India’s travel and tourism sector is an integral part of generating revenue in the country. In addition, as an economic multiplier, the industry plays an important role in the rapid creation of jobs. The travel sector has a significant sectoral output in MSMEs, with people coming in particular from major cities to small towns and villages. According to a recent report by the World Travel & Tourism Council, only 12.1 percent are the Women are employed in this branch. It was also determined that there could be an 11 percent increase GDP from countries around the world when addressing gender gaps In 2019, tourism generated $ 194 billion, or 6.8% of total India’s GDP, and helped support 39.80 million jobs, which is 8% of total employment. Nevertheless, with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, a drastic change has taken place in this industry.

The tourism sector is one of the many sectors going through one of the greatest existential crises. Today almost 30% of tour operators in India are able to close their businesses permanently. However, it is estimated that that number could climb to 60 to 70 percent. With restrictions on international travel and no tourism in the country, it has also had a severe impact on tour operators’ revenues.

The organized sector alone is expected to lose $ 25 billion. After another study, the occupancy peaked at 80 percent in January 2020, followed by a 10 percent decline in February. It then fell to 45% in March and rested at 7% in April. From May to August the occupancy was between 10-22%. However, with the implementation of programs such as SEIS (Service Exports from India Scheme) and MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferencing, Exhibitions), India has seen a significant improvement in the travel and tourism sector. The SEIS has created the scope to offer packages at competitive prices and to attract more visitors to the country.

“The Council for the Promotion of Services for the Export of Services has requested both the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Commerce to publish SEIS for the year 2019-20. we have proposed an upper limit so that no exporter receives a benefit of more than 5 billion. The government has announced many programs for manufacturing but none for services, although that sector has been growing steadily and has been positive, “said Maneck Davar, chairman of SPEC, as reported by Financial Express.

In the meantime, the revenue has stifled and the operators of travel companies are demanding relief from the government in the form of the reintroduction of SEIS. With the continuation of SEIS, the operators can be relieved immediately and millions of jobs saved as soon as the pandemic subsides, which is currently not foreseeable.

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