COVID-19 pandemic puts a spoke in the wheels of travellers

The tourism industry is in a difficult situation after the government announced lockdown to curb the spread of the contagious coronavirus. People who had chalked out exhaustive travel plans for the summer vacation had to shelve their plans for the time being. Many people prefer to travel in the months of April and May as most of the educational institutions are closed during that period.

One such person who was forced to put his travel aspirations on the backburner because of the prevailing situation is Pratheesh Jaison, a Keralite working in Dubai. He is very passionate about travelling and is a globetrotter who has visited most of the countries. Moreover, he loves to share photos and his travel experiences on social media.

Pratheesh had plans to visit Netherlands in March and had submitted all requisite documents at the embassy concerned for the processing of visa. But within days the number of COVID-19 positive cases spiralled and there were news reports to avoid foreign travel.

The personal interview at the embassy was in the last week of March but four days before the date of interview, the officials called him up to inform that visa cannot be issued. They also told him that visa would not be issued until further notice. Pratheesh was crestfallen as he was planning to take a round trip through countries such as Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland and Germany, before returning to Netherlands. He had a budget travel in mind by availing the services of the Flick bus in Europe, whereby one could get a voucher for 5 trips by paying 100 Euro. The hotels refunded money against room cancellation and the Flick bus voucher could be used in future.

“The coronavirus was a dampener in the sense that I had to forgo my travel plans and wasted time preparing for a journey that never materialized,” he notes.

Situation in Dubai

The situation in Dubai is quite precarious due to the coronavirus scare and there is a lockdown of sorts in the UAE emirate. Most of the offices are closed and the employees are working from home, says Pratheesh, who is presently in Dubai. The local police's online permit is mandatory if one has to venture out of home. Everyone travelling in Dubai is under the surveillance of cameras and those without permits will be slapped with a fine. And one is supposed to step out of the house only in an emergency. As there is a shortage of supplies, the restaurants have also jacked up the menu prices, he adds.

‘Friends couldn’t enter Bhutan’

Pratheesh knows many people who had to cancel their trips due to the spread of coronavirus. “My friends in Kerala went to Bhutan and at that time not many coronavirus positive cases were reported in Kerala. But my friends were denied entry to Bhutan and had to return.”

Another friend of Pratheesh too had a bitter experience. “My friend is in Taiwan and had plans to travel to Japan. He made all the ticket and hotel reservations to visit Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka to witness the amazing cherry blossom season, which starts from March end and extends to May. My friend also had plans to attend his friend’s marriage in Japan.” But the COVID-19 pandemic poured cold water on his plans and he had to cancel his trip to Japan. The wedding was postponed to August with the hope that everything will be fine by that time, he says.