By Reya Mehrotra
Fed up of staying at dwelling, Kochi-based travel and occasion consultant Agney Menon packed his bags and set out to travel in November last year. Opting to travel by road, the 24-year-old visited more than two dozen areas, which includes Kashmir, Goa, Delhi, Rishikesh, Dehradun, Mussorie, Kasauli, Shimla, Kasol, Manikaran, Tosh, Kullu, Manali, Rohtang, Dharamsala, Mcleodganj, and so on. The travel junkie, who says he felt “jailed” in the course of the lockdown, lately returned from a trip to Abu Dhabi, his initially international travel considering the fact that the pandemic struck.
Menon was not alone in defining the post-pandemic trend of travelling by road prior to the second wave of Covid hit and restrictions have been place back in spot. When the lockdown lifted last year, the road trip was the initially type of travel to choose up, as individuals opted for quieter vacations at offbeat destinations — compact villages close to cities and organic habitats. And that is how, authorities say, the initially phase of travel recovery started. From workcations and staycations to drivecations and bleisure (small business and leisure) trips, individuals hit the road for numerous causes. The most widespread motivator was the wish to break free of charge from the monotony.
Behind the wheel
On January 17, Bengaluru-based journalist Barkha Kumari and her husband embarked on a six-day road trip across Karnataka. With the aim to stop by the hidden treasures of the state, the couple decided to make Mundgod, a Tibetan settlement town, their initially cease. However, a detour led them to a village referred to as Hosur exactly where they ended up hitching a bullock ride, dining at a nearby dwelling and meeting the standard embroidery neighborhood of Lambanis. The highlight, nevertheless, was driving inside the Yellapur forest to meet Siddis, the descendants of the Bantu tribe of Africa.
Another couple, Chandigarh-based Robin Nakai and wife Amrita (along with their pal Usha Hooda), embarked on a 40-day road trip in January covering 4,500 km. The trio, all in their 60s, drove by way of Udaipur, Mumbai, Ganpatipule, Panjim, Hampi, Bengaluru and Chennai prior to flying to Andamans.
Rajeev Kale, president and nation head, holidays, MICE, Visa, Thomas Cook (India), says that rapid breaks to brief driveable distances or inside the city of residence have been at an all-time higher as individuals wanted to get away from the stresses of work from dwelling and domestic chores. Kale says superior Wi-Fi, well being, security and hygiene remained the leading priorities of travellers till the curbs have been introduced once more with rising circumstances.
Sharing his encounter of travelling in the course of the pandemic, Menon, whose initially cease was Goa when he resumed travelling, says, “There was social distancing and shops were closed, so I had to bring my own food. I carried a hygiene kit containing masks, rubber gloves, sanitiser, lab glasses, alcohol wipes/tissues and got my RT-PCR test done on reaching Goa. Yet there was anxiety during the initial days.” He adds that utilizing one’s personal vehicle or privately hiring a car is the safest mode to travel appropriate now. Menon is now seeking forward to road trips to newer and uncommon areas in the future when the pandemic ends.
This appears to be a widespread sentiment amongst travellers. According to SOTC and Thomas Cook’s Second Holiday Readiness Report, which came out in December last year, there is a new-located interest amongst travellers to move away from crowded/standard tourist spots and learn India’s untold stories and secrets.
Another trend is the demand for spiritual trips for introspection in the post-pandemic world. So Thomas Cook and its group corporation SOTC Travel have launched an exciting mix of itineraries such as the Ramayana Trails, which enables one to stroll in the footsteps of Lord Rama and relive his life, Wellness Breaks consisting of meditation and yoga sessions, Private Journeys for compact group travels, Hidden Gems, vacation experiences to offbeat/one of a kind destinations like Kolukkumalai and Pollachi in Tamil Nadu, Sundarbans in West Bengal, and so on. They also have customised nature walks, as nicely as a tie-up with Amar Chitra Katha to introduce Great Indian Journeys, with packages like The Mughals and their Magnificent Monuments, The Krishna Trails, Maharana Pratap and the Ranas of Mewar, Krishnadevaraya of Vijayanagara Empire.
Travel plans
As days passed and self-confidence rose with road trips, brief-distance air travel also picked up in the last quarter of 2020, major to a different post-pandemic travel terminology: flycations. And now, of course, we have vaxications, or post-vaccine vacations.
With pent-up travel plans and excess savings, more and more travellers have been investing in well being- and wellness-themed vacations to recover from the mental fatigue, say authorities. People are also prepared to commit more on luxury travel inside the nation now, says Jane Lim, VP, international markets at Tripadvisor. “In the first three weeks of January, global travellers on Tripadvisor were searching for pricier trips like luxury beach resorts or spas than they had in the past two years (during the same period). In fact, the average cost of a single future trip in 2021 has jumped 13% since January 2019,” she says.
