich cultural as well as heritage resources. Besides religious tourism which is an integral part of Odisha tourism, there are several other attractions such as beach destinations, primitive tribes of the region, various art and dance forms, authentic food trails, state textiles etc. being some of the important contributor state wide.
In the present scenario, COVID-19 has given us an opportunity to redesign the future of Odisha tourism and there is a need for strong and decisive action by State Government to promote Domestic Tourism in a planned way, systematically and sustainablyto boost the tourism industry and strengthen the local economy, leading forward towards an improved and quality life of the people associated with it.
Earlier tourism was not considered as essential part of life. However,mind-set of people is changing and they have started believing on the health benefits of taking a vacation like reduce of stress, increases productivity & creativity. With changes in life style of people, tourism is growing with increasing disposable income.
People are traveling frequently to take a break from work, to meet family, friends & relatives. Post COVID-19, there is a greater possibility that, the people will not travel far away from their home and will prefer mostly to drive to a nearer tourist destination. Hence, there would be an increase in demand for road trips, stay puts and day trips.
In present scenario, virtual tour and digital marketing has taken a lead role in the promotion of tourism. Therefore, Odisha Tourism also needs to adopt the state-of-art technology in showcasing the cultural and heritage resources through virtual tour of a destination along with the local stories and storytelling, which helps the travellers to choose their destination for planning their future trip.
Besides, the awareness campaign during COVID-19 has made people alert &there will be an increase in demand for Health & Wellness. Hence for the tourist destinations and the existing facilities concerned, the management need to improve the general hygiene and sanitation standards.
In spite of so much uncertainties around tours and travel, a clear message about the tourism destinations especially an assurance of ‘Safe to Travel’ in terms of hygiene and minimum comfort, on and above the imposed travel restrictions is of utmost important to win the confidence among travellers and normalise the current impact on tourism industry.
(Anima Biswal is a New Delhi based Travel & Tourism Professional. Her views are personal. The author has consulted various open-source information for preparing this article including Odisha Statistical Bulletin, Government of Odisha. Email : [email protected] )
