Tour operators want more air bubbles

“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.

— Jyoti Mayal, President of the Travel Agents Association of India

Even as the travel and tourism sectors remain the worst affected due to Covid-19 and the related restrictions, travel operators have asked the government for more air bubbles. That will bring more caution to international travel.

Jyoti Mayal, President of the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), said there was a growing demand from the travel and tourism industry across the country that the restrictions imposed due to the Omicron variant should be relaxed. While many countries had relaxed restrictions and provided support to the travel and tourism sector, India had not. “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,” Mayal 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,” she added.

“Many travel agencies 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.”

“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,” Mayal 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,” the TAAI President said.

ANI reported that while global aviation had opened up, flights from India were still under the Air Bubble arrangement. Health conditions and protocols were being followed globally including mandatory RTPCR testing at least 24 to 48 hours prior to boarding.

Subhash Goyal, President of the Confederation of Tourism Professionals, said that since the recent Budget and the Finance Ministry had 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.

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