The tourism sector is a powerhouse but it is fragile and must be protected against the vagaries of weather for its sustained growth
For the tourism industry in Europe, the last few weeks have been termed the "summer of hell", because of the extreme heat, catastrophic storms, wildfires, and the numerous tourists who died from heat stroke and other climatic disasters across the continent. This is a major setback for the travel and tourism industry. Even while the memories of the pandemic haven't completely faded, it is debating how to handle the new climate-related set of challenges. Natural disasters are becoming more severe. The tourism industry is highly susceptible, vulnerable, and sensitive to climatic variables.
Similarly, during the same period, India witnessed its share of natural calamities. Half the country appeared inundated with water, cutting off vast areas of land, leaving tourists stranded and isolating populations from the rest of the country. The local economies came to a halt, resulting in severe damages, including lost properties, lives, livelihoods, and the destruction of precious civic and tourism infrastructure painstakingly built over the decades.
The massive loss caused by landslides and intense flooding in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh and elsewhere serves to highlight a point. Simply building additional hotels, roads, airports, and infrastructure for tourism is insufficient. The tourism industry must examine its ecological footprint on a local level and keep disaster resilience at the core of its planning and execution and operation processes. To ensure that the valuable resources invested in construction and growth do not evaporate and dissolve before our eyes in just a few hours of flash flooding, as we have unfortunately witnessed this destruction recently.
Therefore, limiting disruptions is vital, as is avoiding economic losses and accelerated recovery. The tourism industry requires a roadmap on how to handle climate-related natural disasters and shield itself from their adverse impacts through robust, long-term planning. This calls for immediate attention.
By investing in integrated and comprehensive planning, early warning systems and building disaster resilient infrastructure and through retrofitting and improvements, we can enhance our ability to effectively respond to and recover from these events in the future. The country requires comprehensive vulnerability mapping and climate impact projections for the tourism sector over the next 5-10 years. This involves gathering data on changing weather patterns, existing infrastructure, population density, environment, socio-economic factors, tourism patterns etc. This data can help evaluate how susceptible different tourist areas are to changing climate patterns and consequent natural hazards. It can guide strategies for reducing and managing disaster risks.
On a lighter note, you know you're truly Indian when you listen to the weatherman's prediction and confidently place your bets on the complete opposite outcome – it's our version of weather roulette! The era of "revenge travel" seems to have turned us all into daredevils, willing to put life, limbs, and common sense on the line just to get to that tourist hotspot. It's like we're on a mission to prove that we can survive both the wild weather and outwit the weather extremes. This is what we repeatedly see when serpentine lines of cars blockade the state and national highways just to reach the hilly mountainous hotspots up north over the weekend and extend long holidays with complete irreverence to the climate and weather conditions. This madness must stop.
Incorporating reliable weather updates/warnings via mobile notifications should become part of our national routine. This shift would empower the common citizen to make informed decisions, act responsibly, ensure personal safety and mitigate urban chaos caused by weather surprises. This will foster resilience and planning skills within the population. This practice would not only keep climate change discussions alive in daily life, reaching beyond experts and activists' circles but also build trust and ease among tourists who receive valuable forecasts/warnings for instance via their mobiles through the telecom operators for better preparedness.
Remarkably, the tourism industry's entire value chain, encompassing airlines, hotels, and transportation, hinges on weather conditions and seasonality. Yet, despite this dependency, many overlook integrating the evolving scenarios and changing weather insights into their day-to-day operations and they carry on with traditional practices and business as usual while operating their trade. The tourism industry will need to wise up to better plan, prepare and adapt their business to newer disruptions and seasonal patterns, especially in vulnerable regions and geographies.
Climate disasters that we are witnessing are set to overhaul tourist behaviours and demographics in the coming days. Many may sidestep the peak seasons, especially young and old people, prioritizing their health and safety, factoring in weather and climate considerations. This trend will amplify in upcoming years, leading tourists to steer clear of certain places during peak seasons. Consequently, the industry faces the formidable challenge of adapting to climate and disaster patterns. Adjustments in timing and destination choices are on the horizon.
A drizzle and a sprinkle are enough to declare an apocalypse in our major towns and cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and Bangalore. The situation is so dire that these metro cities, which host gateway airports to the country for tourists, can't even pass the basic stress test for urban infrastructure. It would be unimaginable if climate change-related events in the future led to these cities going belly up. The tourism sector has a lot riding on these cities and therefore de-risking and building resilience to them in a systematic manner should be a priority.
We haven't even touched upon the aftereffects of natural disasters on heritage and monuments and safeguarding them as they stand exposed to these changes. The tourism sector needs to brace itself up to address these newer preservation and conservation challenges which will fundamentally test and reshape our planning principles and protocols.
India's travel and tourism sector are a powerhouse. It contributes an estimated US$ 178 billion to the country’s GDP, making it the third largest foreign exchange earner. This sector generates millions of jobs and is essential to India's economic growth. However, this growth is fragile and can be easily disrupted by widespread natural disasters with cascading effects and long recovery periods. The government and industry need to invest in disaster resilience measures to protect this vital sector and ensure its long-term sustainability.
(The writer is a media and communications consultant based in New Delhi with experience in diverse sectors including aviation and tourism
