Travel service providers and online travel agents (OTAs) are hopeful that the United Kingdom will ease restrictions on Indians under its new travel rules following government protest even as they see increasing signs of pent-up demand for overseas leisure travel.
The UK on Wednesday updated travel rules applicable from October 4 and clarified that Covishield would qualify as an approved vaccine, but quarantine requirements could still apply to those vaccinated in India due to concerns over the vaccine certification process in the country.
However, with India having warned the UK of ‘reciprocal measures’, the travel industry is expecting an early resolution of the issue.
“This is hard to relate to and the move is not sustainable,” MakeMyTrip CEO Rajesh Magow said. “Something tells me this should get rectified considering the pushback we are seeing at the diplomatic level.” Nishant Pitti, CEO of EaseMyTrip, said he is hoping for a resolution as his platform is seeing a significant jump in queries for travel to the UK.
An early solution is important for the industry at a time when bookings for Maldives and Dubai, which has eased restrictions ahead of the upcoming Dubai Expo, are surging week on week, indicating a long pent-up demand for overseas leisure travel.
“While the UK’s recognition of Covishield vaccination is a good sign, Indian travellers will still face restrictions and undergo mandatory quarantine upon arrival which might complicate their upcoming travel plans,” said Aloke Bajpai, group CEO and co-founder of ixigo. “Easing quarantine rules for all vaccinated travellers will help travellers plan their international vacations at ease.”
Rajeev Kale, president and country head, holidays, MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions), visa, at Thomas Cook (India), said the UK has always been a favourite and a highly aspirational destination for India’s leisure segment. “With the positive announcement on the acceptance of Covishield by the UK authorities, we are awaiting clarity with regards to the travel protocols for Indians,” he said.
Subhash Goyal, chairman of STIC Travel and Air Charter Group, said, “All principles of international relations are based on reciprocity. The US and Canada have accepted students with the Covishield vaccine certification. So why can’t the UK accept regular travellers with it going ahead? This is absurd.”
A spokesperson for the British High Commission had earlier said the UK is engaging with the Indian government to explore how it could expand recognition of vaccine certification to people vaccinated by a relevant public health body in India.
Travel platforms said they cannot foresee any impact on bookings until the new travel rules are actually enforced.
A lot also depends on India giving the go-ahead for scheduled commercial international flights, they said.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had extended the ban for scheduled commercial international passenger services till the end of this month.
Meanwhile, Dubai and Maldives have emerged as powerful demand drivers.
Dubai – which eased restrictions recently ahead of the Dubai Expo that starts on October 1 – is getting a lot of queries because of cricket fixtures such as the upcoming T20 World Cup.
“We have been in touch with our MICE corporates and they are keen to utilise unspent budgets for incentive travel to Dubai. We have received queries from several media to large groups for travel in 2021,” said Kale of Thomas Cook.
