Bengaluru tour operators wince as travel to Southeast Asia plunges

Bengaluru: The outbreak of the Covid-19 (formerly called the coronavirus) virus has had a direct impact on air passenger traffic, resulting in a drastic dip in the number of travellers from the Benglauru International Airport (BIA) to Southeast Asian countries.

Since the Covid-19 spread its tentacles to Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, there has been a drastic reduction in the number of travellers flying to these countries. A large proportion of air passengers have cancelled their flights.

IndiGo, Air India and Air Asia are the major airlines flying to these countries and are reporting a drop in passenger traffic.

Vishal Nahar, director of Suraksha Holidays, said that there has been a 30-40 per cent drop in bookings to Singapore, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Thailand. Flights from Kolkata and Mumbai to China have stopped completely, he added.

Tourist arrivals at Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, mainland China and Macau will take a significant hit as result of the novel coronavirus outbreak, with visitor arrivals this year expected to dip about 25-30 percent.

In the travel trade, it is unusual to see no enquiries for bookings during February. Usually, travellers plan their itinerary well in advance to take advantage of better deals and accommodation discounts. The coronavirus outbreak has made holiday travelers look to European countries instead, Nahar added.

April-May being the vacation season, they are extremely important months for the tourism sector. If the situation doesn’t improve soon, the sector will take a beating, he said. 

Vishwa Alampur from MakyMyTrip, Koramangala told Deccan Chronicle that there have been absolutely no enquiries for Southeast Asian countries this season.