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The importance of domestic tourism during COVID-19 cannot be felt any better time than now. “Lockdown is gone” in itself is a feeling which gives you an adrenaline rush to break free from this maiden experience of prolonged inactivity. It is almost certain that the period post lockdown when the situation is stabilized and normalcy is back in the air, domestic travel will get a boom. Here are the top 5 reasons why the Domestic Market will boom after the coronavirus lockdown is gone reiterating the Importance of domestic tourism during COVID-19

1. Indian Traveller is 1^st to bounce back:   The unwavering spirit of Indian travelers is known across the globe. Even in the past, the country has witnessed calamities from Tsunami in eastern coast to Earthquakes along the western plains. Be it Terror attacks or plague in certain parts of the nation, the truth behind the fact is that normalcy has bounced back always within a short span of time leaving no traces behind. This pandemic may appear to be prolonged one as of now but we all are sure that normalcy will be reinstated soon, and then the efforts to revive life from this lockdown phase will begin. Few will travel to catch up with promises made for the summers; few will travel to break-free after the maiden experience of prolonged lockdown. The reasons can be many, but the undeniable fact remains that, for the spirited Indians, the travel for sure will be the key agenda on the card after the lockdown gets over. The environment too after the lockdown would have transformed into a more serene & pollution-free, which will further motivate the Indian travelers to move out and breathe some fresh air. The bounce-back of Indian travelers is going to be the quintessential thing that can be predicted after the lockdown gets over and the nation for sure will witness a large volume of tourists in the forthcoming days. This proves the Importance of domestic tourism during COVID-19.
2. Outbound Travel will become Domestic Travel:  It is quite reasonable to predict that travel is definitely going to be the key agenda for the majority of Indians, but at the same time the apprehension in Indian minds post the pandemic restricts its scope to a region-specific.  The apprehension here will be dictated by the pattern of spread of the disease. The mere fact that the disease has spread virulently across the globe since its outbreak in Dec 2019 and has affected certain significant outbound destinations which are frequented by Indian travelers either for work or for leisure will contain the scope of outbound travel. As far as the traveling pattern for leisure goes the largest footfall or subscription is generally Europe in vogue, followed by Southeast Asia similarly Gulf, USA & China for work. The Present pandemic scenario largely covers these regions, with Italy, France, Spain, and likewise European countries worst affected which are the most popular getaways. Thus post the lockdown phase which itself will let mandatory & frustration creep in amongst the folks, and when normalcy prevails, most of the capable population would for change of temperament and mindset venture out for tourism. Apparently, so far, the COVID crisis is relatively much lower in India vis a vis the favorite getaways in Europe and SouthEast Asia. Moreover, the preoccupation of apprehension and skepticism amongst the mindset of Indian population towards travelling to those aforementioned outbound tour packages will get affected.  The notion that safety comes first than luxury will be a major cause for switching the outbound plans to domestic plans. The domestic travel will get an upswing because of the peculiarity of this pandemic which shows India as a much safer zone, when compared to the famous destinations abroad and so the domestic plans will have an edge over the outbound plans.
3. All major tourist destinations have a big source market within 500 km radius – The scope from outbound to domestic can further be narrowed to nearby destinations. The fact that the lock down would not have allowed anyone to plan in advance & the urge to move out at the earliest may further play upon minds of frequent travelers to look for closer destinations. Owing to its ease in execution & less cost involved, the close by destinations will become more popular and high on priority.  Hitherto for all famous tourist destinations will experience large volume of traffic from the close by settlements, immediately on termination of crisis. The industry needs to be geared up for handling the large-scale budget tourism post the lock down. The plausibility of budget tourism to nearby destinations will gravitate more towards the travelers than the long-distance travel in the domestic context. 
4. Backlog of Wedding & Events – Primarily it will happen consequential to lockdown itself wherein substantial amounts of cancellation/ postponement/ rescheduling would have taken place. Majorly the lockdown period pans around the summer vacations which in India is a sine qua non for visiting places traditionally and which would have got affected due to the present scenario. So to keep the promises alive from parents to children, corporate offices to clients and also from travel agencies to their pax, domestic travel will see an upswing once the NCOVID-19 effects are subdued or subsided to a large extent. There has been a large scale rescheduling of events that has taken place during this period starting from mega-events like IPL to personal events like marriages & social functions, which eventually will find its place post the lockdown and consequentially a mass movement of travelers to attend these will be taking place after the crisis is over. The gates of various sort-after pilgrimage and tourist destinations that experience tourist inflow round the year will also open up, attracting the domestic travelers. Airlines also to go with the spirit of giving due regards to the national crisis and to accentuate their credibility have gone beyond their terms and conditions and are allowing rescheduling with no charges and same is with the travel agencies for high repute. Thus domestic or inbound travels are going to increase post the crisis. This again proves the Importance of domestic tourism during COVID-19.
5. Increased Economic Activity will mean more Corporate Travel  – The Perceptible trend of leisure travel may still vary due to apprehensions, however, the latent necessity for corporate travel cannot be overlooked.  The pace of the nation is defined by its economic activity, which incidentally has slowed down due to the crisis. The Surge in the economic activity post the lockdown phase will not only become the compulsion for corporate houses but will also experience the new normal. The New Normal Phase may also unfold into shifting of large scale industries from the infected areas across the globe to the safe zones in India.  The government will certainly introduce policy level changes to boost the economy and on the other hand, corporate houses will also act as catalysts to bring back the economy in shape. Towards that end it will demand large-scale movement of corporate officials to attend various meetings and so on. Corporate travel is one thing that will happen based on the undeniable necessity or compulsion which cannot be circumvented.

Finally, if recovering from the restricted physical domain will become a necessity for all on one hand, recovering from the lockdown losses from the economic point of view will become compulsion for the corporate world on the other hand. The subsequent phase post the lockdown will surely witness attractive offers & lucrative schemes from the travel industry and policy changes from government & corporate world which will lead to a surge in travel & tourism activity in the Domestic front. The government will play a major role in reinstating that confidence among the population and to bring back the spirit of national tourism. Advertising agencies too will follow the suit. So, as a lay of nature the tourism industry will once again take its upward curve, with tourists flocking the destinations all across the country. As a result the domestic travel will boom for sure. 

The Blog is written by Richa Guru of MarketMyHotel.in