Prateek Hira’s comments in TTJ July-2020

Prateek Hira (President & CEO – Tornos, Gastroutes)

Positivity and hope are the only weapons to deal with the challenges that the present pandemic has thrown our way. Of course the reality is quite worrisome and I do not wish to undermine it too but at the same time we all have learned enough about this virus and we very well know it is here to stay and that it will not just vanish and become oblivious. Tourism Industry will lake quite some time to reach its pre-COVID levels, which too were not so good, yet it can now be seen as a benchmark of normalcy. Tourism is one industry that can only prosper and grow when people feel safe, secure and assured. The after math of COVID pandemic may be enumerated as under:

Shaken confidence of travellers

Travelers are not felling free and happy to travel and are not too sure about their well-being outside their homes or at least home cities

Limited means due to the overall economic downturn

 Tourism is directly proportional to the overall economy and prospers when people have enough left after meeting their necessary requirements.

COVID Induced xenophobia

We should not turn a blind eye to this. Xenophobia is already there when people are seeing outsiders with suspicion. To a great extent, our governments are responsible for this by branding it as an imported disease, imported from first other countries then from our states and even other towns. We should address all these issues with the right earnest if we have to hasten the revival of tourism. The tourism industry in lndia is resilient enough and l am sure we will be able to revive in spite of all these unfortunate realities. After all, to travel has become an essential part of our lifestyle and is important for our well-being thus to think, tourism will not revive or is a dead industry is a complete misnomer. This sure is a period of lull and quite difficult too for businesses world over that have come to a grinding halt but then, we need to realise its only a ‘pause’ and we ought to remain positive and hopeful, instead of sulking, we constructively should be using this period for relearning, realigning, re-engineering and coming out even stronger and much firmer than we ever were. How rightly it is said. “It is only hope which is real. and reality is bitterness and a deceit” – Stay strong we will bounce back.”

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