The tumbling effect of the global coronavirus pandemic is crippling the country’s tourism and hospitality industry at an “astonishing pace”. Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTA) has come down by about 67 percent annually in the January-March quarter, while for domestic tourists, the figure is lower by nearly 40 percent, according to statistics published by the tourism ministry, the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) said.

Disruption due to coronavirus could result in 18-20 percent erosion of nationwide occupancy across the hospitality sector, and 12-14 percent drop in average daily rates (ADRs) for the entire 2020,” ICC Director-General Dr. Rajeev Singh said. The travel and tourism sector alone accounted for 9.2 percent of India’s GDP in 2018 and generated 26.7 million jobs in that year, the ICC stated in the statement.

Calling the attention of the Government, the industry body also recommended a host of initiatives for the central government, including extending the RBI’s three-month moratorium on repayment of term loans to six months and a complete GST holiday for the tourism, travel and hospitality industry for the next 12 months. “ICC recommends setting up of a ‘Travel & Tourism Stabilisation Fund’ with direct benefit transfer to each unit to prevent financial loss and consequent job loss,” the statement added.