Amidst the COVID-19 outbreak, travel operators on Friday sent an SOS to the government after hotels in Rajasthan, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh started turning away or demanding medical certificates from tourists hailing from Italy, South Korea, Japan etc. despite them having confirmed group bookings.
Indian Association of Travel Operators (IATO) sought urgent help from the authorities as hotels in Udaipur started directing bus loads of tourists to Maharana Bhupal Government Hospital saying that check-in would be allowed only on the basis of a medical certificate from doctors there.
These tourists were forced to stand in a queue at the hospital from 10 a.m. till way after sunset and many missed their sightseeing activity plans for Friday as a result. In Agra, tourists were refused entry in star hotels, after the district authorities warned that the hotels would be sealed if any positive case of COVID-19 was detected among tourists staying there.
“It has come to our notice through our members in various States that District Magistrates of some districts of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Punjab were giving instruction to the hotels to “not to allow foreign tourists to stay in their hotel even if they are being medically verified with no symptoms of coronavirus,” IATO said.
“No such orders are being given in writing but verbal instructions are being given to the hotels by District Magistrates, that foreign tourists should not be allowed to check–in at the hotel. Also instructions are being that foreign tourists who are checked-in, are to be confined in the hotel till they complete 14 days from the date of their arrival in India or leave the State immediately otherwise tourists will face the consequences of forced quarantine, especially Italian nationals even if they have arrived before the visa restrictions were made and they were permitted to enter our country on valid visa,” IATO president Pronob Sarkar said. IATO has 300 members and most have been affected by this issue.
Letter to Health Minister
In a letter to Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr. Harsh Vardhan and top officials of the Ministry of Tourism, IATO said that there was total damage and India Tourism was getting extremely bad impact and negative publicity which would have long term negative impact on foreign tourist arrivals to our country.
“This will result in loss of lakhs of jobs in tourism and hospitality industry and negative impact on the economy of our country,” Mr. Sarkar said.
