Coronavirus: Indian domestic travel industry sees sharp decline in bookings amid scare

The impact of the global outbreak of the novel Coronavirus is starting to show on the Indian travel industry as massive restrictions and precautions have been issued on the movement of people both domestically and internationally. With most domestic travellers cancelling their bookings, the domestic travel sector has been particularly hard hit. The total number of cases in India currently stands at 107, with the highest number of cases in Maharashtra at 32. 

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'50% fall in international bookings' 

"The impact is now being witnessed in the domestic travel sector as well," Madhav Oza, Director, Blue Star Air Travel Services told news agency ANI. He stated that within a span of three months, his firm witnessed a significant reduction not only in the bookings of international flights but also domestic.

 "We began seeing the negative impact of coronavirus in the last week of January when customers started cancelling flight bookings for China. In February, we saw about 35 per cent fall in international bookings compared to February 2019," he said. 

"In the first week of March, we witnessed a 50 per cent reduction in international flight bookings and a drop in domestic flight bookings as well. In the second week of March, we saw a reduction of 75 per cent in international flight bookings," said Oza to ANI.

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Coronavirus crisis in India

As of date, the total number of positive cases in India has risen upto 107, with two deaths in the country. India has suspended all visas, barring for a few categories such as diplomatic and employment apart from keeping in abeyance the visa-free travel facility to OCI cardholders till April 15. The government is monitoring all suspected cases and issued preventive advisories

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(With ANI Inputs)