Waiting in the wings

Global tourism was witnessing a rise after two tough years, but the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has hit the aviation business with the flight between Europe and Asia forced to take longer routes. Industry looks forward to an end to the crisis and a successful summer.

Janice Alyosius

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has created an uncertainty over the travel business, but as of now its impact seems to be of regional nature. The direct impact has been limited to airlines flying between Europe and Asia, which are forced to longer routes. “However, if the conflict lingers on, it may impact travelling to certain regions,” said Riaz Munshi, President, OTOAI.

“As of now, there is a strong and steady rise in demand for global travel as countries are lifting COVID-19 restrictions and preparing to welcome tourists. However, it is quite early to comment on the situation. If the war escalates, it could indeed slow down travel. People are looking forward to their vacations after a gap of two years and I certainly hope that things settle at the earliest. There was excitement among the travellers, especially the young travellers and family vacationers. So, fingers crossed, we are hopeful for a good summer,” Munshi added.

Expressing similar views, Shravan Bhalla, General Secretary, OTOAI, said, “As things started opening up amid decreasing COVID numbers all over the world, we expected a big surge in travel. But queries have gone down due to the impact of conflict between Ukraine & Russia. People have not cancelled their plans, but queries have been put on hold. However, we have seen an increase in the number of bookings for destinations that have opened up recently such as Australia, Thailand and Sri Lanka.”

Ashish Kumar Arora, General Manager, Vision Travels and Tours Pvt Ltd, said, “After the news of the conflict between the two countries broke out, to-and-fro travel from Russia and Ukraine became zero. Airlines flying over these countries would have to divert, and this could cause issues, but South East Asia, UK, USA, Canada, Switzerland as well as the Middle East and South East would be unaffected. So, I believe there would be no cancellations or negative effects as such.”

Munshi said the conflict at present looks to be of regional nature and should not affect global travel.