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<ul><li>According to a survey released by consulting firm Deloitte, 54% of people surveyed feel safe to <keyword id="6354692" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Travel">travel</keyword> in June, as compared to 50% in the previous wave.</li><li>An OTA executive says people are doing “revenge travel” which is evident from significant increase in queries and bookings.</li><li>A recent ‘Back to travel’ research conducted by Booking.com found out that around 68% of Indian travellers who couldn’t travel in 2020 are extensively yearning to travel this year.</li></ul>Samaira Jain, a freelance content writer based in Delhi, feels that her life has become extremely “monotonous”. The pandemic, the lockdowns and restrictions it has induced have put on hold her dreams and plans of travelling to her favourite destinations. She wants her “normal life” back. Delhi is gradually limping back to normalcy, as lockdown relaxation kicked in from May 31. Jain, along with her family, has decided to visit <keyword id="6357787" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="shimla">Shimla</keyword> — in the neighbouring state of <keyword id="6358126" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Himachal-Pradesh">Himachal Pradesh</keyword> — after the lockdown. She sounds very excited and seems ready to embrace the beauty of the Himalayan foothills. “Our lives have become so monotonous, we have started feeling depressed. In order to change our mind we decided to travel and take some days off,” says Jain. India’s ramped up vaccination drive also seems to have given people a sense of confidence. Diyara Doshi, who is a teacher in a private school in Mumbai, echoes Jain’s views in a sense. Along with her husband, she is planning a getaway for a weekend in Lonavala, a hill station around 90 kilometres away from the capital of Maharashtra. Doshi and her husband got themselves fully vaccinated so that they can plan their leisure trip on a weekend. “We have taken both doses of the <keyword id="8763838" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="covid-19">COVID-19</keyword> vaccine, so we are now a little safe to travel,” says Doshi. As the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic stormed the country, heavy restrictions were imposed including strict lockdowns and travel restrictions. Decline in active daily cases lead many states to lift lockdown restrictions and open up for tourists once again trying to get back to pre-pandemic levels. On June 14, a beeline made by tourists was seen on the Kalka-Shimla Highway, near Parwanoo in Himachal Pradesh, choked with cars. It clearly shows that people are choosing to throng to hill stations despite fear of infection still being around. <div type="image" title="Heavy traffic jam at Kalka-Shimla Highway" msid="83867566" hostid="261"></div> According to a survey released in May by consulting firm Deloitte, 54% of people surveyed feel safe to travel in June, as compared to 50% in the previous wave. The survey also says that the intent to travel for leisure in these three months (June to August) will see an upward trend as compared to previous waves, partly because of COVID-19 vaccination boosting people’s confidence to return to normalcy. Ishaan Bilala, an analyst at consulting firm KPMG, wants to go on a short vacation in Tosh near Kasol in Himachal Pradesh. He is looking forward to booking a comfortable hotel with a “surreal view”, where he and his friends can take a small break from their work and enjoy themselves without worrying about COVID-19. “We know that COVID has not ended, and with rumours of a third wave already around the corner, we thought we should take one trip at least before cases hike again,” says Bilala. A recent ‘Back to travel’ research conducted by online accommodation aggregator Booking.com found that around 68% of Indian travellers who couldn’t travel in 2020 are extensively yearning to travel this year, while 70% travellers are planning to travel in the near future. The survey further reveals that around 72% feel that travelling this year is more important to them than it was before the outbreak of the pandemic. With lockdown restrictions being lifted in various states, the <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/air-traveller-numbers-treble-from-may-low-as-states-get-into-unlock-mode-121062500033_1.html">average number</a> of people taking flights per day rose from 42,000 in May to 1,25,000 from the third week of June. Travel bookings surge in the month of June “Within a week since restrictions began to ease, we have seen a jump of nearly 200% in hotel bookings for the month of June as compared to April — with the majority of states where lockdown restrictions have been relaxed considerably,” says Vipul Prakash, chief operating officer (COO) of online travel aggregator (OTA) <keyword id="54613" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="makemytrip">MakeMyTrip</keyword>. Rajiv Subramanian, vice president of Cleartrip tells Business Insider that there is a large pent up demand for travel. According to him, routes between Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi dominate the top sectors for flight bookings in the last few weeks of June. “In terms of hotel bookings, we have seen a growth in booking in states with hill stations such as Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu &amp; Kashmir. Areas in and around Mumbai are the leading areas of hotel bookings.” Travel bookings in month of April and May had seen a huge dip The number of domestic passengers travelling via air in the month of April fell by 27% and this further dropped by over 60% in the month of May as COVID-19 cases were shooting up in the country, as per the Directorate General of Civil Aviaion (DGCA). “Starting April, there was a decline in demand due to the rising COVID-19 cases across the country. Now with the incoming of <keyword id="79555" type="TECHNOLOGY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Vaccines">vaccines</keyword>, there are many