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Tourists flock to Sikkim in ‘good numbers’ after state eases Covid-19 restrictions

Tourists in large numbers have been flocking to Sikkim after the state opened up initially for fully vaccinated tourists from July 5, and the government is planning to usher in more relaxations to help revive tourism. “Tourists have started visiting the state in good numbers. If everything goes fine, in coming weeks, the government will give more relaxation for revival of tourism and economy,” Kapil Meena, additional secretary of Sikkim’s tourism department was quoted as saying by ANI. Sikkim’s home department revised its guideline on Thursday allowing entry for partially vaccinated individuals if at least one member of their family has been fully vaccinated as well as unvaccinated children accompanied by vaccinated parents, if they produce a negative RT-PCR test result to be allowed admission through the Melli and Rangpo check posts. Meena also said that the government has launched a ‘Visit Sikkim 2022’ programme, the first meeting of which was held on Thursday. States have been gradually opening up for tourists as the number of daily coronavirus cases has been on the decline. Visuals of crowds at tourist places have emerged on social media. Pictures of tourists without a face mask crowding public places in Manali and video clips of hundreds of tourists, most of whom were also with masks, at the famous Kempty falls in Mussoorie on Thursday have been doing the rounds. Following this the Uttarakhand government came up with a fresh order restricting access to 50 tourists at a time, who cannot stay beyond half-an-hour. The Union health ministry issued warnings against “revenge travel” and warned that not conforming to appropriate Covid-19 protocol will “nullify all the gains made so far”.

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Qatar to resume issuing family and tourist entry visas from July 12

Qatar will resume issuing family and tourist entry visas starting July 12, the ministry of interior announced on Twitter on Thursday. The ministry said the decision is within the framework of the approved travel policies and based on the recommendations of the Ministry of Public Health regarding the Covid-19 developments. In a statement shared on Twitter, the Ministry of Public Health said citizens and residents, who are fully vaccinated with a jab approved by Qatar will not require to undergo quarantine if they have received the vaccine 14 days prior to their entry. In addition, those who have recovered from Covid-19 in Qatar within 12 months are also exempted from quarantine. For visitors, the entry will be allowed only if the person is fully vaccinated 14 days prior to entering the country. GCC citizens who had recovered from Covid-19 in the last 12 months and received a single dose of vaccine will be exempted from quarantine, the ministry said. All travellers need to present a negative PCR test result done within 72 hours before they enter the country. They should also receive an approval through Ehteraz app before boarding. Quarantine rules for citizens and residents are fixed after classifying countries into three categories. Countries are classified into red, yellow and green, and unvaccinated travellers are required to undergo institutional quarantine depending on the countries they travel from, the ministry said in its tweet.

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Bookings for air travel from New Delhi to Dubai start; first flight expected on July 15

Flights to Dubai from certain destinations in India may resume as soon as next as bookings have re-opened on some travel websites. Flights from India to Dubai and Abu Dhabi are expected to re-open on July 15 and July 21 respectively, after UAE along with other countries banned travellers from India, with some exceptions, amid the devastating rise of the second wave of Covid-19 in the country in April, according to a report in Dubai-headquartered Gulf News. The next biggest destination in UAE, Abu Dhabi is expected to open its doors for fully-vaccinated Indians, among other categories already allowed, from July 21, the report added. On the first day of re-opening, Vistara will carry passengers from New Delhi to Dubai while Emirates and budget carrier flydubai are expected to re-open operations on July 16, the report said, adding Etihad Airways will restart operations on July 22. Any kind of resumption of flights by the airlines between the two countries is yet to be confirmed by ET Now Digital independently, however, the Vistara website was accepting bookings for flights between New Delhi and Dubai for travel on July 15 at the time of writing this report. According to another Gulf News report, some of the largest international airports in India such as Mumbai and Hyderabad are already preparing to handle passengers between the two countries by setting up rapid PCR and lab tests. Flights to Dubai from destinations in India were expected to resume on June 23 but the decision was delayed in the wake of Covid situation in India. UAE banned Indian passengers back in April when India was battling a surging deadly second wave of the pandemic during the month. The ban was subsequently extended till July 6. The report quoting an official of the Mumbai International Airport (MIA) stated that the premises were being kept sanitised at all times and PCR-testing facilities are being set up which will give the result in just 15 minutes. Meanwhile, Hyderabad airport has roped in Mapmygenome, an Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL)-certified Covid-19 testing lab, the report said, adding the testing services on the Hyderabad airport will function round the clock for passengers.

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Indians can travel to these countries starting next week

