Vol. 7, Issue 8, Part B (2021)

Abstract
As per a report by IBEF, the total contribution of travel and tourism to GDP at Real 2019 prices stood at US$268.29 billion, and is forecasted to grow to US$512.00 billion in the year 2029. This study would focus on the accommodation and catering segment of tourism and hospitality. The emerging tourism and hospitality segments cover the areas in Rural, Adventure, Medical, Heritage, Luxury, Pilgrimage and Eco-Tourism. Foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) in India stood at 10.89 million in the year 2019, with a growth rate of 3.20% year-on-year. Contrary to the 2019 figures, FTAs in India in 2020 stood at 2.46 million. The FTA growth in the year 2019 was seen due to flexible government policies, developed rail and road infrastructure, and ease in availability of e-tourist visas to foreign tourists. While during 2019, foreign exchange earnings from tourism in India stood at US$ 29.96 billion, the year 2020 recorded a sharp fall with US$ 6.15 billion foreign exchange earnings from tourism due to COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about many changes, one of the major being staying isolated at home as compared to pre COVID times of endless interactions and meetings with friends and family. This study wants to know whether their consumption level is the same as before, are they consuming the same offerings or are they ordering at home. Around how many times do they order online, so that hotels and restaurants can get accustomed to the shift in consumer demand and plan their digital framework in accordance? This study is a descriptive research conducted through a survey based on self-designed, structured questionnaires on various aspects of website traffic (audience). A sample size of 400 has been selected through non-probability, convenient sampling (people in contact list and their relatives/ friends, spread all across India, somewhat similar to snowball sampling but distributed across India).