Omicron drives tourists to drop plans for foreign tours

Tourism sector again faces uncertainty as omicron spreads slowly

Aurangabad, Dec 11:

The tourism sector that was slowly returning back on track after Covid-19 is again facing uncertainty due to the omicron variant. The number of foreign tourists has declined and around 90 per cent of visitors have canceled their trips. This is also showing an impact on the local tourism sector.

The tourism sector was paralyzed for almost two years due to the closure of airlines after lockdown. The second wave subsided and all sectors were gradually reopened in two to three months. This gave a boost to the tourism sector. The tourist season has been smooth for two to three months. About two to three thousand people went to various countries for tourism. Similarly, the domestic tourists also started arriving in large numbers to the city. Avid travelers had also made advance bookings for overseas tours for 2022. However, now omicron patients are being found in large numbers worldwide, various countries have imposed stricter restrictions and have banned travel. Hence many tourists have decided to cancel their planned foreign trips. As an alternative, many have emphasized on domestic tourism. England, Dubai, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Switzerland that are the most visited destinations, have made vaccination, RT PCR testing and quarantine mandatory. This has demotivated tourists from traveling to other countries. Despite the low number of omicron patients, the number of tourists has fallen significantly in the past couple of days.

Omicron is a setback for the tourism sector

There is a lot of fear about the omicron variant among international tourists. We get around 70 to 80 bookings for foreign destinations. But now this is down to only 10-15. Hence nearly 70 per cent of bookings have been canceled. The domestic tourism sector has also been impacted. Measures like RTPCR testing and home quarantine are keeping tourists away from traveling, said Rajesh Malpani, owner of a travel agency.

Hotel sector again faces uncertainty

The hotel sector that heavily relies on domestic and foreign tourists is again facing uncertainty. The hotel industry sees heavy flow of tourists during the new year celebrations. But due to omicron, the tourists flow has reduced and hoteliers fear that there might be no tourists visiting the city if restrictions are imposed by the district administration.