Lockdown takes sheen off Tamil Nadu's tourism sector, renders 'lakhs' jobless

Chennai: Fears of spread of Coronavirus during the month long peak season starting mid-December 2019 and the subsequent lockdown later in Tamil Nadu have severely crippled the state's tourism sector, leading to job losses and an economic impact that may take months to heal. Tamil Nadu enjoys a high tourist footfall, both domestic and foreign, and has been a preferred destination since 2014.

In the 2018 fiscal, the state had received 39 crore domestic and 61 lakh foreign tourists.

Its attractions include religious and heritage tourism covering hundreds of temples, churches, mosques and Jain temples, and several monuments, besides its exotic beaches and vast and continuous shoreline. However, suspension of surface transport as well as domestic and international air travel, closure of hotels and restaurants, and thousands of places of worship, beaches and tourist spots have dealt a severe blow to the tourism industry. MICE ( Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions) segment too has been affected, insiders say.

A Tourism department official, requesting anonymity, said: "with the pandemic causing havoc globally, it will be unwise to open up the tourism sector in Tamil Nadu (immediately)."

Unofficial estimates peg the job loss at a few lakhs while the economic impact could take months to recover.

"Rebooting the sector would be challenging because the lockdown has substantially weakened the financial health of tourism and its allied activities," said Krishanu Pradhan of the Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS) here.

Job and income losses to people due to economic slowdown have also affected their ability to take up tourism-related activities, he said.

"Besides, fear of uncertainty, enforcement of social distancing norms, and tourists' unwillingness to come out from self-containment would continue in the coming months," he added.

Sources in the hospitality sector claimed that 'lakhs' of persons across all categories have lost their jobs since the lockdown period.

The allied services in the tourism industry like temple and tourist guides, taxi and tour operators have also been hit. "There is no tourist activity since the last four months. Theme parks, hotels and restaurants have been closed. About 750 registered and 40,000 unregistered tour operators have closed shop unable to pay rent due to lack of business," V K T Balan, chairman, Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India (ADTOI), Tamil Nadu chapter, said.

"This has resulted in job loss to over five lakh families directly," he claimed.

"We are unable to pay salaries to our drivers (of coaches and cars). To make matters worse, airlines have declined to refund our deposit amount or even the fares towards cancellation of flight tickets," said Balan, CMD of Madura Travel Services.

He urged the Central and State governments to waive off road tax and insurance on tourist vehicles not plying since the lockdown was enforced and also refund the GST paid for at least one year, to pay the drivers and other employees.

Nearly five lakh guest workers who constitute 50 percent of the workforce in Chennai and Coimbatore hotels and restaurants have left the state, he said adding the two cities accounted for

the predominant employment of migrant workforce in the state.