On a Monday afternoon, a day before India announced a 21-day lockdown to flatten the curve of covid-19 infections, Sunil Gupta, chairman and managing director of Travel Bureau, a tour operator in Agra, sat alone in his office in Agra’s Fatehabad Road.
More than 10 million tourists visited the Taj Mahal in 2019 but things have nosedived since February 2020. Gupta’s 145 employees are at home.
His company’s 80 cars and 36 coaches are gathering dust. “There will be no tourists until September," Gupta said in a soft, resigned tone. “That means I have to keep paying salaries without income for six months." Travel Bureau is one of the larger travel agencies.