The COVID-19 pandemic has completed almost a year with immense impact on all walks of life – health, income and economy, education, and human mobility. During the initial days of 
complete lockdown, the informal sector labours returned to their native villages as they lost their jobs. The mobility was so huge (hundreds of thousands of migrants), which further spread COVID-19 in the remote areas. COVID-19 impact was enormous on the health condition, mental status, jobs, tourism, and food availability. It was like a catastrophic situation. Tourism has become a smokeless industry and the major sector of economic growth. This sector is related to the mobility of tourists and the growth and development of the hotel industry. Therefore, the impact of COVID-19 onthe tourism, travel,and hotel sectors was tremendous, worldwide.
Uttarakhand is known for its highland and river valley pilgrimages and natural locales. Various types of tourism are practiced here and among them, pilgrimage tourism, natural tourism, adventure tourism, and park and wildlife tourism are famous. An exodus number of pilgrims and tourists within and outside India visit these places of tourist interest, located in the entire Uttarakhand. These pilgrims and tourists help in enhancing the income and economy of the native people and in increasing the state’s revenue. As a result, tourism in Uttarakhand shares more than 50 per cent of the state’s gross domestic products as per the record of the ‘State Economics and Statistics Department’, Dehradun. Tourism is also a major source of employment and livelihood of people in the state.
Uttarakhand has mainly four highland and two valley pilgrimages. Badrinath in Chamoli District, Kedarnath in Rudraprayag District, and Gangotri and Yamunotri in Uttarkashi District are highland pilgrimages. Rishikesh in Dehradun District and Haridwar in Haridwar District are the valley pilgrimages. Two highland pilgrimages – Kedarnath (helicopter facility available) and Yamunotri are not connected by road therefore, a 16 km trek leads to reach each pilgrimage. Meanwhile, Badrinath and Yamunotri are well connected by road.
These pilgrimages are world-famous where hundreds of thousands of pilgrims visit every year from the Indian subcontinent and abroad.
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A report from the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board, Dehradun depicts that in 2019, about 32.4 lakh pilgrims visited all four highland pilgrimages. Out of which,12.44 lakh in Badrinath (highest), 10 lakh in Kedarnath, 5.30 lakh Gangotri, and 4.66 lakh (lowest) pilgrims visited Yamunotri. In the meantime, in 2020 the total number 
of pilgrims who visited these highland pilgrimages wasonly 3.11 lakh, which isabout 9.6 per cent of the total pilgrims visited in the preceding year. Out of the total pilgrims who visited highland pilgrimages, the highest was in Badrinath, which was about 1.44 lakh, followed by Kedarnath (1.35 lakh), Gangotri (23837), and Yamunotri (7731 lakh). When the figure was compared with the previous year of 2019, Kedarnath shares 13.5 per cent , Badrinath 11.5 per cent, Gangotri 4.5 per cent, and Yamunotri only 1.7 per cent.
The role of the State Government and Devsthanam Pravandhan Board (it looksafter the management of highland pilgrimages) was noteworthy in providing permission to pilgrims to visit these highland pilgrimages.
According to the Pravandhan Board, about 3.50 lakh passes were issued, out of which only 3.10 lakh pilgrims visited the pilgrimages from 1 July to 18 November 2020.
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The figure depicts that in every pilgrimage, the number of pilgrims was an average of less than10 per cent of the total pilgrims who visited in 2019. As a result, many people who were engaged in tourism activities lost their jobs.
Temples of these highland pilgrimages generally open in April-May and close in October-November. In 2020, the temples opened almost after three months in July 2020 due to pandemic. The Central Government SOP (distancing and mask-wearing) was followed. Therefore, the number of tourists who visited these highland pilgrimages was tremendously less till the closing of temples in mid of November 2020. Pilgrimage season in Uttarakhand goes for about seven months, which provides seasonal occupation to the youth of rural areas of mountainous districts. From Rishikesh to all these highland pilgrimages, more than 70 service centres and above 500 hotels, Dhabas, restaurants, and Dharamshalas are run by the local people to provide services – food, beverages, and shelter – tothe pilgrims and also to carry their livelihood sustainable. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all people involved in providing tourism services have lost their jobs. The rural areas of Uttarakhand have received about 11 per cent return/reverse migrations during the complete lockdown as per the data collected by ‘Uttarakhand Migration Commission, Pauri’. Mainly priests, hoteliers, restaurant owners, photographers, tour guides, horse and palanquin owners were the worst affected, and particularly those who have tourism as the main occupation.
