People wearing masks are seen at Chennai International Airport, on 30 January 2020. File photo/Reuters/P Ravikumar
By Manoj Kumar | Reuters
NEW DELHI, India, 7 February 2020
Indian tour operators estimate they could lose up to $500 million because of cancellations from tourists from China and other countries due to the coronavirus outbreak, a cost that could rise four-fold if it persists through the year.
State carrier Air India has cancelled flights to China and Hong Kong until further notice while private carrier IndiGo has suspended its flights until February 20.
“There is a panic in the tourism sector as thousands of bookings have been cancelled,” said EM Najeeb, vice president, Indian Association of tour operators.
He said foreign as well as domestic tourists were cancelling travel to the southern state of Kerala where three cases of the disease have been confirmed, prompting state authorities to declare a state of emergency.
More than 280,000 Chinese tourists visited India in 2018, and were among the top 10 spenders by nationality despite being less than 3% of 10.6 million foreign tourists in 2018, according to government estimates.
Tour operators said more than 50,000 Chinese tourists were expected to visit during January-February and most of these bookings were now cancelled. India like other countries has blocked the entry of people from China and Hong Kong.
“We fear immediate loss of up to $500 million as the coronavirus outbreak has hit the arrival of tourists from China, Hong Kong and neighbouring countries,” said Pronab Sarkar, national president, Indian tour operators Association.
He said losses for domestic tour operators would be much higher, as many outgoing local tourists to China and other countries were also cancelling bookings after the outbreak.
India annually earns nearly $30 billion from foreign tourist arrivals, and is worried it could harm already weakened growth.
Sanjeev Sanyal, principal economic adviser to the finance ministry, told Reuters authorities were following the situation closely and would quickly respond as it evolved.
However, India could also benefit as the outbreak could lead to lower oil prices and softer global interest rates, he said.
Reserve Bank governor Shaktikanta Das flagged coronavirus as a new risk for stuttering economic growth, estimated to slip to an 11-year low of 5% in the financial year ending in March.
We all have been brainwashed with this kind of narrative you talk about. The great Mughal Empire you talk about was nothing a Turkic Islamist barbarian. Having just converted to Islam from Tengrism, they were itching to go and loot the rich land of India and kill the infidels. India’s rich cultural and spiritual ethos was unprepared for this kind of barbarism. Taimur, the first invader massacred Indians and made a tower of skeletons of the people he killed. His successors were not much better but cultivated art and culture from India and Persia. Persia also had a rich culture and civilization before Islam took over. As for Gandhiji the more we know about him, the more we see how strange he was. You should read about “Gandhi’s advocacy of the Moplah genocide condemned by Dr BR Ambedker. There are many untold histories.
Thank god for Modi and Amit Shah and thank god for Donald Trump. They may not be perfect human beings but they’re serving a greater purpose in the big picture.
India has another blow that in the long run could dismember the country. If history is any guide, the great Mughal Empire ended with Aurangzeb. In its zenith of territorial expansion, it commanded unprecedented resources and covered the entire subcontinent. However, Aurangzeb’s intolerance and bigotry was to lead to the fall of the great Mughal Empire. He reversed the policies of his predecessors and forced strict interpretation of Muslim orthodoxy. This alienated the Hindu population and strengthened the hands of those opposed him. This let to the disintegration of the Mughal empire in India. Today, PM Narendra Modi and HM Shah have reversed the policies laid down by Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Nehru by imposing strict Hindu orthodoxy on the Muslim minority. This discrimination will alienate them and will only harden their resolve to defend their faith and reject Hindu chauvinism. Since, Modi’s second term, the country has virtually been in turmoil and the abolition of Article 370 amounts to the same psychological wound inflicted on the Muslims as did Aurangzeb’s demolition of Hindu Temples to the Hindus. Instead of improving the basic necessities of the general public like water, sanitation, housing and roads, it talks about building a Ram Temple. What would that help to improve the life of ordinary Indians? One of the most disturbing aspect of Modi-Shah reign has been the rise of denigrating the father of the nation and the glorification of his assassin. It is beyond my comprehension that such a distortion of history finds fertile ground for fanatical elements who are now running with guns shooting peaceful protestors. The incendiary remarks such as “Desh ke gaddaron ko, Goli Maro by BJP “leaders” shows the the utter moral bankruptcy of these goons who are Godse bhakts!