Easing of restrictions on Indian nationals for non-essential travel by an increasing number of countries amid declining Covid-19 cases and expanding vaccination has led to a surge in demand in the beleaguered travel services industry after it bore the brunt of the pandemic for more than a year.Queries for travel to a variety of overseas destinations such as the Maldives, Russia, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates are growing 35-85% month-on-month as many countries are welcoming back Indian travellers subject to vaccination or other conditions, said industry executives. India’s biggest online travel portal, MakeMyTrip, has seen a 35% jump in searches for international leisure packages in July compared to that in the previous month, with the Maldives and Russia ranking high on the list of preferred destinations. 84625684“Other European countries are steadily making their way into the list of the most searched international holiday packages,” said Vipul Prakash, chief operating officer, MakeMyTrip. “The scope and pace of recovery in international travel post the second wave is definitely higher as compared to the period post the first wave as a result of the global vaccination rollout. In the coming months, we are expecting a few more Southeast Asian tourist hotspots to open up for Indian travellers with specific travel restrictions.”Corporates Waiting to Restart ToursThomas Cook (India) has seen a 50% week-on-week surge in search queries for travel to Europe following the acceptance of India’s Covishield vaccine by 17 European nations, the latest being France, said Rajeev Kale, the company’s country head for holidays, MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) and visa. India’s corporates are also looking forward to restarting their incentive tours, with several having retained their unspent budgets, said Kale. “The reopening of international destinations augurs well for a revival of this powerful volume driver MICE segment. We have received interest for Russia, Switzerland, Dubai and Maldives for group sizes varying from 100-800,” he said.“As positivity rates drop, we hope it encourages more countries to open their borders to Indian travellers,” said Vinay Malhotra, regional group chief operating officer, South Asia, Middle East and North Africa and Americas at visa processing firm VFS Global.Malhotra said the travel industry has been a resilient force that has endured many adversities, from economic slowdowns to war to terrorist attacks. "With so many efforts aimed at getting travel back on its feet, we remain optimistic,” he said. Aloke Bajpai, group CEO at ixigo, said search enquiries on the company’s platform for travel to overseas destinations have seen 80-85% increase in July as compared to last month. “With several countries easing travel restrictions, interest in leisure international travel to countries such as the Maldives, Switzerland, Germany, Qatar and Turkey is rising,” he said. Bajpai said he expects more countries to gradually lift restrictions on Indian travellers in the coming months. “With India seeing an overall decline in the number of active Covid-19 cases, countries are evaluating and reconsidering their current travel restriction policies for Indians. Recently the US State Department lowered its Covid 19-related travel advisory for India to level 3, which is ‘reconsider travel’,” he said. Some countries such as Qatar and Switzerland require a full vaccination certificate (Covishield) from Indian travellers. Iceland has given an option to travellers to either submit a full vaccination certificate or a Covid-19 recovery certificate. Unvaccinated travellers can travel to countries such as the Maldives, Russia, Germany, Turkey, Nepal and Ukraine by providing a negative RT-PCR report issued within 72 hours of departure. EaseMyTrip CEO Nishant Pitti said the company’s online travel platform will soon launch new offers focused on overseas destinations that are accepting Indian tourists. “Most of these countries are mandating vaccination or a negative RT PCR test. The government has also been actively taking up this issue with foreign partners... we are hopeful that these conversations will have a fruitful outcome,” he said.
from Economic Times https://ift.tt/3BlsYRM
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