Revenue Of Tour Operators To Be Only 35-40% Of Pre-Pandemic Levels

The tours and travel industry, which was beginning to recover before the second wave of Covid-19 infections began, will now see revenue this fiscal reaching only 35-40% of the pre-pandemic levels, CRISIL has stated in a report.

While companies have raised capital last fiscal and will continue with cost-control measures to cut cash losses, a significant decline in travel, and continued uncertainty about the pandemic will weigh negatively on their credit profiles. This is as per CRISIL's study of three sector majors that account for over half of the domestic tours and travel industry, with reported revenue of Rs 11,300 crore in fiscal 2020.

"Tours and travel operators provide services such as air/bus ticketing, hotels/packages for both leisure and corporate travel within India and overseas. These companies saw their revenues plunge to Rs 2,300 crore last fiscal, which was only ~20% of fiscal 2020 levels, after the nationwide lockdown and other restrictions led to a sharp reduction in travel," CRISIL has stated.

Says Manish Gupta, Senior Director, CRISIL Ratings, "With states beginning to ease restrictions and vaccination rates expected to improve, we see domestic travel picking up slowly from the second quarter. However, segments such as international holidays and inbound travel may see recovery only in the second half, and that too only if travel restrictions are eased in foreign countries. Also, with meetings and events shifting to the online mode, corporate travel is expected to remain under pressure. Overall, therefore, revenue this fiscal may reach only a little over a third of the pre-pandemic level."

Says Naveen Vaidyanathan, Associate Director, CRISIL Ratings, "The silver lining for the industry is people's fundamental urge to travel may not have diminished. Multiple European countries, including France, Italy and Spain, began opening up their borders over the last two months to bring back tourists. The United States is expected to soon follow suit. However, uncertainties continue in the Indian context, including an improvement in vaccination rates, opening up of international borders for Indian travellers, and how corporate travel actually shapes up in the post-pandemic world. These uncertainties, along with continued losses, drive our negative outlook on the sector - and are also key monitorables."