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Promoting tourism in South Asia
- South Asia is highly dependent on travel and tourism, especially as a generator of jobs (estimated at 47.7 million in 2019)
- COVID-19 is affecting nearly 47.7 million travel and tourism jobs across South Asia, many held by women and vulnerable communities working in the informal sector.
- Losses of over US$50 billion in the gross domestic product in the region are expected in the travel and tourism sector alone as a result of the crisis.
Challenges for regional tourism:
- Informal Tourism Sector
- Disruption Caused by Covid-19
- Geo-Political Tensions
Opportunities For the Regional Tourism:
- Niche Tourism
- Opportunity for India:Job,entrepreneurships,etc
- High Tourism Potential
- Job
Three Types of Regional Integration Activities Relevant to Intraregional COVID-19 Response and Competitiveness
Facilitating access
- Removing visa restrictions.
- Improving access infrastructure (roads, port, and rail and air, border crossings).
- Aviation deregulation.
- Easing border crossing formalities.
Improving quality
- Attracting investment.
- Service and quality standards.
- Nature and wildlife conservation.
- Codes of conduct.
- Workforce development.
- Labor mobility.
Communicating to consumers and policymakers
- Branding, marketing and promotion.
- Crisis management.
- Statistics and research.
- Advocacy.
- Stakeholder coordination.
- Increased awareness of destination communities
(Domestic Tourism Spending Percentage of Whole Economy GDP)
Way forward:
- SME Survival
- Crisis Communication
- Jobs, Innovation and Entrepreneurship
- Destination Upgrades
- Regional Collaboration
(Intra-regional Trips by Destination)
Conclusion:
- Despite this crisis, South Asia has a strong competitive position in the global tourism industry.
- The region’s enormous natural and cultural assets combined with strong pre-COVID domestic and intra-regional travel demand is indicative of future growth.
- The opportunity now is to seize this moment of calm to envision and build a more productive, resilient tourism sector that effectively addresses poverty and gender gaps and is based on strong regional collaboration and dialogue.
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