Travel companies refuse refund for trips cancelled

Yogesh.Kabirdoss@timesgroup.com

Chennai:13.04.2020

Indian tourists, who have made reservations for international travel through tour operators, are in a fix, as travel agencies are refusing to refund for packages that got cancelled due to outbreak of novel coronavirus.

Tour firms are offering credit note and are allowing people to travel any time by end of this year, just like airlines are doing. But they charge hefty cancellations fee for those who prefer a refund on tours scheduled during shutdown.

Sumit Tiwari, who had booked a tour package with a private tour company for Europe scheduled on April 22 said "I had paid ₹1.1 lakh for the package. With the lockdown coming into effect, I received a mail from the tour operator to either cancel or reschedule my trip for which, charges to the tune of ₹81,000 have been levied," he said. After he raised the issue with the travel company, besides highlighting his complaint on Twitter, an offer was made to extend his trip till December 2020. "Still, reschedule charges would apply," he said.

Tourism sector sources said that Covid-19 has turned the future of global travel industry bleak that is unlikely to revive within a short time as both the source countries and destinations are hit. It comes a year after international tourism faced rough weather that witnessed closure travel giants across the world.

Tamil Nadu Tour Travel and Hospitality Association president V K T Balan said that overseas trips worth of ₹2,250 crore that were planned by people various segments of travellers such as leisure, conference and incentives from Tamil Nadu between March and May have gone for a toss. “Except for leading tour operators, other travel firms have paid for hotels and airfare. We are keeping our fingers crossed on the future,” he added.

However, insurance for tour packages would have saved the customers money. Several travellers flying overseas for leisure trips take overseas travel insurance that covers loss of baggage and passport, missed air connections or medical emergencies. "On the other hand, hardly a few travellers insure their tour packages that are eligible for refund in the event of the trips getting due to unexpected turn of events like the current novel coronavirus outbreak. Neither travel companies or customers prefer to insure because it pushes the cost of the packages by 1% to 5% on the total cost depending on the countries, which is undesired by both," he said.

In fact, the Union government must mandate insurance for every overseas trip," he said.

Many European nations and US stress on insuring tours packages. Indian Association of Tour Operators Tamil Nadu chapter chairman Pandian K said that travel insurance comes in handy for foreigners during such emergencies.

Tourism sector sources said that Covid-19 has turned the future of global travel industry bleak. It is unlikely to revive within a short time as both the source countries and destinations are hit. It comes a year after international tourism faced rough weather that led to closure of travel giants across the world