reasons to be optimistic as travel intent climbs up again. With travel being an integral part of people’s lives, a few destinations have seen a 50% rise in hotel bookings in the month of June as compared to April and May,” says Sabina Chopra, co founder and COO of OTA platform <keyword id="6362992" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="yatra">Yatra</keyword>.com. The first three months of 2021 when COVID situation in the country seemed slightly improving, people had once again started to venture out of their homes. “First three months of the year saw a good number of travellers making leisure travel, with the next two being heavily impacted due to COVID-19,” says Nishant Pitti, chief executive officer (CEO) and cofounder of OTA site <keyword id="5030468" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="EaseMyTrip">EaseMyTrip</keyword>. Number of travellers searching for travel and accommodation sees an uptick Not only have the number of people who travelled have gone up but also the number of tourists who are seeking to or planning to travel has also surged in the past few weeks. “The number of people searching for places/queries for trips have increased multifold in the past few weeks. We have witnessed a booking increase of 40% from the lows in May that indicates the tendency of people for revenge travel has already kicked in with a significant increase in queries and bookings,” adds Pitti. The number of domestic tourists visiting India during 2019 was 2321 million as compared to 1853 million in 2018, with a growth of 25.3%, reveals India’s Ministry of Tourism statistics. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/microsoft-airtel-tiktok-just-dial-byjus-and-other-companies-are-calling-out-interns-for-different-roles/articleshow/83168022.cms">Microsoft, Airtel, BYJU’S, IIT-Bombay and more — here is a list of companies looking for interns</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/these-are-the-hottest-jobs-in-the-cyber-security-industry-right-now-with-a-salary-package-of-up-to-23-lakh-per-annum/articleshow/82629876.cms">These are the hottest jobs in the cyber security industry right now, with a salary package of up to ₹23 lakh per annum</a>

Indians are making big plans of ‘revenge travel’ as COVID-19 restrictions get lifted in many states

<ul><li>The worst-hit Indian state, Maharashtra, may be on the verge of having the second wave of COVID-19 under control. </li><li>Data shows that the number of active cases has plateaued over the last two weeks and has been on the downturn for the last two days. </li><li>Dr Marcus Ranney opines that this is an encouraging indicator, but is in no way a signal to think that Maharasthra is out of the woods just yet. </li></ul> Maharashtra is the worst-hit state in India with over 4.23 million cases in total and over 63,000 deaths, so far. In March, the state accounted for 60% of the overall cases in the country. After lockdown-like restrictions were enforced across the state on April 4, the number of active cases in the state seems to have plateaued. “There has definitely been a mentality shift in the last 24 hours as compared to 72 hours ago when everyone was panicking. As a fraternity, we seem to feel that we’re slowly getting on top of this,” Dr Marcus Ranney, founder and chief executive of Human Edge, told Business Insider. According to him, there’s been an uptake in the number of oxygen liquidation tanks coming in and more home concentrator devices being delivered through citizen-led efforts. Even Remdesivir is more in stock than before — but it’s way too early to celebrate. <div type="javascript" title="Custom" contenttype="Image"><cdata><![CDATA[<div class="flourish-embed flourish-chart" data-src="visualisation/5966600"></div>]]></cdata></div> The state’s daily increase of new cases of COVID-19 has remained in the 60,000s for the last two weeks. This is the longest period of stability since the second wave of infections took hold in February 2021. But it’s only been negative for two days, as of April 26. <div type="ExtQuote" text="“It’s way too early to celebrate, absolutely way too early.”" auname="Dr Marcus Ranney, health expert, founder and CEO of Human Edge"></div> And the positivity rate — the number of people testing positive as a proportion of the total number of COVID-19 tests being conducted — has also only been decreasing for two days. <div type="javascript" title="Custom" contenttype="Image"><cdata><![CDATA[<div class="flourish-embed flourish-chart" data-src="visualisation/5967402"></div>]]></cdata></div> <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="What will indicate Maharashtra’s exit from the second wave of COVID-19?" comment="subhead" text="What will indicate Maharashtra’s exit from the second wave of COVID-19?">What will indicate Maharashtra’s exit from the second wave of COVID-19?</cmsannotation> “A useful metric would be the time needed to get a patient a bed when required. That creates a lot of anxiety in the system,” said Ranney. According to him, if a patient doesn’t need a bed immediately, a doctor normally recommends trying to treat symptoms at home. But that also means that a bed should be available if the need arises. Due to the shortage of beds, some doctors and patients may preemptively put in a request for a bed and clog the system even more, on the possibility that their loved one ‘may’ need to be admitted into the hospital. According to a team of researchers from the Institute of Mathematical Sciences in Chennai (IMSC), there may be one other factor to watch as well — the transmission rate. Their data shows that Maharashtra has seen its transmission rate fall from 1.38 in mid-February to around 1.13 as of April 25, IMSC’s Sitabhra Sinha told <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/pune/a-ray-in-covid-dark-dip-in-mumbai-curve-shows-plateau-in-maharashtra-cases-7287807/">Indian Express</a>. A transmission rate of 1.13 means that for every 100 COVID-19 patients, the disease is being transmitted to another 113 people. The lower the value of transmission, the slower the disease is spreading through the population. Mumbai, in particular, has shown marked improvement with its daily case count steadily declining over the last two weeks. On April 24, the financial capital of India reported 5,867 new infections — the lowest it has been this month. Pune, which has the second-highest number of cases in all of India, reported more than 10,000 new cases on April 24. But that’s lower than its record-high of 12,825 cases on April 17. The central government, on Saturday, approved a supply of 4,35,000 vials of Remdesivir to Maharashtra till April 30, according to ANI. