Prasenjit Chakraborty - Mumbai The government’s decision to suspend scheduled international passengers flights till further order, has come under severe criticism from the stakeholders of the tourism industry. When the whole world is moving towards normalcy, such decision came as an utter shock to the players of the tourism industry.
Commenting on this, Jyoti Mayal, President, TAAI, said, “Suspension of scheduled international flights to and from India until further order is shocking & a huge disappointment for the entire travel tourism and aviation industry.” She further added, “Globally & India too has removed RTPCR & quarantine protocols. Why are they removing the preventive protocols if they are themselves not confident about their decisions?” Questioning the decision, Mayal said, “I wonder who drives this decision in the government which is so negative for the entire fraternity. The government bodies should consult us & by not doing so they have truly disappointed the stakeholders & brought in desperation.” According to her, the decision will pose a serious threat to the survival and will also lead to unemployment. “This has shaken the travel & tourism related business to the core.
With no international tourism business for the third consecutive tourism season, the sector in the country will continue to face challenges for their survival & a rise in unemployment. It is time the government shows empathy to this declining sector & MSME stakeholders,” Mayal pointed out.
Terming it extremely disappointed, Ajay Prakash, President, TAFI, said, “The entire travel & tourism industry has been crippled over the last 23 months; the Government has failed to provide any tangible relief even as thousands of businesses have been bankrupted and lakhs of people have lost their jobs. Travellers are being harassed with sky high airfares on account of the reduced inventory but none of this seems to matter to the powers that be.”
Scheduled flights were to resume from 15 December last year but two and a half months later the industry is still clueless on when that might finally happen. “The whole world is opening up and welcoming travellers . India has among the highest vaccination and lowest infection rates in the world. What are we waiting for? We strongly appeal to the Hon’ble PM to take an informed decision and to open the Indian skies to international traffic without any further delay,” exhorted Prakash.
