Chapter 17: Spiritual Tourism Transition: An Ethos of Hope during COVID-19 Crisis from Indian Perspectives

The spread of novel coronavirus or COVID-19 has marred industrial growth throughout the world in 2020 (Dev & Sengupta, 2020; Donthu & Gustafsson, 2020; Nicola et al., 2020). The tourism industry itself has endured a lot because of intercountry travel restrictions and lockdowns imposed by the governments to control the spread (Gössling, Scott, & Hall, 2020; Gursoy & Chi, 2020; Jiang & Wen, 2020; Sigala, 2020). The impact is severe in the countries reliant on the tourism industry (Neufeld, 2020; Quinn, 2020). However, as the situation is easing out, the hope for recovery is rekindled, and various countries take steps to reboot the tourism sector (Assaf & Scuderi, 2020; Deb & Nafi, 2020; Hong et al., 2020). Marketing assumes a fundamental role in boosting the demand (Font & McCabe, 2017; Henry Mwinuka, 2017; Tsai, Song, & Wong, 2009). Promotional coupons to attract tourists, discounts and rebates are some of the countries' mechanisms to attract tourists (OECD, 2020; Sharma, 2020; Tay, 2020). However, academia and policymakers view the tourism industry as a whole and not focus on any particular niche tourism for a speedy recovery. The surreal outlook during such critical spaces for recovery should underpin the micro-level approach, which could act as a catalyst in building resilient tourism sector.