Travel Industry - Need for sustainable growth

What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you look at these pictures?

Yes, there’s an urgent need to bring sustainable and planned re-development in some of India’s favorite holiday destinations. If I had to pick one sector that’s in desperate need for disruption, it’s the travel industry.

We’ve seen an unprecedented growth in tourists travelling in and out of India, as Gen Z wants to spend more on “experiences” than save up for the quintessential “Roti-Kapda aur Makaan”. Be it any format of travelling – there’s been massive growth in the last decade and similarly the growth in the infrastructure catering to them. ??

What’s the invisible impact of this "over-tourism" – economic growth at the cost of disappearance of local culture, more plastic pollution without proper waste disposal systems, heavy dependency on limited resources meant for the consumption of the local folk and much more. ??

The smart city concept aimed to bring an overhaul in some of these cities but have projects really taken off the ground? Multiple roadblocks have rendered re-development of many of such cities, a distant dream.

While social media has largely been a boon for the sector especially in promoting the local folklore and smaller entrepreneurs, but with the influencer culture and Instagram geo-tags reaching most corners of the country, I won’t be surprised to see more tourist centres turn into the likes of Shimla which recently urged tourists not to visit the town due to a worsening water crisis.

Come 2020, a sector that contributed close to 10% to the GDP was the worst hit with this number falling to <5% leaving many new entrants trapped in the vicious circle of Debt and Low occupancy.

“How can we address this problem” was the only thought I had in my mind as I drove through some of these towns?

While the problem needs one to go back to the drawing board, I believe solutions would largely come from us by:

• Going local.
• Upskilling the local, if you’re someone who knows a thing or two about financial management, operations etc., share your ideas / educate the locals to help them not only manage their businesses better but contribute towards development of their community.
• Innovation in re-financing, while local govts support is always helpful in a big way but newer formats of funding like fractional ownership are finding ground & acceptance slowly. ?
• AI and blockchain could lend this sector, that’s reeling in myriad of problems, an eco-system that can bring together travelers and locals from different places together on a platform that enables tokenisation in every aspect of travel and yet perfectly match what a traveler is looking for and what partners are offering.

One such example I came across: “Cool Cousins” and I was impressed by how they’ve innovated, enabling travelers to look beyond the typical “Trip Advisors” of the world!

?I wish you all Happy exploring!