Hospitality, tourism industry happy all the way

As soon as the Covid pandemic disappeared, the tourism and hotel industry returned to its previous glory. After suffering losses for two years, now not only are hotel occupancy is blooming, advance booking is also on the positive side. In Kashmir Valley, 40 thousand hotel rooms are up to 90 percent full and tourists who are reaching the valley without advance booking have to run from pillar to post to find a room for a night. In the last two years, 70 thousand workers of the hotel industry had to lose employment in the valley alone, but now a lot of new recruitments are being done. The Kashmir Valley has been buzzing with tourists for the past three months. More than three lakh tourists landed in Srinagar during the first three months of this year, which is a record. Hotel tariff has doubled not only in Srinagar, but also in Shimla. The hotel room which used to cost 2 thousand rupees in normal days is now costing 4 to 5 thousand rupees. A large number of tourists are also reaching Shimla due to the Navratri. As the temperature is rising, hotels in hilly areas are getting occupied by tourists.
 
As discussed earlier in this column, during the Covid period, millions of youth lost the opportunity to join the Indian Army and many became overage. Army recruitment remained suspended for two whole years. Due to this reason, 10 thousand youth were deprived of recruitment in Haryana alone, while more than two lakh youth got overaged. If you consider all the states combined, the number of such youth will swell to several lakhs. Due to non-recruitment for two years, 1.25 lakh posts of soldiers are lying vacant in the Army. To fill these posts, the government is going to implement the Agnipath Recruitment Scheme. Under this, youth willing to work in the army will be recruited for three years. They will be called Agnivirs and some of these capable Agnivirs can also get permanent postings in the future. These appointments are to be made for the three services, i.e. Navy, Army and Air Force. After training, they will be deployed in J&K and Northeast states. These will also include IT and other professionals. After three years of service, they will easily get employment in private institutions.
 
Due to the epidemic, inflation increased in about 150 countries of the world. Shortage of raw materials, disruption in supply chain, reduced production of spare parts and seasonal changes affecting agricultural production made everything from food items to daily use costlier. Due to the outbreak of Omicron, the situation is expected to remain the same this month. Even after this, it may take nine months to a year to fully control inflation. Variety of electric vehicles will come into the market. Many changes will be seen in this field. Many options will appear. Companies will also have to reduce the prices of their e-vehicles. Gradually people will start getting disillusioned with petrol and diesel powered vehicles and the number of electric vehicles will increase on the roads. Due to the shortage of chips or semiconductors, it had a huge impact on the automobile and electronics industry.

(Writer is a senior journalist & columnist)