India: the country fully reopens its doors to foreign tourists
Since October 15, India has already timidly opened its borders to charter flights chartered by travel companies.
And from November 15, everyone will be able to attend.
Here at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi on May 25, 2020. Money SHARMA / AFP
Text by: Côme Bastin Follow
3 min
After an eighteen-month hiatus, India is preparing to welcome foreign tourists again from November 15.
A sign that the country wants to approach 2022 with optimism and turn the page on Covid-19.
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With our correspondent in Bangalore
,
India's tourism sector has been hit hard by the pandemic and lockdowns.
In
March 2020
, India decided to suspend all visas in an attempt to put a stop to the pandemic.
Since then, most visas, whether for business or employment visas, have been gradually reinstated, except for tourism.
There were 11 million foreign tourists before the pandemic, there were only 2.7 million in 2020 and 0.4 million in 2021.
However, India depends a lot on foreign tourists who visit it and spend an average of 25 billion euros per year.
The estimated value of the sector has therefore fallen by 60% with a direct impact on hoteliers, guides and even drivers.
Job losses and retraining
Jeremy Grasset, who heads a French Shanti Travel travel agency in Delhi, demonstrates the difficulties encountered by its partners: "
There are places that have managed to convert in tourism called home is that is to say intended for Indians. But there were structures that were not ready for this. I am thinking, for example, of the drivers who no longer had anyone to drive. Some have registered on transport platforms, others have gone to work in the Gulf, others have returned to their farms.
"
In India indeed, a strategy like the French “
whatever it costs
” was not possible.
Many tourism employees have therefore had to choose between being paid little or no or trying to retrain.
Some 21.5 million direct jobs were lost out of an estimated total of 35 million according to the Ministry of Tourism.
►
To read: India: the Covid-19 pandemic has accentuated the poverty of the populations and inequalities
Government measures to revive the sector
Everything is therefore a bit to be rebuilt and the government has announced several measures to revive the sector and attract visitors. The months of October and November herald the start of the “season” in India: we are emerging from the monsoon and it is not yet too hot. So now is the time to act. Since
October 15
, India has already timidly opened its borders to charter flights chartered by travel companies. And from November 15, everyone will be able to attend.
To this end, the government has announced that the first 500,000 tourist visas will be issued free of charge.
This delighted Shailesh Mulay, a tour guide and French-speaking teacher in Bombay: “
A lot of foreign travelers are coming to India so this is a very important step taken by the Indian government.
The situation is stabilizing in India, once we have had the two doses of the vaccine there is no problem coming to the country.
One billion people in India are already vaccinated.
"
Figures to be put into perspective, because in reality a billion doses have already been administered.
Reassure tourists about health security in India
It will also be one of the major challenges for the government: to reassure about health security after the images of the second wave in India linked to the Delta variant.
In the tourism industry, however, most employees have received their two doses.
A new communication campaign is in preparation and twenty new tourism managers have been appointed in countries where people like to visit India, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, or even France.
►
To read: WHO gives the green light to the Indian anti-Covid vaccine Covaxin
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