Challenges faced by hotel industry in India in the wake of COVID-19

Pages: 29-31
Pravleen Kaur (School of Business Studies, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab)
Pratibha Goyal (School of Business Studies, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab)
Davinder Singh (Department of Extension Education, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab)

COVID-19 which originated in the city of Wuhan, China was declared as pandemic by WHO in February, 2020. It spread at an alarming rate and created the situation of panic all over the world, which forced most of the countries including India to go for complete lockdown. All the industries were affected but hotel industry was one of the worst hit. Mass cancellations of accommodations and bookings were faced by hotels. They had to pay salaries even without earning a penny. Some projects which were at initial stage were called off from the fear of losses. The industry was given no relief by government even in stimulus package. Even after re-opening of hotels the occupancy rate stayed very low. The revenue per available room fell drastically and so did overall revenue of the industry. Half of the industry was left unemployed. As the international travel was restricted so the FTAs also decreased drastically. Present study highlighted the issues and challenges faced by hotel industries during corona period in India, which will guide the policy makers in planning policies and strategies regarding promotion of hotel industries in better way