Reema Lokesh – Mumbai
The surprise announcement made by PM of India, Narendra Modi to demonitise Rs 500, Rs 1000 denomination notes, in order to tackle corruption, did send an initial 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 and the wedding business, atleast during the initial few months period. Tour operators in that space have already received requests from clients for cancellation of trips. As per reports, weddings in Thailand and some other select destinations have seen cancellations, hence 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. 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.” Jayesh Asher, head, Pearl Travels, Pune, said this move will definitely put an initial curb on extravagant leisure travel expenditure. Jyot Jhaveri, Sunday Holidays, Mumbai supported Asher’s view, but felt this will all pan out over the months for the benefit of the industry. Sudhir Patil, founder and director, VeenaWorld, said, “With this move we expect to tap into the untapped markets, as there will be better systems from the banking view point. There is a slow down but which is rather temporary. It will be beneficial in the long run.”
Speaking about the sentiments of the industry especially in the region of Rajasthan, Swaytank Maheshwari, MD, Rainbow Vacations, Jaipur, opined, “Leisure travel in the short term will be affected, but corporate may not be impacted. It is the wedding market, which has taken a big hit in the tourism space. People are not taking any chances as of today as it is more a wait and watch game. I also feel people should come back to us and the business will see an upswing again in the coming months.”
Representing the hospitality industry in Odisha and Sikkim, Bjorn Deniese, VP, sales and marketing, Mayfair Hotels and Resorts, mentioned that scale of weddings have been reduced in both regions. “The demonetisation decision has surely affected our casino business. Since our property has the only casino set up, the business out of that niche area has seen a dip,” he said.
New Delhi based industry thought leader, Rakesh Lamba, believes it is a positive move. “The economy will benefit and the people will enjoy the benefits in the long run. This move will also bring in a lot of structure in the tourism business. The honest have nothing to worry,” mentioned Lamba.
Vikas Khanduri, founder and CEO, Holiday Merchants said, “The problem arrives when one has to pay directly for entrances of monuments, local transport, meals, spot payment form oval guides etc. The travel trade is ready to service and manage crisis as always, it’s the clients who are holding back. The business community which prefers cash payments are facing the problem. The month of November which is normally active on the business front was slow. The Dubai Shopping Festival looks low key. It is surely a wait and watch situation yet.”
Ajay Chhabria, director, In Time Travels, commented, “As much as I am with the PM of India being an honest individual and the love for India, I yet believe the corrupt system will never be able to completely eradicate black money.” Siddharth Jain, director, Click2Travel and partner Sapphire Ventures, stated, “There have been postponement of trips and people are surely holding back. The corporate travel with us has been been affected. The high end leisure business has taken a beating. However having said that the future is going to be good I feel.”
Veneeta Rawat, director, Amazing Vacations and VP, AK Travel and Tours aptly concluded with a postive note, “We are positive that the situation will bounce back as enquires for the summers have already started coming in. We are into high-end FITs and family. We as a company have always handled corporates and our procedures have been transparent. The initial reaction was of cancellations and travel has been postponed. Business is picking up slowly and people still have travel on their mind.”