Wellness Tourism in India – Impacts of Covid-19 and Rebuilding Wellness Tourism Destination Image in Post Corona Travel

The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the tourism industry. The pandemic hit the world with such a magnitude that it caused a great fall in economic and tourist activity which resulted in economic crisis with effects that are still difficult to overcome. Wellness tourism along with other forms of tourism was disrupted because of the imposed restrictions on travel by various countries to curb the growth of corona virus. While India is recognized as a prominent and historical wellness tourism destination in South East Asia for offering traditional wellness products that attract people from all over the world, the pandemic has not spared it. The present study identifies the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on wellness tourism in India. It further discusses the positive image of India as a wellness tourism destination which will help service providers to ameliorate the marketing strategies during the tough time. Despite having great uncertainties because of the ongoing pandemic, the world has slowly started moving towards a recovery stage. Wellness tourism is one of the tourism products that are expected to witness an increased demand in post-pandemic travel. This study examines secondary data available in the public domain by the Indian government and non-government sources to review the impact of COVID-19 on wellness tourism. The findings of this study are beneficial for the destination to boost its products profile and become more resilient to any future uncertainties.