Spicejet recently stopped operations to Jaisalmer due to poor traffic on the Delhi-Jaisalmer and Jaisalmer-Ahmedabad routes. Worried at the prospect of a further slide in tourist traffic, around 100 representatives from the hospitality sector, travel and tours associations, tourist guides associations, tent owners association and handicrafts associations worked out a unique solution. They said that they will reimburse Spicejet for any loss it suffers on its operations on these routes and have urged the airline to restart operations. After a positive response from the airline, operations are expected to start within 10 days. The tourism industry has seen a fall of around 50-60 percent in tourist traffic to Jaisalmer as compared to last year, said Manvendra Singh Shekhawat, founder president of the organisation ‘I Love Jaisalmer’ which has been working on projects related to strengthening tourism ecosystem of Jaisalmer, and also managing director of Suryagarh Hotel. In December 2020, Jaisalmer, a popular tourist destination on Rajasthan’s western border, saw over 9000 tourist arrivals by air.
