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Aurangabad: Stating that the travel, tourism and hospitality industry has been worst hit due to Covid-related restrictions, the stakeholders have demanded a bailout package from the government to overcome the financial losses.
Jaswant Singh, president of Aurangabad Tourism Development Foundation (ATDF), on Wednesday said neither the state government nor the Centre has paid heed to the woes of the industry.
“The travel, tourism and hospitality industry has come to a screeching halt due to lockdown since March 2020 leading to massive loss of revenue and jobs. The cash-flow across online and offline modes among stakeholders has been frozen, leading to survival issues,” he said.
The heritage sites in Aurangabad district, including Ajanta and Ellora caves, are already closed since March 11 — much before such restrictions were announced for other sectors. Earlier, these tourist places remained closed since outbreak of Covid-19 last year till first half of December.
Umesh Jadhav, president of Aurangabad Tourist Guides Welfare Association, said the government should offer financial aid to tourist guides. “The tourist guides are backbone of the tourism industry. These key elements are being ditched by the government badly during the outbreak of Covid-19. The government should dole out special package to us, failing to which an irrevocable loss is imminent to the tourism industry if guides choose other professions on a permanent note,” he said.
The ATDF, in its memorandum, has said that neighbouring countries have already given an official boost to their travel, tourism and hospitality industry during the current pandemic.
“In our country and state, no steps have been taken to revive the industry. The neighbouring countries are already ahead of us in these measures and as and when inbound tourism starts we will go down further in the wish list of travellers due to official apathy,” the ATDF has said.
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