Flu doesn’t deter travelling Indians

Rajesh Surana (45), a businessman from Vashi, is leaving with his family on the night of May 9 for a 20-day US holiday. The H1N1 flu outbreak hasn’t made him rethink his travel plans.

Two people have died so far of the flu — a 23-month-old child and a teacher — in Texas, US. More than 100 deaths have been reported in neighbouring Mexico.

But Surana argues: “I am sure a well-developed country [US] would take all measures to check the flu from spreading to other countries.” His itinerary includes San Francisco in California, Buffalo in New York, Washington, DC, and Las Vegas in Nevada.

“I have checked with relatives at these places. They say there is nothing dangerous. It’s not that everybody in the US is going to die,” Surana reasons.

In spite of the number of countries on the Indian government’s “avoid travel” advisory list growing from seven to 16 in a week, travellers are unperturbed by the outbreak. “We have hardly witnessed any cancellations yet,” says Veena Patil, chairman and managing director, Kesari Tours Limited.

Advocate Pradeep Patil, who hasn’t cancelled his Europe holiday, supports Patil’s claim. He will leave on May 10 with wife and son on an 18-day tour. On his itinerary are Austria, France, Germany, Switzerland, the UK, Belgium, and Italy, many of which are on the Centre’s travel advisory.

Patil says the flu has been “hyped beyond proportion”. “I know the basics of swine flu like how it spreads,” he says. “At present, it is only in South America and Mexico. All governments are taking measures. I don’t think there is a reason to worry.” 

Kuoni India says its tours are going ahead on schedule. “Currently, our departures from India to all our destinations are on schedule without any cancellations,” a Kuoni spokesman said. “We are receiving new bookings and inquiries. We will certainly continue to monitor the situation closely and take all necessary action as may be required in line with the developing situation.”

But the spokesman said new bookings have gone down 5-7% compared to the same period last year while global travel bookings have gone down 15% “due to increased awareness”.

The drop in new bookings can be partly attributed to the global recession and partly to the coming monsoon. “Flights are going full and new bookings have lessened because people may not want to travel during the rainy season here, which is a slack season.

Anyway, the travel industry has been affected by 26/11 and the recession. So we knew that travel this summer would be less,” says Rajesh Rateria, owner, Cirrus Travels, Fort.