New Delhi: A survey has found that 46 per cent of citizens are looking forward to travelling in the upcoming festive season, which is a 60 per cent rise in travellers compared to the monsoon season despite a warning from the government to limit travel during the ongoing pandemic.
However, the Union Health Ministry has maintained that it is necessary to curtail travels anticipating the third wave of the pandemic. "This travel euphoria reminds us of February-March this year when people were busy planning their summer travel," Sachin Taparia, founder of LocalCircles who compiled the survey, said in an exclusive interview to ETV Bharat.
"With many festivals lined up in the coming months, the tourism industry is likely to see a 60 per cent jump in citizens travelling as compared to monsoon season (August to September)," the LocalCircles survey said.
It has been found that of those who plan to travel in October-December, 34 per cent plan to visit family and friends.
LocalCircles, a leading community social media platform, had conducted the survey to understand the travel plans of people from October to December (during the festive season). The survey also tried to understand how domestic travel is picking up through a comparative analysis with a similar survey conducted in July this year.
Also read: Experts advise responsible travel, say mass gatherings can worsen possible 3rd Covid wave
The survey received more than 19,000 responses from citizens residing in 331 districts across India. In the survey, 64 per cent of respondents were men while 36 per cent were women and 44 per cent of the respondents were from tier 1, 2,3, 4 cities as well as rural districts.
"Six per cent of citizens said they have booked tickets to travel. Twenty-two per cent have plans to travel during these three months but have not booked tickets whereas 18 per cent have plans to travel during the three months and book their ticket close to their travel date," the survey stated.
There was also 38 per cent of citizens who have no plans to travel during these three months and 16 per cent who are undecided as on date.
"On an aggregate basis, 46 per cent of citizens are planning to travel during October to December though only 6 per cent have made their bookings," the survey added.
In fact, a survey conducted by the International Society of Travel Medicine has found that destinations such as Himachal Pradesh and Assam are witnessing an upsurge of visitors from elsewhere in the country.
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These areas indicate increasing opportunities for transmission where population-level immunity has not yet accumulated to the same levels as elsewhere in the country.
"Against a backdrop of increasing anticipation of the third wave of Covid19 in India, it is important to recognise the potential risks associated with such an escalation in travel," it said.
Interestingly, as the country opened up the economy after the second wave of the pandemic, a similar exercise was conducted in July to understand the travel plan of citizens in August and September, which found out that only 28 per cent of citizens planned to travel during the period.
Also read: Influx of tourists, mass congregations could worsen third wave of Covid: Study