Travel for wellness and rejuvenation purposes, particular occasions, wilderness-filled escapes, longer stays, family members vacations and stays at private accommodations like colonial bungalows became the essential capabilities of the second phase of travel’s recovery, gives Daniel D’Souza, president and nation head, leisure, SOTC Travel. “Honeymoon couples who had to cancel plans were travelling too,” he says.
The recovery price for domestic leisure travel, which began in June 2020, is nonetheless behind pre-Covid occasions and with the second wave forcing curbs, recovery appears a distant dream for now. Till February, it was 60-65% of pre-Covid levels, as per Sabina Chopra, co-founder and COO, corporate travel, and head, sector relations at Yatra.com.
Along with air travel, pocket-friendly bus travel had picked up also. “SmartBus witnessed pre-Covid records. High-velocity routes like Delhi-Lucknow, Delhi-Amritsar, etc, were back with 8-10 buses each catering to nearly 7,500-10,000 travellers monthly. We noticed high traction on routes like Delhi-Lucknow, Delhi-Gorakhpur, Delhi-Amritsar and ran around 100 buses to cities where people travel for functional reasons, while around 18-20 buses catered to 1.5 lakh travellers monthly for leisure or travel to pilgrimage centres like Manali and Tirupati,” says the spokesperson of IntrCity RailYatri, an intercity mobility brand which launched IntrCity SmartBus fleet in 2019.
Beyond borders
With vaccination drives on complete swing across the world, customer self-confidence has been higher for international travel, as per authorities. Consequently, brief-distance international travel to nations close to India has picked up but is most likely to go back to lockdown levels as circumstances surge. Since the lockdowns have been eased, Dubai and Maldives led the international travel development trajectory, followed by Egypt, Kenya, Turkey and Russia, as per Chopra of Yatra.com. This year, vaccination will play a essential function in people’s travel plans if lockdowns are not reintroduced. As per a January Tripadvisor report, The Year of the Travel Rebound: 5 Traveler Trends to Watch Out for in 2021, 77% of travellers surveyed globally mentioned they will be more most likely to travel internationally if they obtain the vaccine, increasing to 86% for domestic travel. The report followed from Tripadvisor Consumer Sentiment Survey, which was based on information drawn from an on the internet survey of 2,330 buyers. Conducted involving December 28, 2020, and January 10, 2021, it covered six countries—US, UK, Australia, Italy, Singapore and Japan—and incorporated internet site behavioural information sourced from initially-party site visitors information on Tripadvisor, gathered in the course of the week commencing January 4, 2021.
The report also revealed that 65% of leisure travellers surveyed did not travel internationally in 2020. However, 47% of all respondents globally are arranging to do so in 2021, specially in the second half.
Kale of Thomas Cook (India), says, “There was an increase in bookings, as well as queries for international destinations till March. Our special Maldives offer, at half the price, saw 100% increase in demand/queries. Dubai, too, has seen an impressive month-on-month growth with more than 1060% growth in travellers in December 2020 over November 2020.”
While brief tours are inexpensive, extended trips have turn into a luxury with improved precautions and charter flights ferrying in individuals. Travel firms are also going the virtual route to cater to the demand. SD Nandakumar, president and nation head, B2B and foreign exchange, SOTC Travel, says they have ventured into virtual services with programmes like MICE Plus, Hybrid Virtual MICE and Assured Safe Travel Program, in partnership with Apollo Clinics.
To give the country’s tourism sector a fillip, the government lately announced the Dekho Apna Desh campaign, wherein it will refund the travel costs of these who travel to 15 destinations in the nation by 2022.
Popular offbeat destinations
- Havelock Island, Andaman Islands
- Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh
- Chikmagalur, Karnataka
- Dooars in the north-east
- Digha, West Bengal
- Naldehra, Himachal Pradesh
- Ratnagiri, Maharashtra
- Ganpatipule, Maharashtra
- Sikar, Rajasthan
- Mattur, Karnataka
Evergreen tourist destinations
- Hills in the north-east
- Parts of Himachal Pradesh
- Hill stations in south India
- Lonar Lake, Maharashtra
- Magnetic Hill, Ladakh
- Gokarna, Karnataka
- Gandikota Hills, Andhra Pradesh
- Floating Post Office, Dal Lake
- Maldives
- Kashmir
- Andaman Islands
- Rajasthan
- Kerala
- Goa
- Meghalaya
- Rishikesh
- Gangtok
- Uttarakhand
- Ooty
- Coorg
- Lonavala
- Mount Abu