“Almost 75 percent of the tour packages have been cancelled due to fear of Omicron. People fear a possible lockdown and quarantine.”
— Rajeev Saxena, Vice President, Tourism Guild of Agra
Covid-19 has ravaged Agra leaving a number of hoteliers, restaurant owners, and tourism and hospitality players in deep crisis. Rajeev Saxena, Vice President, Tourism Guild of Agra said the industry had taken a massive hit due to the pandemic, resulting in cancellation of tours booked for this year. He was quoted saying that “almost 75 percent of the tour packages have been cancelled due to fear of Omicron. People fear a possible lockdown and quarantine”.
At this time of the year, hotels used to have a large number of foreigners, free independent travellers (FIT) and destination wedding parties. October to March, the peak tourism period has witnessed 75 per cent of FIT bookings and 50 per cent of destination wedding bookings cancelled.
According to Rajeev Saxena, around 5 lakh people are associated with the tourism industry in Agra and he sought government help to bail them out
Ramesh Wadhwa, President of the Agra Hotel and Restaurant Owners’ Association spoke in similar terms. He said about 80 per cent of the bookings till January 15 in the budget class, two star and three-star hotels had been cancelled.
Handicraft emporiums have also seen no business from the start of the pandemic. The emporiums have remained shut but fixed expenses such as electricity bills, taxes and bank installments along with the salaries of employees have to be paid. According to Rajeev Saxena, around 5 lakh people are associated with the tourism industry in Agra and he sought government help to bail them out.
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