Travelers choose to get away after the ease of restrictions.
Jaipur: Trekking companies are seeing a surge in their clients after government eased travelling restrictions.Trekking has emerged as a safe option for people who want to travel solo or in private groups.
Gaurav, an employee of Riding Solo Company said, “During the lockdown we were functioning and organized Kedarnath Yatras. We were happy to receive around 150-200 clients. Even now we are getting a lot of bookings for New Year.” Similarly, Dheeraj Sharma from Trekmunk said, “We started conducting treks from September and we have been receiving a decent number of clients. We started treks in Kashmir, Uttarakhand, and Himachal Pradesh. Forty percent of people are willing to travel as they are looking for a break from their work.” He added that they have reduced the strength of groups from 16 to 10 in order to take precautions while trekking.
An employee from Trek The Himalayas Company said, “We are receiving bookings for winter treks. There is no travelling issue. We are following precautions by sanitizing and thermal checking.” An employee from Treks and Trails India said that they are conducting treks in groups of five to six people. Their clients have reduced but some people are still willing to travel.
Shubhash Goyal, General Secretary of Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism and Hospitality (FAITH) said, “The tourism industry is the worst affected right now. This industry contributes 10 percent of our country’s GDP. People have started travelling to mountains and beaches, which are not overpopulated and thus there has been some movement. But it will take some time for this industry to recover as a whole.”
Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has estimated that the loss of revenue to tourism can range between Rs 72,000 crore and Rs 1.58 lakh crores in 2020-21. Tanashri Shivalkar, a trekker, said that people are opting for treks as they are really bored and need a break from their usual routine. She added that she missed trekking during the lockdown. Tanashri said, “I went for the Korigad Trek post lockdown and it was good.”
Photo Credits: Tanashri Shivalkar
