Omicron scare sends shock waves, leads to huge travel cancellations
The current surge in Covid-19 cases is taking a heavy toll on the tourism industry at a time when everything was looking set for normal recovery with the easing out of curbs imposed after the Delta variant swept the country.
image for illustrative purpose
Visakhapatnam: The current surge in Covid-19 cases is taking a heavy toll on the tourism industry at a time when everything was looking set for normal recovery with the easing out of curbs imposed after the Delta variant swept the country.
The detection of a large number of positive cases among 2,000 New Year revellers on-board cruise ship Cordelia on its way from Mumbai to Goa has sent shockwaves. In addition, there is an increase in cases where tourists have been diagnosed positive during their return journey from Dubai and other international cities to Andhra Pradesh and other States.
Before the Cordellia incident, another cruise ship carrying over 4,000 passengers was held up in Portuguese capital Lisbon after over 52 on-board the vessel were tested positive. All the passengers were allowed to board in Germany after a screening test and production of documents on double dose of vaccination.
The World Travel and Tourism Council had estimated the loss to the industry globally at $4.5 trillion suffering a job loss of 62 million in 2020. Southeast Asia might have suffered a GDP loss of 8.4 per cent in 2021, according to another study.
"These developments are a a big blow to us at a time when everything was looking normal and we were hopeful of revival of all international flights to Andhra Pradesh," K Vijay Mohan, president, Tours and Travels Association of Andhra, told Bizz Buzz on Tuesday.
An official of Visakhapatnam Port, when contacted, said they were taking all Covid protocols before allowing cargo ships to berth in the harbour. As of today, he clarified that not a single case of Covid is found among the crew of any ship during the current spell.
Low-cost carrier Scoot Airlines launched direct flights from Visakhapatnam to Singapore under air bubble scheme from December 29. The initial offer was Rs 8,645 for the four hour and 10-minute journey. Before the pandemic, Visakhapatnam had direct flights to Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Dubai. Flights to Colombo and Bangkok were withdrawn prior to it on 'technical grounds.'
Vijay Mohan said the near-suspension of cruise tourism in Atlanta and other popular destinations and the recent surge in Omicron cases has led to massive cancellation of tickets. The industry also saw massive demand for overseas travel by the close relations of NRIs due to the fear that imposition of travel restrictions and lockdowns may prevent them from shifting to the place of residence of their near and dear settled abroad.
