As countries ease restrictions for India, tourists firm up travel plans

The second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in May had put the brakes on overseas travel but the tide is slowly turning as more countries welcome vaccinated Indian tourists. On Tuesday, Spain opened the doors to fully vaccinated Indians, joining France, Ger­many and Switzerland which did so a few weeks earlier.
 
Indian holidaymakers are taking advantage of this even as they deal with challenges such as limited non-stop flights, reduced visa slots and the lack of approval to Covaxin.
 
“There has been a huge demand for travel to Switzerland from day one of the opening in end-June,” says Ritu Sharma, deputy director of Switzerland Tourism in India. Hotels, restaurants and attractions are all open following strict Covid-19 protocols, she adds. In outdoor areas masks are not needed but are compulsory on public transport.

 

Switzerland has also modified rules and now unvaccinated children would not need to quarantine upon arrival. However, there are no non-stop flights between India and Switzerland at present; so tourists are travelling via Amsterdam or Frankfurt.
 
South Africa has been open for visitors since last October but the absence of direct flights is hindering travel. So, South Africa Tourism, in partnership with travel agents, are organising two charter flights via Seychelles in September.
 
In the backdrop of large-scale violence following the arrest of its former president Jacob Zuma, the country’s high commission also held a virtual interaction with travel agents last week to convey that it remains safe for Indian tourists.

 
“With the reopening of destinations like the Maldives, Switzerland, France, Germany, Russia and Egypt, and greater acceptance for Covishield by international health authorities, we are seeing an acceleration in travel demand with over 600 per cent increase in bookings in July compared to June,” says Rajeev Kale, president and country head (holidays), Thomas Cook India. Curr­ently, individual travellers comprise the largest segment for Thomas Cook; group travel in small sizes of 20-25 travellers is also picking up.
 
The Maldives, which reopened for Indian visitors in July, remains the top attraction — also as a quarantine destination for them before they proceed to Dubai or other countries that still do not permit direct entry to Indians. IndiGo, which currently operates flights to the Maldives from four cities, is adding new flights from Hyderabad and Chennai this month. Vistara, too, is planning to reintroduce flights to the Maldives, it is learnt.

 
Says Ritu Mehrotra, Regional Manager, South Asia at Booking.com, “Based on our data, the US, Russia, the Maldives, Switzerland and Qatar are the top five most searched for destinations by Indian outbound travellers for the month of August.” Yet, some destinations like Phuket in Thailand, which have opened for tourists, are still out of bounds for Indians.
 
Meanwhile, visa opera­tions are resuming in a phased manner. “Decisions on visa applications, including availability of slots and the timelines to process them, are at the sole discretion of the respective client governments and may vary from one mission to another”,said a VFS global spokesperson.