Indian govt should urge the United States to revise negative travel advisory immediately: FAITH

The Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism & Hospitality (FAITH) has requested India’s Tourism Minister and the Ministry of External Affairs to seek an immediate revision of the negative travel advisory issued by the United States.

The USA has issued a travel advisory, rated Level 4 for India. On a scale of 1-4 this is the highest level of risk rating, carrying with it the advice of ‘do not travel’.

The level four advisory advises the US citizens not to travel to India due to COVID-19. The previously highlighted concerns that are mentioned include terrorism and crimes against women.

FAITH said some of the few countries that were reflecting in this category as on August 23 include Syria, Iran, Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen etc. “This is perceptually extremely poor for India. As India has begun the process of opening up its air corridors, such an advisory for India is detrimental to kickstarting all leisure, business and MIC tourists from the USA,” the federation said in a statement.

“Additionally, such a travel advisory from the United States of America tends to send a wrong signal for the rest of the developed countries as they start opening up their international air travel,” FAITH said. “The travellers from the USA also have one of the highest average stays in India of  29+ days as against the average of 22+ days for all other source markets.”

“The favourable revision of the travel advisory would be a big boost in beginning the process of creating a positive sentiment for travel, which will slowly put in motion revival for the inbound tourism industry,” FAITH added.