No entry, for now

Mona

honeymoon postponed, bachelors’ party destinations reshuffled, long-booked trips pushed back – Corona virus has muddled big-time with people’s travel plans.

Like any newlywed bride, Aashi was looking forward to her honeymoon too, but then over-protective parents and in-laws would hear none of Bali and the air travel! “While I understand their concern, it sure is a dampener,” she sulks. Regional Head with NBFC, Digvijay Sharma shares how he and his friends worked overtime to move their stag weekend from Vietnam to Sri Lanka. “There were due deliberations and since Sri Lanka seems rather safe — only one case reported of Corona and no deaths - we chose to move our Holi weekend plan for safety.”

Changed destinations

Frequent travellers Kunal and Diya Kapoor were rather sad about their South-Asia exploration plans being threatened by the scare. But then they chose a major reshuffle. Not at that big a cost change, they are heading to Czech Republic and Spain in May now. “They say Eastern Europe is one safest bet for travel at the moment; we risked Spain for that’s one country that’s been on the wish-list along with Prague (Czech Republic) for long now.”

Tough on planners

While the trips might bring tension to travellers, the travelling agencies are bearing the brunt too. “My staff is working thrice as much,” says Mohit Poddar, CEO & Co-Founder, Shoes on Loose. There have been cancellations, rescheduling; people want to know their options for trips already booked. Travellers are obviously panicking and honeymooners feeling lost, “This couple made us cancel the plan for a trip costing Rs 1, 20,000 to Thailand, got a refund of 60,000; then they wanted to reinstate everything, it’s tricky. At our company, we are passing on refunds to our clients. Those who take a call well in advance can save money, but in last-minute cancellations chances of any refunds are obviously lost,” adds Poddar.

“Our average cancellation rate of 2-3 per cent has increased to 10 per cent due to the virus outbreak and we estimate the number could increase to around 10-15 per cent, depending on how the situation pans out,” shares Hari Ganapathy, co-founder, Pickyourtrail. A recent survey shows that more than 41 per cent Indians are being cautious about travel plans. The travel industry has been significantly impacted; the worst hit is Southeast Asia, a frequent jaunt for honeymooners. “Millennial couples today feel aspirational about planning their honeymoon and we are extending our support by rerouting their holidays to the alternate destinations. We are guiding them with information on precautionary measures to be taken during their travel.”

While Sri Lanka and Maldives as being chosen as alternate short-haul destinations, for long-haul destinations, Pickyourtrail is running promotions around specific programmes like the T20 season in Australia, adventure getaways in parts of Europe and self-drive trips in Iceland.

Travel policy

The Corona virus has impacted over 65000 people globally with close to 2000 deaths reported till now, so a number of airports are screening passengers coming from infected countries. “Cleartrip has observed that there is about a 30-60 per cent drop in bookings to China and some other countries in South East Asia since the Corona virus outbreak,” says Balu Ramachandran, senior vice-president, Cleartrip.

In the current situation, many like Globus have instituted a travel policy. “All our vacations to the rest of the world other than China are being conducted regularly,” offers Varesh Chopra, regional director, South Asia and the Middle East for the Globus Family of Brands.

Safety first

While fresh bookings are on halt, agencies are taking all safety measures. “Until further notice, all ships in the Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. fleet are adopting stringent health screening protocols, including denying boarding to any guest who has travelled from to or through mainland China, Hong Kong or Macau in the past 15 days.

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