Raymond's Chairman and Managing Director of Gautam Singhania said India should look at “opening up incoming tourists” to help revive the tourism sector
Chairman and Managing Director of Raymond, Gautam Singhania, on September 6 said India needs all its sectors to open up. In a tweet, Singhania said: “India needs all its sectors to open up” and added that “tourism is a high employment generating sector.”
In another tweet, he urged tourists to be allowed to visit if they undertake a COVID-19 test. “If they are happy coming to India and are not worried - why should we worry so much (sic),” he added.
Earlier in the day, Singhania had tweeted that India should look at “opening up incoming tourists” to help revive the tourism sector.
India has been under a nationwide lockdown since March 25 amid the novel coronavirus pandemic. While restrictions have since been eased in a staggered manner, tourism-related activities in most parts of India remain deeply affected.
Data from the National Statistical Office (NSO) released on August 31 showed that India’s hotel sector, one of the worst-hit segments of the economy, had contracted 47 percent in the April-June quarter. The sector saw a growth of 3.5 percent in the same period last year.
In 2019, the tourism industry had contributed around 9 percent to India’s gross domestic product (GDP) and generated 87.5 million jobs, which is about 12.75 percent of total employment of 2018-19, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC).
WTTC had estimated the revenue losses of up to $2.7 trillion with 100 million jobs at risk globally. In India, the next one year is going to be the most difficult for the travel and tourism industry, with estimated revenue and job losses at $17 billion and 40 million (both direct and indirect) respectively, it said.