Published on : Monday, March 22, 2021
Summer holidays, which are the longest for school and college students and their families, grab peak time tariffs due to high demand. But last year, March-end brought in a lifestyle that was unknown to many – locked up at home with nowhere to set off.
In the current situation, big travel plans are still a no-no; however, domestic tourism surely and slowly started picking up with easing of lockdown norms. In spite of that, a second wave of infections poses a threat to yet another summer vacation period.
M. Ravi, the joint secretary of Karnataka Tourism Society said that hotel bookings have declined by more than 50%. “Tourist transport has also been hit badly. If this continues, travel, tourism and hospitality will be in deep trouble,” Mr. Ravi said. One of the reasons is the lack of consistency in precautions and protocol among different states. “They have to remove the requirement of an RT-PCR for certain States or make it mandatory for all. Each State has its own rules now,” he added.
Sanjar Imam, the president of Karnataka Tourism Forum, said that there is an apprehension with the recent surge in COVID-19 cases. “Several have put travel plans on hold, but we haven’t seen cancellations for travel in the summer yet,” he said.
Representatives of tourism from popular destinations in Karnataka expressed similar views. Jimmi Chengappa, general manager, Coorghomestays.com, said that enquiries have become less. “To Kodagu, 90% of the traffic is usually from Bengaluru, which is still coming in. But in peak season during April-May, we also get tourists from Delhi, Mumbai, etc. Now tourists from Maharashtra are not coming because of the COVID-19 regulations there,” Chengappa said.
Chengappa said that the market did recover after the lockdown, with homestays doing very well. “But like last time, if there is a ban on tourism by the district administration or if there is a lockdown-like situation in Bengaluru, it will be detrimental for another peak season,” he said.
Officials with the Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation (KSTDC) said that the Tirupati package, which is a popular offer from the corporation, is witnessing a good response. However, enquiries for other packages are feeling the impact from the increasing number of COVID-19 cases being reported.
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