Current sentiment with regard to travel:

Current sentiment with regard to travel:

‘Enjoy a holiday before the third wave’

As videos of maskless tourists at overcrowded hill stations go viral, experts warn that this form of ‘revenge travel’ could lead to dire consequences as far as containing the pandemic goes

Niharika Lal

20.07.2021 

Indian sentiment right now – third wave aane se pehle ghoom aao,” read a tweet by comedian Amit Tandon recently, which summarises the revenge travel scenario at the moment. Recently, during a press conference, while referring to tourists’ COVID inappropriate behaviour, Luv Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, Health Ministry said,“We act like we have come out of jail after two years. There’s a huge crowd, but we aren’t scared of COVID-19... The third wave may be caused because of this behaviour.”

Despite several overcrowded hill station videos going viral, tourists continue to throng popular destinations, often flouting COVID rules. In Manali hotels, for example, the occupancy is around 70-100%, while in the overflowing-with-tourists Uttarakhand, thousands had to be refused entry recently.

Tourists can be seen thronging marketplaces in these pictures taken in Dharamshala and Manali between June-July

Hotel bookings are up by 70-100% in destinations like Manali

Tourist footfall not the problem, COVID inappropriate behaviour is: Experts

‘PEOPLE WANT EARLIEST BOOKINGS POSSIBLE, BEFORE THIRD WAVE HITS’

Nitin, a Mussoorie-based hotelier, says, “Right now, you won’t get reservations in any luxurious or four-star hotels in Mussoorie or Nainital. In fact, on weekends, there is a 15-20 km traffic jam between Dehradun and Mussoorie on Dehradun Highway. Most of these tourists are from NCR and neighbouring states.”

Last month, a senior official of a travel company told us that they have seen a jump of nearly 200% in hotel bookings. Another Manali based hotelier said, “Most of the people visiting our hotels said that they wanted to visit the hills before the third wave hits, as once that happens, vacations will be out of the question for another couple of months.”

Not just hotels, but caravan companies also pointed out that they are fully booked for July. A Delhibased caravan service provider says, “It’s the same sentiment everywhere. Several said they wanted the earliest possible bookings because you don’t know when the third wave will hit, and they wanted to get the trip over with before that.”

A Bengaluru-based provider told us that they were booked out for July a month in advance. “People booked our caravans in June, when the restrictions were not even fully lifted in most of the states,” said one of the founders, adding, “The plan for many was to book in June, travel in July and return before August second week, before the third wave would presumably hit.”

STATES ISSUE NEW RULES AS PICTURES OF MASKLESS TOURISTS GO VIRAL

Officials and tourists say that massive footfall of tourists thronging hill stations isn’t cause of alarm, but COVID inappropriate behaviour is. Last week, Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Health Ministry, said, “The virus will get an opportunity to spread again if people continue to move around in hill stations and markets without wearing masks and without maintaining physical distance.”

After photos of maskless tourists visiting hill stations in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand went viral, both states issued new COVID-related restrictions last week. Kullu police announced that those flouting norms would be fined ₹5,000 or sent to jail for eight days, while the Mussoorie administration said that those entering the town would have to register on the smart city portal, and would be required to show their COVID negative report with a valid hotel booking.

SEVERAL TOURISTS NOW SEEKING REMOTE DESTINATIONS

A staff member from a Delhi travel agency says that pictures of overcrowded hill stations have led some tourists to seek different destinations, and that they have received many queries regarding ‘other hill stations’ they could travel to.

Anukriti, a tourist, who recently visited the hills, says, “We went in the first week of July, and knew that it would be crowded, but we couldn’t find a room in five hotels in Manali! It felt like we are in Sarojini Nagar Market, not Manali. So, we decided to go to a remote location to avoid the crowd.”

Faisal, another tourist adds, “My colleague’s family runs a homestay in Nainital an,d we were planning to spend our weekend there. However, his family warned us not to visit if we wanted to avoid Delhi-like traffic jams in the hills. We thought they were exaggerating, but it turned out they were right. Most of my colleagues and friends are also exploring other options like Kashmir and Panchgani instead, for the same reason.”

TIMES VIEW

Those indulging in ‘revenge’ travel seem to have abandoned both common sense and self-preservation. Covid-appropriate behaviour in public places is mandatory even for those who are fully vaccinated. Hill station authorities must enforce the rules in the strictest possible way.

A picture taken at The Ridge in July

After tourists violated norms at Kempty Falls, the Uttarakhand Government announced that only 50 tourists would be allowed at the