Virus-casualty tour operators appeal to travellers to not cancel vacation plans

Pune: Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India (ADTOI)) has appealed to travellers to not cancel their forthcoming summer vacation tours to various destinations

Pune: Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India (ADTOI)) has appealed to travellers to not cancel their forthcoming summer vacation tours to various destinations because of the coronavirus scare. Most preferred destinations like Thailand, Malaysia and Dubai are off the passengers’ list and it has affected tourism business.

HT Image

The tour operators claim that popular domestic places like Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Sikkim are safe for travel. They said that islands like Maldives, Sri Lanka and Mauritius are less crowded and can be visited.

Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India has 1,400 members across the nation and 440 in Pune.

Taking to the media at the Patrakar Sangh, Navi peth on Wednesday, about 30 tour operators requested the holidaymakers to rethink their decision to cancel their April- May travels within India and abroad.

“People are bombarded with news about coronavirus causing a panic situation and leading to almost 90 per cent tour cancellations,” said Vijay Mandalik, a tour operator, adding that people are scared to even travel to areas not affected by the virus despite the government regularly publishing travel advisory.

“Pune alone sees around 25,000 travellers every year for domestic and international travels during summer holidays. As tour operators, we understand the seriousness of coronavirus, but taking action in haste is certainly not going to give any desired result. Cancelling tours in haste will result into monetary losses to tourists, airlines, hotels and suppliers at the destination points will charge for cancellations in the absence of government travel advisory to restrict travel,” said Surendra Kulkarni, another member of the ADTOI.

“We appeal to tourists to wait and watch. If the situation improves, they can travel without fear, and if it worsens, with government issuing directives to airlines and hotels to forgo cancellation charges, it will save tourists’ money,” added Kulkarni.

Mandalik said, “There is a lot of money involved in tours and it is hard for common people to bear these losses. Same applies to us too as we have to pre-book all the necessary airlines, hotels and travel suppliers, which is making it difficult for us to refund the amounts.”

.