AFFLICTED BY THE PANDEMIC: THE INDUSTRY OF TOURISM

As we continue to sail through the inflictions of the pandemic, we look back on days that have undoubtedly left a mark in our lives, superficial or profound. The chaos that fell upon humanity silenced the tourist attractions around the world and reduced tens of thousands of people, whose lives depended upon tourism, to tears. 

 What exactly happened?

The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS – COV) previously known as 2019 – n COV has challenged the global health scenario, affecting not only human health and welfare but also the political, social and economic conduct of numerous countries around the world. The SARS- COV 2 is highly communicable and spreads very rapidly. In a meeting on January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the disease as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern as it had spread to 192 countries. On March 11, 2020, WHO declared the COVID-19 a global pandemic.

Along with several other spheres of economy, COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected the tourism industry around the world.  This is mainly due to the travel restrictions that were implemented in different countries. Travellers have also been less during this period because of the same. Major tourist attraction sites like museums, amusement parks, sports venues, historical structures, places of natural beauty have been closed down for an indefinite time.

The United Nations World Tourism Organization stated that global international tourist arrivals have potentially decreased by 58% to 78% in 2020, leading to loss of 0.9 to 1.2 trillion US dollars in international tourism receipts. Planned travel went down by 80% to 90% in many prominent cities of the world. A 65% drop in international tourist arrivals was reported in the first 6 months of 2020 by the UNWTO.

The COVID-19 pandemic has handicapped the Indian travel and tourism industry as well. The entire sector will probably lose around Rs. 5 lakh crore or 65.57 billion dollars according to a study by industry chamber CII and hospitality consulting firm Hotelivate. Among these, the organized sector is likely to lose 2.5 billion dollars. In this atrocious crisis, all geographical segments like inbound, outbound, domestic; all tourism verticals like leisure, adventure, heritage, cruise, corporate and niche segments are affected. From October 2020 until the beginning of 2021, only 30% hotels have been occupied. This has seen an 80 to 85% erosion in revenue. The estimated loss in hotel for both branded and unbranded segments in 2020 was 19.31 billion dollars. The loss for travel agents and tour operators was around 4.77 billion dollars.

 Like most other states, the pandemic has also severely impacted the tourism economy of northeast India, thereby obstructing the growth of the same. Being an abode of natural beauty and scenic pleasure, the tourism industry of the region and the local brands continue to bear the burden of the pandemic due to uncertainty and confusion among stakeholders. Although there were reports of places opening up in December 2020, the deadly second wave that sprawled across the country continues to plague the industry. Moreover, lack of uniform protocol throughout the region also disrupted the seamless flow of tourists beginning this year.  

However, with the improvement in the COVID-19 scenario and removal of travel restrictions and lockdowns, and increasing flow of tourists, the tourism industry will definitely get the much needed boost.

THE CHANDUBI LAKE

 Hello people, hope you all are good and safe. Today we are here to introduce you to one of the beautiful lakes in Assam, the Chandubi Lake.

Most people in Assam know about this lake but for those who don't Chandubi Lake is a natural, picturesque lake loacted in the Kamrup district of Assam, at a distance of around 64 kilometres from the Guwahati city. This lake is a natural sightseeing as well as picnic spot and is nested at the foot of the Garo hills surrounded by Meghalaya and Assam. The lake offers fishing, camping and rowing opportunities and the tourists can also see different migratory birds there. To tell about the inception of the lake, the lake was formed on 12 June, 1897 at the evening Assam earthquake, when the forest went down and became the lake.

The Chandubi Lake is just 20 minutes beyond Mirza. Small villages are spread wide across the place and they offer you with ethnic handicrafts and the perfect countryside view of India. Most tourists visit the place in the first week of January during the Changdubi Festival wherein the locals of the nearby villages perform their traditional or cultural dance forms and also set up stalls that offer local tempting traditional food.

Not being too far from the city of Guwahati, Chandubi attracts the weekender crowd from there, although people from other parts of the world hardly know about it. We, being travel enthusiasts, were looking for a calm place to visit in a short span of time, after all we have our work lives too. That is when Homestays of India came into our sight and after an interaction with them we were convinced to visit the beautiful Chandubi Lake. 

Homestays of India is a social enterprise dedicated to support and promote authentic family run homestays across India, by providing tourists an unique experience and the locals with an alternate source of income. 

We left for the place on a Saturday evening, passing by some small villages and listening to the music playing in our car we reached our destination swiftly. As we were approaching our destination, we could feel the noise of the city traffic slowly fade away from our catch. We entered into our rooms and quickly freshened up. We were then provided us with our tea and evening snacks by the lovely people at Kite Manja. Our phones weren't receiving signals by then. Just for the information of you people, we'd like to mention that only in some areas or corners of the place, Airtel and Jio networks work. We opted for a short walk around the place and as we were already tired, we had our dinner and went for a peaceful sleep as the next day was gonna be full of adventure for us. 

The dinner included something different than normal veggies as Rahul Da (Mr. Rahul Sharma) from Kite Manja provided us with dishes cooked using homegrown organic vegetables and also green salad. Green seeds or microgreens are big on nutrition and taste but can be very expensive. Rex Da, who takes care of the property, Ellora, Shyamal and Babu and the rest of the crew at Kite Manja ensured that we had a great time at the Chandubi Eco Camp and made our stay a comfortable and a memorable one. These guys are the best in the line, their hospitality and the services they offer are unmatchable. Recently, they organised Open Air Movie & Camping on the 13th & 14th of Feb'21.  

The next morning, we wake up to the sound of the birds chirping and saw the sunrise and were just left in awe of the beauty the lake and its surroundings possess. Having our tea while walking besides the lake and under the Sal trees was a soothing experience for us. We went for a little trekking, visited the waterfall there and also went for some cycling around the place. Our trip became more fun when we met some sweet and lovely people at Chandubi including Ziko Da, Shekhar Da and their families who had also come to visit the Chandubi Lake. 

 This had been one of the best short trips covered by us. Having exotic and mouth-watering local dishes, sitting by the bonfire and singing songs and spending time in our tents, Aahhhhhh! can't explain in words what we have experienced. And to provide you lovely people with similar experience Travel Northeast has partnered with the bests in the business to provide you a comfortable stay at Chandubi .

Planning for excursions or trips around Northeast India, just remember us to reduce your burden of travel bookings. You can also rent cars and self- drive motorcycles from us for visiting the Chandubi Lake.

Just call us at: 8811909095 or mail us @travelnortheast_@outlook.com .

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Thank you.