The travel agencies in Pune highlighted that there is a rise in booking cancellations and rescheduling requests to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and other places in West Asia. Travel agents across Pune are working closely with airlines and their overseas partners to minimise inconvenience to passengers by facilitating re-bookings, refunds and alternate routings.
Santosh Gupta, Director of Shree Vinayak Holidays, said, "The business has gone down by 30 per cent as we have a lot of clients going to Dubai and Abu Dhabi. In the past two-three days, we have received requests for a lot of cancellations and re-bookings. Dubai also conducts many business expos, so the number of people going on business trips to such places is quite high, especially from India. As soon as people get their passports, they travel to Thailand or Dubai. So this ongoing war has led to a drop in the business."
Raajeev Kumar, a frequent traveller, said, "I had booked my tickets for Qatar for a business meeting, but I had to cancel it because of the ongoing tensions. But this is a short-term uncertainty; we expect the situation to stabilise. A few of my friends are stranded in Dubai, and they have been provided an extra stay by the Dubai government. They would return when things are good and normal."
A spokesperson of Travel Kingdom, a Pune-based travel agency said, "There is definitely a decline in the business, but we advised the travellers to stay in touch with their agents and avoid panic cancellations, as airlines are offering suitable options in most cases. Also, this will get stabilised in the coming week or so. There's nothing to panic about, and in situations like these only the government can help to bring back the stranded passengers, as even we won't be able to take the responsibility of bringing them back or giving any kind of aid. However, in some countries like Japan and European countries, we have contacts who can guide and help them with their budget travel stay."
Meghna Rabindra, who works in an IT company, said, "This is peak season to travel. Every year for the past three years I have been travelling to some or the other country. This year, too, I had plans. My sisters and I were planning a trip to Jordan, but we have now cancelled the trip. However, we haven't received the refund. We hope it gets credited soon. We are hopeful that this war will end and we get to go there."
