Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Coastal Tourism of Andaman Isles, India: Sustainable Development Scenario

Abstract

The idyllic tourist atmosphere in the beautiful Andaman and Nicobar Islands (ANIs) nature’s floating paradise, which relatively had fewer cases of the COVID-19 virus, as compared to mainland India, was suddenly shattered. The locals depend on the tourists for their livelihood and with the sudden surge of COVID-19 cases in the country and other nations, the government imposed a lockdown and the ensuing travel ban put everything on hold. The psycho-economic fallout had just begun as people were grappling with what was happening all around and what lay ahead. Coastal tourism, which is considered to be the world’s key economic area, is a huge economy booster for the nation’s GDP, and the Island tourism suddenly shut down along with the deficit revenue to the government. The worst affected were those whose livelihoods were involved with tourists on a daily basis. Thus, the initiatives of special packages by the government and NGOs are released in order to boost the tourism activities. This work mainly addresses the effect of this deadly pandemic on the lives of the people, more so its governmental implications on the psychological and socioeconomic conditions of the Islanders. The government subsidies and necessary measures for sustainability can help them tide over the crisis. Now the government has administrated the vaccination program and initiated the opening of many recreation places for the public. Gradually, the government keenly executed the necessary steps to bring life to normal.