Destination next: As the world opens, Indians look forward to travel

Team Spectrum

AS Covid cases drop across the globe and restrictions are lifted, both travel industry and tourists are heaving a collective sigh of relief. Closure of borders by almost all countries, suspended commercial flights, stringent testing and quarantine norms have hit the industry hard.

Travel addicts, too, have been experiencing withdrawal symptoms, quenching their need by hitting the domestic circuit or Maldives and Dubai, the only two countries open to visitors as early as July and August 2020, respectively.

However, with the government considering resuming international flights in March/April after 23 months, Delhi-based Gaurav Dogra, secretary (northern region), the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), is hopeful of the industry’s recovery. “Europe is already open to visitors and South-East Asia may soon open completely. We are receiving queries and there should be clarity about flights by the time the holiday season begins,” says Dogra.

“Those who can afford are already heading for the UK, France and Switzerland,” says TAAI president Neeraj Malhotra. Special passenger flights have been operating between India and approximately 40 countries since July 2020 under the air bubble arrangement. “However, these flights are not operating at 100 per cent capacity, making the tickets costly and driving up the package costs,” he adds.

“As the third wave wanes, people are again inquiring about Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Bali, favourite family holiday destinations,” says Ankit Gupta, a Ludhiana-based travel agent. But because of the Covid norms of testing and quarantine, hardly anyone prefers to go, he adds.

Raveesh Khullar, who has been in the travel industry for 15 years now, says, “Thailand is only partially open, not allowing visitors to Bangkok and Pattaya. Phuket has closed again after briefly opening to tourists in November-December last year. Queries are also pouring in for Switzerland, France, the UK and Spain for this summer, but there have been no bookings in the absence of any clarity about flights,” says the Gurugram-based professional.

As the pandemic affected international travel as well as tourist behaviour, tourism-dependent economies were hard hit. However, those like Maldives and Dubai showed exemplary resilience and were quick to recover. Cashing in on the pent-up desire for travel, the two countries opened for international visitors before anyone else.

Khullar says Maldives has always been a preferred spot for honeymooners but emerged ‘big-time’ as a family destination during the pandemic. “It was the first country to reopen for international travellers in July 2020. From December 2020-January 2021 onwards, India emerged as a major source market for Maldivian tourism. From 10,000 tourists a month, the traffic jumped to 25,000 a month, driven mainly by the friends and family groups.”

“Ease of Covid norms vis-a-vis testing, open beaches, a-resort-an-island made Maldives more attractive. Encashing on this popularity, resorts began charging more. The basic package available for Rs1 lakh earlier was being offered for a minimum of Rs1.5 lakh to Rs1.75 lakh. The Maldivian authorities were also wooing Canada-bound NRIs and students, offering quarantine packages. Such was the rush that many were willing to pay Rs25,000 one-way even as a round ticket cost Rs20,000. The hotels in Malay were fully booked,” says Smriti Gupta, who owns a travel company in Ludhiana.

The Maldivians quickly adapted to the new life. “Tourist packages have been tweaked accordingly. Most resorts now include RT-PCR tests as also Covid insurance in case a guest tests positive. There were several instances when those without insurance had to stay back at their own cost,” adds Smriti.

All these efforts paid off as, by 2021, visitor arrivals had reached more than 80 per cent of pre-Covid levels, says a World Bank blog.

So much so that even Maldivian airlines also started regular bi-weekly flights to India, apart from many Indian and international airlines.

“Maldives being the only country open to tourists, besides Sri Lanka that was an open-close kind of thing, it emerged big,” says Mrinmay Ghosal, whose travel company has been taking groups of 100 to 300 to the country.

Dubai wasn’t far behind. “Every hotel in the city was fully booked on December 31,” says Malhotra. “The ongoing Dubai expo, which ends on March 31, has only added to the boom,” adds Smriti.

“Both Maldives and Dubai are in equal demand,” says Chandigarh-based travel agent Gagan Sachdeva. “I get an equal number of queries for the two destinations. A honeymooners’ destination earlier, Maldives has now been attracting families due to the horde of water activities. That the country offers good Indian vegetarian food has been adding to the number of Indians heading there.”

Vishal Aggarwal, a lawyer based in Chandigarh, who went for a family holiday to Maldives in March last year, is quick to endorse: “My kids enjoyed snorkelling and fishing and the availability of Indian vegetarian food plus a private pool in our water villa made the experience unforgettable.”

For Karnal-based honeymooners Dr Nishtha and Ujwal Sachdeva, walking barefoot on sparkling sands was very relaxing. Since there weren’t too many activities, the serene environment offered a break from the flurry of activities back home. “We preferred candlelight dinner over high-cost water sports and spent time at our water villa.”

Married in May 2020, Ludhiana-based Shyna Aggarwal, like most young girls, had big plans about her wedding and honeymoon — a lavish ceremony, followed by a month-long honeymoon in Europe.

The pandemic put paid to all her dreams. They first planned a trip to Maldives and Dubai in December 2020, the only international destinations allowing tourists. The second wave spoiled their plans. Undeterred, they again booked the trip in March 2021. This time, Delta played the villain. Omicron delayed it further. Finally, this year in January, their much-delayed trip took shape and they landed on the sunny beaches of Maldives.

Ditto for Aditi Kapoor Kakkar from Kullu, who was looking forward to her wedding in April 2020 and a honeymoon in Europe when the pandemic struck. The wedding was delayed to October, but the Europe holiday had to be cancelled. The couple planned a fresh holiday and Maldives being the only country welcoming tourists, they made a dash for Lux South Ari Atoll in Maldives last December.

“I am scared of the sea but loved the beaches and the hospitality,” says Aditi, who is now based in Panipat. To those who complain that there isn’t much to do, she says that since a tour to Maldives is inherently a short one, the resorts pack in enough for the holidayers — from treasure hunts to water sports.

Young journalist Akshita fell in love with Maldives on Insta. The travel enthusiast, who saves all year to fulfil her dream to travel, has chalked up an impressive tally in the last five years, alternating between an international and domestic destination from Thailand, Dubai-Abu Dhabi, Singapore-Malaysia, with Goa, Rajasthan, Gujarat and the Andamans in between. She, along with her mom, kept the date with the blue waters in November 2020, notwithstanding the pandemic paranoia.

Maldives may not have been the first choice for Aditi and Shyna, but for Shruti and Ritish Jindal from Ludhiana, it was ‘the’ place to celebrate their 15th marriage anniversary. “We wanted to go there to rekindle the memories of our honeymoon. So, Covid or no Covid, we had to be there,” says Shruti. The couple left their 14-year-old with the family and, along with two other couples, went to Maldives last September. In the last 15 years since she first visited the islands, she says the infrastructure has become better. From a tiny airport with just enough space for a runway to a sprawling one, the scale of tourism-related infrastructure is mind-blowing, she says.

Two years on, and post a mild third wave, as life seems to be returning to normal, travellers — vaccinated and boosted — are itching to head out, and they will. Revenge travel, eh? So be it!

Greek Odyssey

Many European countries are back in the tourism and travel circuit, including Greece, which with its sunny beaches has been quite a hit among Indians. It has particularly found favour with frequent travellers, who have already experienced Europe, says Raveesh Khullar, a travel industry expert. The first-time visitors usually club a week-long tour of Greek isles with the neighbouring countries, say Turkey or Croatia. The package usually starts at Rs1.5-2 lakh a couple. “Queries about Greece are again picking up but hardly any bookings, as there are no direct flights,” adds Khullar.