The surprise announcement made by PM of India, Narendra Modi to demonitize INR 500, 1000 denomination notes, in order to tackle corruption, has sent a panic wave across businesses, with the tourism industry being no exception. The tourism industry, especially those in the outbound travel space have expressed their views that business will definitely witness a dip, particularly in the high-end leisure travel space, atleast initially. Few tour operators have already received requests from clients for cancellations of trips. Tour operators catering to the destination weddings niche sector, predict that they will face challenges in the coming months.
Subhash Motwani, founder, Namaste Tourism, Mumbai, said, “The destination wedding industry will be adversely effected. In the short term, the travel business will have an impact, but in the long run it will be positive for the tourism industry as paying by cheque, demand draft, wire transfer or credit card will be the positive norm and this is a positive sign for the industry.”
Whereas, a few in the industry feel this move will shift bookings to online space.
Jayesh Asher, head, Pearl Travels, Pune, feels this money will definitely put an initial curb on extravagant leisure travel expenditure. Jyot Jhaveri, Sunday Holidays, Mumbai supports Asher’s view, but feels this will all pan out over the months for the benefit of the industry.
Anuj Singhal, head, Travel Representation House, New Delhi, commented, “Black money is used in travel and tourism especially in smaller cities. This will certainly have a negative impact on tourism. People will have more tendency to book online.”
S Maheshwari, MD, Rainbow Vacations, Jaipur, opined, “Leisure travel in the short term will be affected, but corporate may not be affected.”
