Indian travel agents avoiding South-East Asian destinations

PUNE: With the coronavirus outbreak in China, Pune-based travel agents are now trying to avoid tours to China as well as other South-East Asian countries like Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Macau, Thailand, etc.

The travel agents are now trying to find alternative travel destinations to these countries.

“These South-East Asian countries are some of the most preferred foreign destinations by Indian tourists, as these are pocket-friendly tours. However, with the fear caused by coronavirus, people are avoiding tours to these countries, which are most frequented by Indian travellers during summer vacations,” said Travel Agents Association of Pune (TAAP) Director Nilesh Bhansali.

He said that while some people, who had booked the tours in advance are cancelling it, some have expressed reservations.

“Even we have stopped planning tours to these countries for the next couple of months, as we do not want to take any risks for our customers. Instead, we are trying to find other budget-friendly destinations,” Bhansali added.

“Israel, Jordan, Turkey, Egypt, Kenya are some of the countries that are new options ahead for Indian tourists,” the director added.