Happy feet again

Travel industry goes all out to woo domestic tourists with short stays and road trips

lavneet Fun Space: Lavneet Gyani’s family and friends at Citrus County farmstay earlier to celebrate his wife’s birthday | Lavneet Gyani

For months Smitha Suhas had been looking forward to her 15th wedding anniversary on June 24. The Bengaluru-based software engineer wanted to travel somewhere outside the city. The lockdown played spoilsport. But then she read about LuxeCamper, a motor home service. More commonly called a recreational vehicle in the west, the campervan is a compact 200sqft vehicle where you can sleep, cook, play or take a shower all the while zooming past golden fields, rivers and forests. With queen-size beds, kitchenette, microwave, shower, toilet, a lounge to laze in and a motorised canopy for a snooze in the sun, one need not check into a hotel. Right in the middle of a pandemic, Suhas found the snappiest chariot to ferry her homebound family out of the drudgery of online classes, work calls, cooking, cleaning and doom-scrolling.

Lavneet Gyani (centre) with friends on his way from Delhi to Citrus County farmstay in Punjab for the Independence Day weekend | Aayush Goel Lavneet Gyani (centre) with friends on his way from Delhi to Citrus County farmstay in Punjab for the Independence Day weekend | Aayush Goel

“The week we were supposed to leave, there were new cases in our apartment building. But that did not deter us. Social stigma was more of a problem than the fear of Covid-19, so we did not tell anyone about this trip,” says Suhas. She picked Bheemeshwari, which is about a four-hour drive from Bengaluru. For Rs53,000, Suhas booked the caravan for three days for her family of four. The campervan picked them up from home at 6am on June 18. The driver’s cabin was completely segregated from the guests’—only four guests allowed at a time. Parked outside the lodges of Bheemeshwari Adventure and Nature Camp, Suhas and her family kayaked, took coracle rides, ziplined and huddled around a bonfire. They were the first travellers on LuxeCamper, which has now completed around 25 trips in Karnataka, from Bandipur to Kabini, Hampi and Kodagu. Monuments, museums, wildlife safaris and national parks have been thrown open to visitors in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Some five water bodies like Chilika Lake and the Mahanadi in Odisha now work day-cruise services. The Archaeological Survey of India has reopened some 820 monuments, including the Taj Mahal. Virtual heritage walks and tourism webinars are encouraging people to rediscover their states.

There will be greater demand for domestic travel to quieter locations with perfect health protocols and memorable service—E.M. Najeeb, senior vice president of the Indian Association of Tour Operators

From #IntezaarAapka to #InterzaarKhatamHua, the Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board is using social media to tell people that service providers are ready to welcome visitors again, with hotels and restaurants allowing 50 per cent occupancy to ensure better social distancing. “For now it boils down to road travel. And our location is our biggest advantage—right in the middle. We are surrounded by five to six big states,”says Yuvraj Padole, senior tourist officer at Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation. While there are no quarantine restrictions, travellers will be checked for a Covid-negative certificate while entering the state. “Even if you don’t have one, we will do the thermal screening. If there are symptoms and if you inform us, we will offer all the help to get you medical aid,”says Padole. The state has specialised travel plans for visitors from other states, including 16 weekend trails across categories of adventure, heritage, nature, spiritual and wildlife tourism.

In Himachal Pradesh, an RT-PCR test certificate, done 72 hours ago, is mandatory at border checkposts along with e-pass registration and hotel booking proofs. All hotels are open for business, but a minimum five-day stay in the same hotel is the norm for now. While Rajasthan is not receiving any foreign tourists, domestic traffic from Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh has picked up, says Alok Gupta, principal secretary in the tourism and devasthan department of Rajasthan. “We did not see tourists in June. July has been better, occupancy in resorts are picking up,”he says. “We recently started a social media campaign—Short Stay Safe Stay and Dekho Apna Rajasthan—inspired by the Dekho Apna Desh webinars of the ministry of tourism.”

With air travel arrangements with the US, France, Germany, the UK, Canada, the UAE and Maldives, globetrotters in India can start making plans. But as of now, there is truly a case for slow, hyper-domestic, conscious DIY travel. This kind of itinerary requires planning, a sense of responsibility and an irrepressible urge to be on the road again. Have a car? Or, a touring-optimised motorcycle? It is time to hit the trail, pound the pavement and walk the tracks.

“Travel and tourism was the first sector that got affected by the pandemic and it could be the last one to come out of it,” says E.M. Najeeb, senior vice president of the Indian Association of Tour Operators. “But travel will revive gradually with new practices after this period.” Health protocols will be faultlessly followed by all verticals, he says. “Touchless travel has already been introduced by airlines and hotels. There will be greater demand for domestic travel to quieter locations with perfect health protocols and memorable service,” he adds.

Vacation on wheels: Smitha Suhas and family booked the LuxeCamper to Bheemeshwari, Karnataka Vacation on wheels: Smitha Suhas and family booked the LuxeCamper to Bheemeshwari, Karnataka

For filmmaker and photographer Lavneet Gyani from Delhi, car travel has proven to be the best option. On July 14, he celebrated his wife’s 40th birthday at Citrus County farmstay in Hoshiarpur in Punjab. He and his family, which includes a dog, started from Delhi for their seven-hour journey with a few friends. Stopping for chai-paani at a dhaba or a restaurant along the way was out of question. “We did not even buy a bottle of water on the way. We carried adequate provisions of our own. We only stopped for the dog to take a walk,” says Gyani. At the border, they produced e-passes, and were randomly checked for symptoms and temperature. And since the party was going for less than 72 hours, they did not have to show a Covid-negative certificate. “Once you get used to this new normal, it all gets very easy. At Citrus County, the owner has not allowed his staff to step out of the premises through the pandemic. He does the shopping for the kitchen with all the safety and sanitation protocols. In fact, he delivers their food to them,” says Gyani, who took a biking group to Citrus County for the Independence Day weekend. He plans to travel to Ladakh next month.

With travellers seeking a more isolated experience, big heritage hotels are struggling to manage costs. Occupancy is picking up, says Siddharth Yadav, vice president of operations at Narendra Bhawan, a boutique hotel in Bikaner. “It is about 30 per cent now,” he says. “In a normal year, it is 60-65 per cent.” Most guests now, he says, prefer to stay in rather than explore the city. “Our worries are just that we are not going to see any other form of business—the weddings and parties are all going to be curtailed,” he says. “The large chunk of business is totally wiped out.”

Chitra Raghavan, a Bengaluru-based lawyer and hobbyist photographer who went for a two-week trip to The Bison in Kabini with her partner in June, has always sought out smaller properties with lesser people around. Safety protocols apart, travelling is still the same for her. “There is a realisation that the more you are at home, the less precautions you are taking. So you might as well be outside and be taking more precautions. In my building, I see people who are not wearing masks or maintaining social distance,” says Raghavan. “There is a false sense of security in an apartment where you think you are safe. You might as well go and enjoy yourself.” 

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