Travel, hospitality to recover in 2021; but, this threat looms bigger than COVID-19, says ex-IndiGo, OYO CEO

Travel and hospitality sector is likely to recover in the coming six or seven months irrespective of the discovery of a coronavirus vaccine by then, a former IndiGo and OYO CEO said on Monday. Once the government eases restrictions on flights and hotels, people are likely to rush back to travel, Aditya Ghosh, who is now a director at OYO and FabIndia, said. “People are currently driving long distances because of artificial restrictions on flights,” he said at a virtual event organised by All India Management Association (AIMA). Between the luxury hotel segment and the budget or affordable segment, the latter is likely to recover faster. 

Travel, tourism and hospitality is one of the worst hit sectors due to coronavirus pandemic as the governments across the world imposed travel bans to curb the spread of the virus. While the government lifted a ban on domestic travel, it is yet to open the skies for international travel. For the sector to recover from the losses incurred in the past few months, it has to ramp up service delivery methods on the lines of becoming highly tech driven, Aditya Ghosh said. 

COVID-19 not the only menace for businesses

While the ongoing pandemic has been a major deterrent to business activities, it is not the only danger staring at business leaders, Aditya Ghosh said. In fact, coronavirus is only one of the crises facing the world and climate change is likely to be even more devastating in two decades from now. He also urged the CEOs and boards to pre-empt that by acting now. “If people start seeing climate change as a business problem, they will do something about,” he said. Meanwhile, some companies have already started to take steps towards arresting climate change with budget carrier IndiGo planning to acquire cleaner and greener engines and planes. Calling out the culture of profit making, Aditya Ghosh said that the aim of the company should also be to make the lives of little suppliers’ better.