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Planning a trip to Kerala? Here are the new travel guidelines

Kerala reported 26,701 new COVID-19 cases and 74 deaths in the last 24 hours Kerala no longer requires a negative RT-PCR test result from travellers entering the state with both doses. Apparently, the government of Kerala made this decision seeing the pace of the Covid-19 vaccination. "Important update for Domestic Passengers," Air India said in a tweet. Requirements for passengers travelling to Kerala No RT-PCR test report is required for those who are fully vaccinated. Fully vaccinated passengers are required to carry a valid vaccination certificate for both doses Meanwhile, Kerala reported 26,701 new COVID-19 cases and 74 deaths in the last 24 hours. As per the office of the state health minister on Sunday, the total death toll mounted to 21,496 and the active caseload stands at 2,47,791. Earlier, on September 4, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, in a press conference after holding a meeting to review the state's COVID-19 situation, confirmed that the state will continue with its night curfew and Sunday lockdowns. The trend of less than 50,000 daily new cases being reported in the country continued for the 71st consecutive day today. With 38,948 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the overall tally went up to 3,30,27,621, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated today. The death toll climbed to 4,40,752 with 219 fresh fatalities.

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Philippines to Lift Travel Ban on Flyers From India, 9 Other Countries

Philippines will lift the travel ban for all inbound travellers from India and nine other countries starting from September 6 despite the rising Covid-19 cases fuelled by the highly contagious Delta variant, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said on Saturday. President Rodrigo Duterte has approved the recommendation of the inter-agency Covid-19 task force to lift the current travel restrictions on India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia, reports Xinhua news agency. “International travellers coming from the above mentioned countries shall, however, comply with the appropriate entry, testing, and quarantine protocols," Roque said in a statement. However, foreign tourists are still banned from entering the country except for holders of special visas such as diplomats and foreign spouses of Filipino citizens. The World Health Organization confirmed the community transmission of the Delta variant, saying it is now the dominant Covid-19 strain spreading in the Philippines. In April, the Philippines imposed a ban on India and later expanded to include the nine other countries with Delta cases. The Philippines is now grappling with soaring Covid-19 infections.

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Turkey scraps mandatory quarantine rule for fully vaccinated travellers from India

Turkey has declared that fully vaccinated travellers from India will no longer be subjected to a mandatory 14-day quarantine rule, with effect from September 4, the Turkish Embassy in New Delhi informed on Saturday. The announcement will ease the travel restrictions for fully vaccinated passengers of 12 years of age and older, travelling from India or those who stayed in India in the last 14 days. The vaccines that have been approved by WHO or the Turkish Government are covered under this exemption. In addition to WHO-approved vaccines, the vaccines approved by the Turkish Government are Pfizer BioNTech, Sputnik V and Sinovac. For the same, a traveler must have taken the second dose (if Johnson&Johnson one dose is sufficient) at least 14 days prior to the date of travel. Indian travellers who are vaccinated with Covishield will also be allowed to travel to Turkey. Once, Covaxin gets a nod from WHO, travellers vaccinated with the same will also be able to visit Turkey. The fully vaccinated travellers are also required to submit their negative PCR test report taken 72 hours before departure in order to be exempt from the quarantine. Non-vaccinated travelers are required to undergo mandatory quarantine for 10 days in a hotel or a location mentioned in the declaration. As of September 4, the Turkish government has successfully vaccinated 79 per cent of its population above 18 of age with the first dose and 62 per cent population above 18 of age with both doses. The tourist inflow numbers in Turkey between January-July 2021, despite the pandemic, were recorded at 11.9 million. In July 2021, 4.3 million international visitors visited Turkey.

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Indians have travel permit to Canada through a third country

If you are an Indian who is fully vaccinated, and would like to travel to Canada, then you can do so from September 7 onwards. According to latest reports, fully vaccinated Indian travellers can now go to Canada if they have a third country as a stopover where an RT-PCR test is done. With destinations in the middle-east currently open for travellers, Indians can now transit from places such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Currency, the ticket prices have dropped for Canada, for those with a layover in another country. So that way the new rule really works out for interested Indian travellers. Mumbai-Toronto return ticket with London as a layover is priced between INR 80000-90000. But if you have a layover in any Middle Eastern destination, then the prices show a drop after 3 weeks. For Indian travellers, only Covishield is currently accepted in Canada, so as of now only those who have got the full dose of Covishield vaccine are eligible for travel. All passengers are required to undergo an RT PCR test, which must be done 72 hours prior to arrival in Canada. Each passenger must also submit proof of vaccination, and fill in information on the ArriveCAN app. People travelling with children below 12 are not required to be in quarantine. However, children between 12 and 17, and older, will be required to quarantine for a period of 14 days.

