PRINCE KUMAR
Ranchi, Dec 9: A lot of people in Ranchi are restricting themselves from going on vacations and tours either within the state or even outside. The information came into being after conducting a rough survey of the different tour and travel companies across the district.
Travel agencies, which are usually flooded with inquiries during this time of the year, have witnessed a slump in their business. While existing bookings have either been cancelled or postponed, fresh bookings have been hard to come by.
Describing their pain of the accumulated losses because of Covid-19, owners of these agencies said that bookings of the travelers have reduced due to the induction of Omicron variant of Sars-Cov-2 virus.
Deepak Singh, owner of Asha Tour and Travels, said that there are relatively few bookings coming in, especially for people travelling within the state.
“This time of the year is very crucial for our business as we receive the maximum number of bookings in the month of December but unfortunately, due to the new strain of virus bookings have dried up,” Singh said.
The Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which first surfaced in South Africa, has already been detected in Belgium, Botswana, Hong Kong, Britain, Australia, Israel and some other countries, sparking global concern.
All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Director Dr Randeep Guleria has warned that the Omicron variant of coronavirus has at least 30 mutations, and it may bypass the immunity provided by vaccines in India.
Some residents planning to visit foreign shores for work have also been forced to cancel their plans in the wake of the frequently changing travel protocols for international travelers in different countries, while some are worried about the skyrocketing price of air tickets to places in the United States.
