Tours and Travels Association of Andhra Pradesh president K. Vijay Mohan on Tuesday appealed to the government and people to support the travel industry as it contributes 10% of the GDP and also urged them to stay away from online travel portals that are supported by the Chinese companies.

The members of the association organised a protest at key travel locations across the State on Tuesday.

According to him, travel industry is the most neglected and it has been largely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. He said that there is no support from the government or the public and the industry is staring at bankruptcy, closure of businesses and mass unemployment. Capital of travel agents has been wiped out, income and wealth have been eroded, agents are closing down their business, have sacked their employees and the morale of the travel agents has hit the lowest ebb, he said.

The pandemic has sounded the death knell for the industry and we have never seen a meltdown of this magnitude in the past, said Mr. Vijay Mohan.

Whereas rest of India actually shut down by end of March, business for travel agents shut in January, as the news of the virus started picking up from December, said association secretary Kumar. Association vice-president Dheeraj said that government should intervene to save the industry by promoting domestic tourism in a big way.