India is a huge attraction to travelers from all over the world, especially due to its varied attractions and cultures. The visitors get a taste of everything in the country. But after Demonetisation, the country has faced a severe cash crunch. Its effect is seen not only on the citizens of the country but also in various government departments. One such industry is travel and tourism. As per reports released by the Tourism department, there has been a steady decline of tourists across the country despite it being the holiday season.
To help the increase of tourism, major airlines have slashed their ticket prices considerably. Even with reduced prices people are not ready to spend money on vacations. December is an important month for travel as most of the holidays are observed this month. Most North Indian colleges and schools have holidays declared during this month. But that did not benefit the tourism department. According to the report, November has seen a drop of 20% in travel and is expected to fall further in the month of December.
Travel agencies, to make up for the lost business, are resorting to cost cuttings and layoffs in several areas. Also, the travelers who are willing to travel are facing major issues due to less cash, lack of POS machines at monuments and long queues in front of the banks and ATM’s. The lines for cash at Forex in the airports is also considerably high.
Subash Goyal, Former President of Indian Association of Tour Operations (IATO) said in this regard that, “Foreigners are restricted to exchanging currency up to only Rs. 5000 per week. They are ready to spend, but Rs. 5000 is way too little for them. So, they are either postponing their trips or are canceling them. There has been at least a 25 to 35% decline in both outbound and inbound travel.”
The travel industry has taken a huge blow because of the Demonetisation. The Travel Ministry expects this situation to improve by the end of February or in the month of March.
