For Borivali-based Johann Daniels, who has been a part of the trekking industry for 14 years now, the last year and a half has been full of trials and tribulations. “When the pandemic hit, I thought the effect of it would continue only till the end of the first wave and it would get back on track. However, it continued into the second wave till now. It took a toll on my mental health because I was wondering if I could even run my business, which I had started out of passion,” says Daniels. He runs Jack & Hill Adventures, a city-based adventure tour company that started in 2015. 

While pandemic-induced lockdowns affected overseas and inter-state tourism, they also hit local travel such as the popular monsoon treks around Mumbai and Maharashtra. Small-scale trekking businesses, which are not run by businesspersons but by passionate independent trekkers, bore the brunt of this. While some have survived due to parallel income sources, others are having to reconsider their options, as the uncertainty of the travel industry still looms large.