Day trips and weekend travel are gaining popularity

Interview/ Prahlad Singh Patel, Union minister of culture and tourism

prahlad-singh-patel

How has the Dekho Apna Desh webinar series helped in the revival of domestic tourism?

Recognising the fact that revival in the tourism sector will be largely spearheaded by domestic tourism, focus is being given to domestic tourism and towards this end, the ministry of tourism is arranging a series of webinars under the theme of ‘Dekho Apna Desh’.

A total of 48 webinars were held from April 14 to August 15 and these were well received by the travel industry, students and the general public. The webinars have seen participation from over 60 countries other than India and we have had over 2.30 lakh participants....

With the setting up of air travel bubbles with countries like the US and France, how soon do you think international travel will pick up pace?

Opening of domestic flights was the first major step in restoring connectivity. The ministry of tourism is working closely with the ministry of civil aviation. The Vande Bharat flights have been a great success. I had a very fruitful meeting with our civil aviation minister on August 13. We discussed refund policies, flight plans, helicopter services and better use of Khajuraho, Imphal, Dehradun for international [flights]. I am sure the ministry of civil aviation will take a call on adding more countries as air bubbles. There have been no foreign tourist arrivals yet.

What changes have you seen in domestic tourism?

As the ‘unlock’ process has started, domestic travel has started resuming slowly. People are exploring their neighbourhood attractions through self-drive holidays. Day trips and weekend travel are gaining popularity. A few states are encouraging people to travel and explore their own state....

Safety and hygiene will be the primary concern of people while planning their travel.... With this objective, we have released a set of operational guidelines for hotels and other accommodation units, restaurants and tourism service providers like tour operators, travel agents and tourist taxi operators....

This change has taught the tourism industry the need to enable training and develop programmes for its employees to help them innovate and organise, so as to pioneer a new and better model of business which, in the future, will be able to withstand any crisis.

How is technology being used to revive tourism in India?

We are using social media with an objective to have a conversation with travellers. Building a bond beyond pure marketing of the destination, the ministry is actively using its social media handles on all platforms since the end of March more aggressively....

Furthermore, the ministry has introduced 24/7 chat bot interface to assist tourists for better planning and quick query resolutions. Also, the website has been assisted with Adobe solution suite to effectively engage with visitors across web and social media platforms. The real-time analytics features help to understand the tourists’ demographics and in profiling visitors better.

In view of the pandemic, the ministry developed a microsite— strandedinindia.com—to help foreign travellers stranded anywhere in India.

The ministry has also revamped the Incredible India website.... It is also fully responsive with mobile devices....

Are rehabilitation efforts being planned for job losses in the travel industry?

The situation we are facing today is mainly because of the sudden fall in demand for travel not only in India but also globally. The government of India announced the Atmanirbhar Bharat package, which is primarily aimed at rebooting the economy.... The package has provisions for collateral-free automatic loan for businesses, including MSMEs.... The definition of MSMEs has been more inclusive by doing away with the distinction of services and manufacturing MSMEs and introduction of the additional criteria of turnover. About 70 per cent of tourism units come under MSMEs. A large segment of tourism service providers are expected to benefit under these provisions. 

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