Tourism after the dreadful Covid 19

No one under the sun could even imagine what happened to the whole wide universe when the dreadful disease Covid 19 hit us hard early in year 2020.

We were not prepared to face it, but we did it. Many suffered; many could not make it to see another year and many suffered loss of their loved ones. Everything in the world came to a standstill. People were home bound, one could not get out, could not travel, could not enjoy any trips.

People were all waiting to get out of the house, travel somewhere, have a change, and have an outing. Therefore, slowly tourism, hospitality and related industry saw the light of the day. We could call it as “Revenge Tourism.” People want to travel and enjoy holidays now. They want to do good to the two long years lost due to Covid 19.

We, at Mangalore, handled around 30 to 35 thousand foreign tourists pre-covid 19 who arrived by almost 30 luxury cruise liners. These foreign tourists contribute immensely to the local city economy. Even if a tourist spends an average of US $ 10 in our city, this will add up revenues to our city. We use local tour guides and support staff to facilitate these tourists, thus generating employment to thousands of youngsters and others. People who directly benefit from our tourism activity are tour guides, local sound system suppliers, local transport companies including KSRTC, taxi operators, restaurants, money exchange, etc. So it is a chain of employment and revenue earning.

Post Covid 19 we have hardly any such movements. But then we are starting with few such arrivals from this year end. It is beginning with say 6 to 7 cruise liners with may be around 10 to 15 thousand tourists. We are looking forward to a better future.

With few travel restrictions still in place, people are traveling and Tourism Industry looks like it’s bouncing back. Let us hope and pray that this trend keeps going and tourism Industry thrives.

Ms. Eulalia Dsouza
Proprietor – Lia Travels & Tours
Major Inbound Tour Operator in Mangalore