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Weekend Festival Travel Picks Up Pace

Chennai, Kodaikanal, Ooty, Yercaud, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Puducherry, Goa, Jaipur and Srinagar are the destination searched or booked in September and November, as per data from online portals. After a lull of more than a year, people have begun travelling for leisure during extended weeking holidays including Vinayaka Chaturthi and Puja Yercaud. The boost is also because companies are switching from work from home to work from offices. Booking trends show Chennai, Kodaikanal, Ooty, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Puducherry, Goa, Jaipur and Srinagar are the destinations searched or booked in September and November, as per data from online portals. Travel agents too are reporting a similar trend. Nishant Pitti, CEO and co-founder of EaseMyTrip, said that compared to August 2021, there was a jump of almost 63% for the long weekend of Vinayaka Chaturthi on September 10-12, 2021 in terms of forwarding air bookings. “Earlier, we noticed a jump of 54% for the long weekend of Janmashtami...” A strong vaccination drive and the recent decision on RTPCR exemption are playing a crucial role in Improving the travel sentiment. “Our booking trends reveal destinations such as Goa, Jaipur, Leh, and Srinagar have recorded huge growth in passenger volumes flying out of metro cities.”Ritu Mehrotra, regional manager (South Asia) at Booking.com said that with more Indians getting vaccinated and ease in travel restrictions, travel intent was being converted into bookings. “... As per data from our platform, some of the top booked destinations in South India by Indian travellers from September to November 2021 include Hyderabad and Pondicherry. We are also seeing intent for international travel pick up with France, Uk , Canada, Maldives and Switzerland being top searched destinations from September to November 2021." In the post-pandemic world, there is an increased emphasis by travellers on health, safety and flexibility while booking accommodation. “When it comes to accommodation, besides hotels which is one of the top preferred accommodation choices by travellers, alternative accommodations such as resort, guesthouse, homestay and apartments are also preferred,” she added. M K Ajith Kumar of said many people prefer destinations that can be reached by a long drive because families do not want to mingle with people on public transport. Bengaluru, Puducherry, and Yercaud are popular. T Sundar, who plans to travel to Bengaluru next week, said, “I have been stuck at home for more than a year. I wanted to take a break.” People are also spending money to experience the best during travel. Nishant Pitti said, “More business class tickets signifies that travellers are now spending more on travel as well.

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Uttar Pradesh: Helicopter taxi services to connect tourist destinations soon

Uttar Pradesh will soon have chopper taxi service, connecting prominent destinations across the state. The same was recently announced by the Uttar Pradesh Tourism Department. Reports have it that the service will likely start from December this year. As per the tourism department, since people want to avoid overcrowded flights and trains in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, this service could prove to be a ‘fast and luxurious’ option, and might find many takers in UP. Revealing more details on this, officials in the know-how informed that while the heliport in Agra is ready, the process to prepare heliports at tourist hotspots has also begun. Reportedly, the project would be built on the private-public partnership (PPP) model, and a consultant would be appointed for the same soon. Elaborating more on this, Principal Secretary, Tourism and Culture, Mukesh Kumar Meshram stated that there are many who can afford such expensive choppers, further adding that the helicopter taxi service would cater to the needs of such tourists. He said that although most tourists, especially foreigners, visit Agra to see the Taj Mahal as the route has good connectivity, the same tourists skip most of the other equally important tourist hotspots due to poor connectivity. As such, this service will offer tourists an option to visit offbeat tourist destinations too. Meshram further added that the service will ensure tourists are able to reach such offbeat destinations and return back in a day. Apart from a heliport near Agra airport, Meshram added that the government already had an airport at Prayagraj, Vindhyachal, Varanasi, and Lucknow.

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