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India’s travel and hospitality industry stares at uncertainty once again

Thursday, January 6, 2022

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An increase in cases of COVID-19, particularly the Omicron variant, has made India’s travel and hospitality industry staring at uncertainty once again, with holidays, weddings and other events canceled or postponed.


The outlook for the next couple of months has turned bleak, with state governments announcing a series of curbs, including night curfews, weekend curfews and travel restrictions for both international and domestic passengers.


A lot of travel agents have said that 30-50 percent of their customers have canceled or rescheduled their bookings for January.


In Delhi, most travel agents said that around half their customers who had made reservations for January have canceled their plans in the past week. “Bookings to Jaipur, Jaisalmer, Srinagar, Ladakh, Leh, Shimla and Dehradun are all being cancelled by customers, especially in January,” said an executive from Delhi-based Welgrow Travels.


An executive from Skylink Travels said that due to restrictions regarding the number of guests who could attend social gatherings due to the new outbreak, weddings were also affected.


Yatra.com data indicates that around 30 percent of customers with earlier travel plans for January are now looking to cancel their plans or reschedule for a later date.


“Travel restrictions announced by Ladakh, Goa, Delhi, Maharashtra and Kolkata have had the biggest impact on cancellations in the past week. Many tourists who were looking to travel beyond January 15 have reached out to us about rescheduling or cancelling their travel plans,” said an executive at Yatra.com.


Heavy snowfall in winter destinations, the increasing COVID-19 cases and travel restrictions are impacting tourism industry in India.


“Customers have started cancelling plans for January. However, this will add to the pent-up demand for the industry,” said Jyoti Mayal, the President of the Travel Agents Association of India.


MP Bezbaruah, the Secretary-general of the Hotel Association of India, said that there is a sudden increase in cancelations since the last week of December, initially by international tourists and then by domestic passengers.
Airlines are also seeing an increase in cancelations.


“There have been quite a few cancellations due to the rise in cases witnessed both in Mumbai and Delhi in the past week. Passengers who were earlier looking at Delhi and Mumbai as layovers for further travel are now delaying their travel plans,” said a senior executive from a domestic airline.


The surge in cases due to the Omicron virus has also made many state governments across India revoke regional festivals.

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