Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Ramadan 17, 1445 H
broken clouds
weather
OMAN
23°C / 23°C
EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

India’s visa ban plunges tourism sector into crisis

1458840
1458840
minus
plus

NEW DELHI: Indian hotels and travel operators warned on Thursday their industry would suffer an unprecedented hit from the government’s decision to issue no visas for foreign visitors in order to combat the spread of coronavirus.


With just 73 confirmed cases of the virus and no deaths, India, a country of 1.3 billion people, has got off lightly so far compared to elsewhere in Asia, Europe and North America.


But experts fear that its overstretched medical systems would struggle to handle the type of intensive care required if there were a spike in infections.


New Delhi said late on Wednesday it will cancel almost all visas issued for travel to the country until April 15, in one of the most far-reaching attempts to stop the virus spreading.


Millions of people work in the tourist sector, and while domestic tourism is big in India it also welcomes around 10 million foreign tourists annually, according to government data.


Many head for the forts and palaces in the desert state of Rajasthan, where some of the first cases of coronavirus in the country were reported last month among a group of Italian tourists.


Rachna Singh, CEO of the Federation of Hospitality and Tourism of Rajasthan, said most of those who had booked to come next month had abandoned their plans.


“Everything has been cancelled,” she said, adding that four in ten people in the state rely in some way on tourism.


Tourist and business travel has already dipped sharply this year, but the visa ban will take activity to an “all time low”, according to Chetan Gupta, general secretary of the Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India.


“All our members are suffering at the moment,” Gupta said. “No one has any business at all - inbound, outbound or domestic.”


Sooraj Nair, director of the five-star Crowne Plaza hotel in Kochi, a historic southern city famed for its spices, said occupancy has slumped to 20 per cent, and that the visa ban will cause a crisis in the hospitality industry if it continues for several months.


Government and industry sources said on Thursday they anticipated a sharp decline in economic growth for at least two quarters. — Reuters


SHARE ARTICLE
arrow up
home icon