Many countries have reopened their borders for Indian tourists embarking on non-essential travel at a time when India’s weekly coronavirus (Covid-19) positivity rate declined to 2.37%, and the daily positivity rate stood at 2.42% – less than 3% -- for the 17th consecutive day. While Germany and Canada have already eased travel curbs for travellers coming from other countries, the Maldives is the latest addition in the list. Here are details related to travel to some of the countries where Indians can visit: Canada 1. The Public Health Agency of Canada announced on July 3 that they will ease travel restrictions only for citizens and permanent residents of the country. The move is aimed at facilitating international students, relatives of permanent residents, and temporary workers with a valid work permit. 2. All travellers, including Indians, have to mandatorily provide a negative Covid-19 test report taken within 72 hours (3 days) before their entry to Canada. 3. Those entering into the country must be vaccinated with both the doses of a Covid-19 vaccine. At the moment, the Canadian government accepts Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca/Covishield, and Johnson and Johnson vaccines. It is to be noted that India’s indigenous vaccine Covaxin and Russian-made Sputnik V haven’t been given a nod by Canada yet. 4. Those who haven’t been fully vaccinated or has been inoculated with a vaccine yet to be approved by Canada, must quarantine themselves for three days at a government-approved hotel while waiting for their report of a Covid-19 test done on arrival at the airport. 5. Travellers who have previously contracted the virus need to mandatorily provide proof of Covid-19 test conducted between 14-90 days prior to their entry to Canada. 6. Since direct flights to Canada are banned till July 21, travellers need to take connecting flights. Germany 1. German ambassador to India, Walter J Lindner, announced on Tuesday that the country has lifted a ban from five Delta variant-affected nations, including India. 2. Indian travellers, who have been administered with both doses of a Covid-19 vaccine or who can show proof of recovering from the virus, will not be required to isolate themselves on their arrival or return to Germany. 3. The change comes after a Delta variant-induced second wave of Covid-19 in India triggered a high daily caseload in India between April to May. At this time, Germany had banned entry of Indian travellers as a preventive measure. 4. The new development comes after Germany downgraded India from ‘virus variant countries’ to ‘high-incidence areas’. Notably, the Delta variant first emerged in India in October 2020. 5. Germany has also lifted a ban on travellers from Nepal, Russia, the United Kingdom, and Portugal — all of which were earlier listed under ‘virus variant countries’. The Maldives 1. Flight services to the island nation will resume on July 15. 2. Go First, earlier known as GoAir, will operate flights from New Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru to the island nation’s capital Male. The airline will begin its flight services with a bi-weekly schedule (Thursday and Sunday) and then add two more flights on August 4 (Wednesday and Sunday) before eventually operating daily flights from September 3 onward. 3. IndiGo has also announced direct flights from Kochi, Bengaluru and Mumbai. Flights from Kochi and Bengaluru will start from July 15 onward on Thursdays, while the ones from Mumbai will start from July 16 on Fridays and Saturdays. From July 20 onwards, direct flights between Mumbai and Male will operate daily. 4. Travellers have to mandatorily carry a negative RT-PCR test, and also reportedly submit a health declaration form on the Maldives immigration portal 24 hours before departure from their home country. 5. No mandatory isolation or test is reportedly required on arrival

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Indian Railways to run special trains for Char Dham Yatra

Indian Railways will soon start special train services to facilitate travel to the Char Dham, covering Badrinath, Jagannath Puri, Rameshwaram, and Dwarkadhish. The decision comes in the wake of declining cases of Coronavirus across the country. As per the latest reports, after the success of Shri Ramayana Yatra train that catered the Ramayana circuit, Indian Railways is all set to launch special train to cater to another popular special Dekho Apna Desh Deluxe AC tourist train to cover the pilgrimage Chardham circuit. Reportedly, it will be a 16-day tour that will start services on September 16 from Delhi Safdarjung Railway Station and cover destinations including Badrinath including Mana Village, Narsingh Temple (Joshimath), Rishikesh, Jagannath Puri, including Golden beach of Puri, Konark Sun Temple, Chandrabhaga beach, Rameshwaram including Dhanushkodi, and Dwarkadhish, including Nageshwar Jyotirlinga, Shivrajpur beach, and Bet Dwarka. This 16-day tour will cost IR 78585 per person. Reports have it that the train is fully air-conditioned and has two types of accommodation on offer, 1st AC and 2nd AC. The tour package will cover train journey in AC classes, and accommodation in deluxe hotels, meals, transfer, and sightseeing in AC vehicles except for hilly areas, travel insurance and services of IRCTC Tour Managers. Apart from all these, the IRCTC will also provide a safety kit to all the tourists, which will include gloves, masks, and sanitisers to ensure safety of travellers. Although the train has capacity to cater to 156 tourists, the booking has been restricted to around 120 travellers only, in view of safety measures post COVID-19. Note, those planning to take this yatra must have received at least the first jab of the COVID-19 vaccine, and must be above 18 years or above.

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SpiceJet to launch 42 new domestic, international flights this month

Now, passengers from Surat can fly directly to Jaipur, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Jabalpur, Pune -on budget domestic airline Spicejet as the company plans to launch direct flight to these places, a PTI report said. A company official said, as many as 42 new domestic and international flights will be launched by SpiceJet between July 10 and 30. In a statement, the company noted it will start flights on Surat-Jabalpur and Surat-Pune routes. The airline will also be connecting the city of Surat with Jaipur, Hyderabad and Bengaluru, and Gwalior with Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Pune, the statement added. It will launch non-stop return flights on the Gwalior-Ahmedabad, Gwalior-Mumbai and Gwalior-Pune routes. The budget carrier said it has also introduced flights on the Kolkata-Patna, Patna-Surat, Surat-Patna, Patna-Kolkata, Ahmedabad Udaipur, Udaipur-Ahmedabad and Bengaluru-Kochi routes for the first time on its network. Scheduled domestic passenger traffic was suspended in India for about two months between March 25 and May 24 last year due to the coronavirus lockdown. Since June 2020, the domestic traffic had been on a path of recovery when the second wave of the pandemic hit India during April and May this year. The aviation sector was badly hit again during the second Covid wave. Currently, the Indian carriers are operating around 1,400 daily domestic flights.

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