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Tourism: Covid Positive or Negative?


 Nestle India rolled out a marketing drive in January 2013 to mark the 25th anniversary of its instant noodles brand, Maggi. ‘Me & Meri Maggi’, the campaign was supposed to celebrate the consumers’ bond with the brand Maggi. Years down the lane, If I recall My best Maggi memory or to be honest and precise the best food I ever had. It was eating Maggi at a high altitude of 13,050 ft, and at a temperature that I don’t remember but it was cold enough to freeze My hand whenever I tried to take off the gloves for a selfie. Though we rented a snowsuit from a shop that falls on the way between Manali and Rohtang Pass, we didn’t get any gloves with it neither we thought they were required. But with the increase in altitude and decrease in temperature, we soon realized our mistake. Thankfully we were not the only people to make this mistake as I assumed when I started seeing women selling gloves some few miles away from the pass. The price depends on your bargaining skills but to warn you, this is not a good place to take a chance with the most common method of walking away unless you can manage to keep your hands inside your pocket for all the time and show off that teenage attitude of who’s the boss here.

I was astonished to see so many women making it to the hilltops in spite of harsh weather conditions. At Rohtang Pass, you can enjoy freshly served Maggi or bread omelet. There are no restaurants, but they are served by women who carry a gas stove, utensils, and all the raw materials on their heads. The serenity of the place and the innocent smile with which the food is served make it worth remembering. Trust me the cold winds give you a kick of taste that cannot be explained.   

You would have noticed anything similar at places that are totally dependent on tourism. In fact, there are many tourist destinations around the globe that are totally dependent on tourists and have no other major economic activities. The sole source of bread and butter for the people are tourists. According to a report published in July 2021 by Statista Research Department, in 2019, over 2.3 billion domestic tourist visits were made across India. This data is satisfying but what about the last year when the country went under complete lockdown? When we were learning to make Dalgona coffee and following other social media trends, some people battled through viruses as well as hunger. According to the World Travel and tourism council, tourism contributed 9.2% of India's GDP in 2018 and supported 42.673 million jobs. Now, you can imagine the number of people who were affected and continue to face the consequences.

As I am writing this, there are still restrictions in certain parts of the country and around the globe. I know while many of us still believe that travel and tourism is a leisure activity that should be completely avoided but to many others, it is the sole source of bread. It becomes impossible for us to understands others, especially when our accounts get credited every month while we manage to work without stepping out of our home. But when governments ease restrictions, we tend to forget that we are still going through a pandemic. Days after the Himachal Pradesh government relaxed Covid-19 restrictions, resulted in midway holdups on national highways and traffic jams. A recent viral video of a boy reminding people to wear masks at dharmshala, question us at every level. The link for the video on the ANI News Official YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8YKENyM6DE).

When governments ease restrictions to help people, we should still follow the social distancing policies and norms. A third wave would prove fatal for both lives and livelihood of the people. Responsible tourism is a term that has been prevalent for years now, but it's time we add a new criterion to it. Let’s add all the social distancing norms, we have learned through the pandemic. We should find a balance between the world prior to 2020 and after that. Let us hope for a better tomorrow, a world where we wear gloves to protect us from cold and not a virus. 

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