'COVID does not need a boarding card to travel': Tour operators urge for cautious decision on opening commercial flights, increasing air bubbles

By Ashoke Raj
New Delhi [India], February 3 : The travel and tourism sector among the worst affected due to COVID-19 related restrictions has urged the government to ease restrictions and provide it with much needed financial support.
Jyoti Mayal, President of the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), said there is a growing demand from the travel and tourism industry across the country that the restrictions imposed due to the Omicron variant should be relaxed.
He pointed out that many countries have relaxed the restrictions and provided support to the travel and tourism sector, but in India, the sector has not got the required support and is struggling to survive.
"Travel Agent Association of India (TAAI) has been advocating to open borders as the closing of borders will not stop the virus from circulating and the virus neither needs a boarding card to travel on commercial flights nor air bubbles," he said.
"We need to make a cautious but immediate decision on the opening of commercial flights or increase in air bubbles and end the 7 day home quarantine for all travellers," he said.
TAAI's president requested the government to save the travel and tourism industries by providing financial and other support.
"The industry should have a say in bringing in better policies. The government has once again not supported the travel and tourism sector in the budget 2022," he said.
"The entire sector is struggling to survive and with no collaborative way of working with the ministry of civil aviation (MOCA) is further going to hamper our members' survival, many of them are already closing shop which is sad because travel tourism and hospitality is the backbone of every country and contributes nearly 10 per cent of GDP and employment in India," Mayal said.
According to the reports, the global aviation space has opened up, however, flights from India are still under the Air Bubble arrangement. Health conditions and protocols are being followed globally including mandatory RT-PCR testing at least 24 to 48 hours prior to boarding.
Manan Mahajan, Managing Director of travel management firm Orange The Destination Management Company said, "Seven days quarantine will not help to boost the growth of industries in tourism. Travel industries have been badly impacted since the past two years and now time has come to open up international flights and provide relaxations in quarantine days for international travellers."
Subhash Goyal, President of the Confederation of Tourism Professionals said that since the recent Budget and the Finance Ministry has not seriously considered the economic contribution of tourism, therefore, they have no other option but to appeal to the tourism, health and home ministry for their help to restart e-tourist visas, scheduled international flights and remove the restriction of quarantine for those passengers who have received both the vaccinations.
"Otherwise, it will be impossible for inbound tour operators, tourist guides, tourist transporters, tourist drivers, artisans, handicraft manufacturers, artists, musicians etc. who are all dependent on inbound tourism to survive," Goyal said.
He pointed out that tourism is the largest employment generator and has been contributing about 9 to 10 per cent of the GDP and about USD 30 billion in foreign exchange earnings.
"The greatest need of our country is to tackle the problem of unemployment which can only be done by supporting an industry like tourism, " the president of the Confederation of Tourism Professionals said.
From January 11, new revised guideline for international passengers made 7-day home quarantine mandatory for all passengers flying in from outside India. On the completion of their home quarantine, travellers will undergo an RT-OCR test, it said.
Among the list of 'at-risk' countries are all European countries including the UK, South Africa, Brazil, Botswana, China, Ghana, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Hong Kong, Israel, Congo, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Nigeria, Tunisia and Zambia.