Image : Representational Purpose Only
India’s inbound travel could be severely hit and hence adverse impact on foreign exchange (forex) earning too in the months to come. This apprehension comes after the sudden collapse of the British travel giant Thomas Cook .
In a report by IANS, Travel industry sources said that Thomas Cook sends a lot of high-spending tourists to India from countries such as UK, Germany and France. Countries like UK, Germany and Italy, where Thomas Cook has good presence, are the key source markets for India.
“The shutdown of Thomas Cook would certainly impact inbound travel. The whole travel industry is struggling,” said Harjinder Singh, Director of Delhi-based 24*7 Travels.com.
As per the latest official data, UK’s share into India’s total foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) was 8.01 per cent in August, 2019.
Among the top European source markets, German tourists accounted for 1.85 per cent of the total FTAs in the previous month. The total FTAs in August 2019 were 7,98,587 as compared to 7,86,003 in August 2018 registering a growth of 1.6 per cent.
With global slowdown casting its shadow on travel business, the FTA growth is likely to be tepid in coming months. With one of the world’s top travel firm Thomas Cook going bankrupt, the travel business is certainly going to see tough time.
