Tourism sector hit by Omicron, over 20% cancellations reported

New Delhi : An increase in cancellations of bookings has been reported soon after Omicron variant scare came to light. India has officially registered 2 cases of the new strain.

The Omicron scare has started to hit tourism sector in India; only in last three days, travel agencies have seen some 20 per cent cancellations in outbound travel, says Sriharan Balan, managing director of Madura Travel Services in Chennai.

The tourism sector was coming to normal after the second lockdown in India and now with Omicron, outbound bookings to Dubai, Europe and the US are beginning to see a fall ahead of Christmas and New Year celebrations due to the Omicron threat. "Many who had planned to travel to these destinations this season are cancelling," Mr Balan said.

With new travel restrictions in place, there are good chances that domestic tourism will also be affected by it.

Two men in Karnataka have tested positive with the Omicron variant of coronavirus. One of them is a local doctor with no travel history and the other person has already moved to South Africa via Dubai on November 27.

He had tested negative for coronavirus in Bengaluru.