The travel fatigue induced by COVID-19 has forced people to be innovative in terms of their travel plans. Even though the Maldives was a popular holiday destination before the pandemic, but the restrictions in the other countries, forced many in India to bump this destination on their holiday list.
According to reports, leisure travel enquiries have gone up by more than 90 per cent, compared to last year. With the impact of second-wave subsiding, vaccine drive picking up and more countries opening up for fully vaccinated people who have negative RT-PCR reports, it is expected that these volumes may improve further.
Think Maldives and people can picture sun-drenched white sandy beaches perfectly intermingling with idyllic crescent-shaped islands. The destination had become a hot favourite among Indians. While during the second wave, this country too had put a stop on the flights from India, but as soon as things started to settle the restrictions were also eased off.
Varun Sarda, Co-founder of WTFares commenting on this trend shared, "Yes the Maldives has again become a top holiday destination and inquiries have started to swell. This is an offseason for the Maldives, and during this time, most Indians make use of the deals offered by the resorts and plan a trip."
Commenting on the outlook, Sarda further adds, "With the marriage season around the corner, we expect The Maldives to continue to be a big driver even in the coming months. However, there are other places in Europe that are opening for fully vaccinated people and people have started to send in requests for destinations such as Paris, Germany and Switzerland as well".
Other destinations that are seeing a surge in search volumes include South Africa and Dubai. With the IPL season starting soon and the big-ticket clash between India and Pakistan in October, UAE is one destination that is gaining the popularity charts.
Experts believe that the craze for the Maldives may start wearing off by the end of the year 2021. They are hopeful that as more people get vaccinated and the travel passport comes into the picture, tourists will look at exploring newer places. It is also believed that by then a significant number of people may have had their fill for the beach country and the same people would perhaps set their sight on the new destination.
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