Vaccine certificates must for domestic travel during Diwali

Travellers will have to produce certificates mentioning 15 days have passed after their second dose of Covid vax; domestic sector benefits due to continuing curbs on foreign travel

Times have changed. Covid vaccine certificates are as important as flight tickets and other travel documents for people heading out on holiday in the Diwali season this year. Those travelling to domestic destinations will need to produce certificates mentioning that 15 days have passed since they took the second dose of vaccination.

Many people are taking off for long tours this year after sitting at home for more than a year due to the pandemic and Covid cases beginning to decline now. Enquiries and bookings made with travel agencies are proof that holiday tourism is getting back on its feet. Travel operators say enquiries for domestic destinations have increased manifold owing to restrictions still in place on international travel.

Talking to Mirror, Anuj Pathak, president of Tours and Travel Agents Association of Gujarat (TAG) said, "The domestic sector is getting a number of enquiries and bookings for the Diwali period because regular flights to international destinations have not started due to restrictions. Currently, among international destinations other than Maldives and Dubai, only Switzerland and Germany are open in Europe while Belgium has just started accepting visa applications. Sluggish



international travel is benefiting the domestic sector in which people are mainly choosing the seven-day itinerary."

Sluggish international travel is benefiting the domestic sector in which people are mainly choosing the seven-day itinerary

-Anuj Pathak, president of Tours and Travel Agents Association of Gujarat

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Pankaj Gupta, member of TAG's executive committee, said, "The travel sector is opening up slowly and the domestic sector is doing well with a sizable number of bookings for states like Himachal Pradesh, Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan. People from Gujarat are looking at places like Sasan-Gir, Somnath and Dwarka. Foreign travel is generally avoided as of now."

Ashok Dhoot, president of Associations of Domestic Tour Operators of India, said, "Tourists from other states will come to Gujarat this year, with Sasan-Gir, Dwarka, Polo Forest, State of Unity and Somnath being a hit with tourists."

While the fear of the third wave of Covid still looms, the decrease in caseload in the country has got many to step out for travel during Diwali. For travel within the country an RTPCR test report is not required, but states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu -- which have been showing a considerable number of daily Covid cases -- are allowing entry based on an e-pass. RTPCR test report is, however, not required even in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.