IATO appeals ‘One Nation One Travel Policy’ against various guidelines on Omicron

At a time when the impact of the new variant of Covid-19 – Omicron can be seen around the world, and in an attempt to contain the further spread of the virus the state governments are coming up with various travel guidelines or advisories which is creating a state of confusion among the travellers.

When the issue reported to the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) – the apex body of inbound tour operators by its members, the association has come forward and requested the central government to have one central policy which is binding on all the state governments.

While elaborating on this, IATO’s President Rajiv Mehra said, “Every state has a different policy which only compounds the confusion amongst the international travellers. While traveling to India, foreign tourists think of India as one destination and they plan their travel to India as per guidelines of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and as per advice given by the Indian tour operators. But multiple state-level policies discourage international tourists to travel to India which is already down to negligible levels due to pandemic.”

IATO requests the government to frame the ‘One Nation One Policy’ and guidelines for the international travellers should only be issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW) and this should be followed by all the states/union territories. This is the practice being followed globally by all the countries.

 “Such a step would go a long way in not only assuring the international travellers visiting presently but also would pave way for robust bookings as and when normal international flights resume,” added Mehra.