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For the travel and tourism industry, 2016 got off to a good start and stayed that way for a while, before demonetisation played spoilsport.
The year was marked by a rise in inbound and outbound travel — courtesy greater disposable income — and increasing mobile and online bookings.
However, the Centre’s move to demonetise high-denomination currency dampened enthusiasm, with many players in the industry reporting up to a 50 per cent drop in bookings, and several cancellations since early November.
The travel industry contributes 6-7 per cent to the country’s GDP and is one of the largest employment generators, said T Devaki, Managing Committee Member, Travel Agents Association of India.
The destinations In the first half of the year, inbound tourism saw robust growth thanks to measures like the Incredible India campaign and many States’ involvement in promoting eco-tourism, ayurveda, wildlife and temple tourism that found lot of takers within India and overseas.
Ladakh, the Andaman Islands and north-eastern States were major attractions. South-East Asian countries like Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand remain a favourite among Indians for outbound travel, though destinations like Australia and New York are slowly gaining traction.
Neelu Singh, CEO of travel start-up Ezeego1 and Karan Anand, Head – Relationships, Cox and Kings, say experiential travel like trekking, forest trails and cultural destinations saw lot of takers, especially among millenials.
Digital impact Over 40 per cent of the start-up Ezeego1’s total bookings was through digital platforms. “Travel agencies aside, we saw many carriers investing heavily in digital platforms to promote direct customer interaction. Since people are making directly bookings, small travel agencies are facing the heat,” Devaki added.
Demonetisation impact Most travel agencies saw close to 50 per cent drop in bookings and 30 per cent cancellations, most of them inbound, fearing shortage of foreign exchange.
Suresh Venkatraman, Operations Head, Akshaya Travels said, “We had a huge overseas trip cancelled in December. It was planned for 250 people. It has been deferred to March, when it may not materialise”.
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