LUDHIANA: Nipah virus which has claimed 12 lives in Kerala has caused panic among Ludhiana’s travel agents, who have started to decline bookings for the southern state in view of the virus attack.
Agents said citing panic messages doing rounds on the social media, they fear cancellations at the last moment that will ultimately affect their business.
Hoping to compensate, they are offering other tour packages to the residents.
Nitin Grover, a travel agent, said, “I had received booking requests for Kerala, but I refused to do the same because the news on the virus is spread worldwide. And if people will cancel their bookings at the last moment, then I will have to bear the loss.”
He said the Kerala package is available at around Rs 25000 per person, including tickets, stay and local transportation, and if it is cancelled, then they bound to lose almost 50% of the total amount.
Another travel agent Sunil Dutta said people are scared of Nipah virus that has claimed several lives in Kerala, which is why they are asking for alternate destinations.
He said as the weather in Goa is hot at the moment, people are preferring to travel to
Malaysia and Singapore whose packages are almost similar to that of Kerala and Goa.
Meanwhile, residents belonging to Kerala but settled in Ludhiana said there is no need to panic as everything is under control. They said they have been talking to their friends and family members over the phone and everybody is perfectly fine. Some of them have even travelled to Kerala in the past few days to meet their near and dear ones.
A resident of Chandigarh Road,
Alex P Sunil, general secretary of Udaya Kerala club, said he was presently in Kerala and had visited the areas where the virus had spread. He said people infected with the virus had been kept in isolation and in rest of the areas everything is normal. “It is basically a game plan to disrupt or destroy tourism in Kerala,” he said.
Importantly, the virus has spread in north Kerala while most of the tourist destinations are in south Kerala, he added.
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John, a resident of Kot Mangal Singh, whose daughter is studying in Kerala, said he is in touch with his daughter and other relatives and everybody is fine. He said moreover, the virus has spread in one corner of Kerala and there is no effect in adjoining cities as of now.
Another Keralite Biju Krishnan, who is resident of
Jamalpur, said he had so many friends in Kerala and he asked them about their well-being. “All are fine and there is no need to panic at this moment. Even I am going to Kerala next week and there is no change in my plans,” he said.
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