Chennai: Travel departments including airlines, travel and hotels may be relieved after witnessing a turbulent week of cancellations of flights, hotels and travel bookings, with a ceasefire announced between India and Pakistan. However, Kashmir will have to wait at least six months to return to the valley to find the industry.
Travel stocks that fell 2-5% around the weekend included Yatra Online, EasemyTrip and Thomas Cook India. The closures of 24 airports, including Chandigarh, Srinagar, Shimla and Jaisalmer, undermined flight schedules, resulting in cancellations, transfers and re-layouts of domestic and international operators. Stocks of Indigo operator Interglobe Aviation fell 2% near the weekend. Indian hotel companies, ITC Hotels, EIH and Chalet Hotels also fell 7%.
Flights, hotel and travel bookings to the northern region have been cancelled by more than 20%, while many have rescheduled their travel dates and destinations.
“Many people canceled their trips due to airport closures. As for leisure travel, many people reschedule their destinations to other regions, especially destinations like Goa and Kerala,” said Rikant Pitti, CEO and co-founder of Easemytrip.
Travel stocks that fell 2-5% around the weekend include Yatra Online, EasemyTrip and Thomas Cook India.
“In the past week, we canceled 10-15% cancellations at the national level and canceled reservations in Jamu and Kashmir, Punjab and Rajasthan. In Kashmir, hotel reservations are near Kashmir.
According to Pitti, 70%-75% cancellations occurred in Kashmir after the Pahalgam incident. Even after the ceasefire, it will take at least six months for tourism to return to normal levels in Kashmir. Summer is the busiest season in Kashmir, so this time will be a shock.
As far as summers are concerned in other parts of India are concerned, the industry hopes to return to normal as soon as possible.
“We are still watching this, and it’s too early to assess the decline in business in the summer,” Shetty said.
