Industry says that the flu scare has made regular travelers wary of going on holidays abroad
Industry says that the flu scare has made regular travelers wary of going on holidays abroad
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An airport employee in Mexico wears a mask after the outbreak of swine fluu00a0AP/Guillermo Arias |
"We have seen a jump in cancellations for international travel made in India over the past two days. The overall picture could get worse in May as only the last three days of April have witnessed this new reason for cancellation," said Amadeus managing director Ankur Bhatia. Amadeus provides the technology to power online bookings. April saw a five per cent decline in bookings.
Assistant General Manager (Medical) Airport Authority of India, Dr Sujit Bakshi, said passengers of connecting flights, mainly from Mexico and United States, were being thoroughly screened. "We have also been approached by leading five star hotels ready to co-coordinate arrangements for their hotel guests through their airport representatives," Bakshi said. AAI has already advised airlines to use anti-virus sprays as a routine measure.
Currently, a team of 20 doctors belonging to the Central and State Health services has been screening passengers at Mumbai airport. A TAAI official said that the situation for India wouldn't get alarming because the current tourist season was set to end. "The summer segment is coming to an end. It is the monsoons that will take over," he said.
Agents acknowledged they have seen fewer bookings in the last few days. "But this is not just due to the swine flu, but also the economic slowdown," a south Mumbai-based travel agent said. Agents believe that World Health Organisation's raising of the threat level could further affect the slow inflow of tourists into India.
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The slowdown has brought down hotel occupancy and tariff in Mumbai by around 20 per cent.
Thomas C T, spokesperson for SOTC, said that tourists who had not yet made bookings but were just making enquiries, were now adopting a wait and watch policy. "There is also a dip in revenue on foreign tours because package prices are 15 to 20 per cent lower this year, thanks to the slowdown," Thomas said. TAAI officials said that bookings were expected to pick up mid-May, as long as the swine flu does not spread further in the US.
On the brighter side, the travel industry is expecting domestic tourism to pick up this summer because of a combination of tighter holiday budgets and (now) the swine flu. "This means that destinations like Shimla and Manali, that had lost out to Southeast Asia, will gain," travel blogs noted.
"Business is already so bad. It's just one unfortunate thing after the other for the travel industry,'' Diethelm Travel India managing director Himmat Anand said.
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