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/sundar-pichai-and-satya-nadella-will-use-google-and-microsoft-resources-and-technology-to-support-india-during-the-covid19-crisis/articleshow/82253126.cms">From Sundar Pichai to Satya Nadella – Indian-Americans wake up to the COVID-19 crisis at home</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/maharashtra-kerala-and-chhattisgarh-states-are-on-top-covid-19-positivity-rate-in-india/articleshow/82254421.cms">COVID-19: These are the five states in India with the highest positivity rates</a>

The pace of infections and test positivity in Maharashtra is slowing down — but it is too soon to celebrate

After scary <keyword id="8764262" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="covid" source="Orion">Covid</keyword> warnings by almost every agency for the last two years, there’s finally some good news, the World Health Organization said — ‘that an <keyword id="15062230" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="end-is-in-sight-for-Covid" source="Orion">end is in sight for Covid</keyword>. It’s a relief to people wanting to go back to the ‘old ways’ but like many predicted since the pandemic, a lot that has changed will stay on. The pandemic created billionaires out of two <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/gautam-adani-mukesh-ambani-account-for-59-of-indias-top-10-billionaires-wealth/articleshow/94348058.cms">teenagers</a>, who banked on the people wanting to order groceries online. Why didn’t I think of it? <div type="image" title="The pandemic created billionaires out of two teenagers in grocery business" msid="94388134" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;The pandemic created billionaires out of two teenagers in grocery business&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> What has changed, though, is a lot more people have stopped wearing masks as public health experts suggest that COVID-19 has<a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/india/covid-is-endemic-but-its-not-time-yet-to-take-off-that-mask/articleshow/94085484.cms"> become</a> endemic in India. <div type="image" title="People have stopped wearing mask in public places" msid="94388315" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;People have stopped wearing mask in public places&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> But looking beyond the obvious, here are some things which won’t end even after COVID does. Revenge shopping and tourism Revenge shopping continues to remain strong 30 months after India entered its first nationwide COVID-19 lockdown. According to a Business Insider India report, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/ecommerce/news/online-festival-sales-likely-to-be-28-higher-than-pre-covid-levels-at-11-8-billion-report/articleshow/94076810.cms">online festival sales that Amazon, Flipkart and other retailers are running could touch nearly $12 billion</a> – an increase of 28% over pre-pandemic levels. Apparently, people have enough money on their hands and don’t know of better ways to spend it. People like WFH – and so does the PM The pandemic has made work from home-ers out of everyone. Now, that people have gotten used to working while lying down and chopping vegetables during Zoom calls — they don’t wanna go back. Companies are, however, trying to drag them and it’s gonna be a slow process. Three out of four companies however are considering going hybrid – but India Inc remains divided on the aspect. One thing is for certain, though – WFH is here to stay, even if companies continue to crack down on moonlighting. And it’s got the blessings of PM Modi himself who said it’s a good idea to bring more women into the workforce. Rich get richer, and they hate the poor people moonlighting Thanks to the many stimulus packages, the rich got richer across the world — creating pandemic billionaires like India’s own Gautam Adani — who <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/gautam-adani-mukesh-ambani-account-for-59-of-indias-top-10-billionaires-wealth/articleshow/94348058.cms">added ₹1,612 crore to his wealth every day in the last year</a>. The pandemic was tougher on daily wagers and depleted the savings of many lower middle class and middle class people too. Their situation won’t change soon and neither will the gap between the proletariat and bourgeoisie. <div type="image" title="Migrant labourers during first wave of COVID" height="900" width="1200" msid="94388736" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Migrant labourers during first wave of COVID&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Psst psst – there were also pandemic salary cuts – some were re-instated and some weren’t. The inflation however grew at a sharp place forcing people to take up side hustles and more. And no, no, the rich don’t like it when their employees moonlighting to make some more. Rishad Premji recently <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/information-tech/wipro-fires-300-staff-members-found-to-be-moonlighting-for-competitors/articleshow/94349603.cms">fired</a> 300 employees who were found doing second jobs after slugging it out 9-5 for Wipro. Children lose 2 trillion hours of in-person schooling – and immunity What about the kids? Staying indoors for two years – was trying for parents and kids alike. It’s not just the play time that the kids lost. They lost two precious years of learning too, especially poorer kids who couldn’t get online. A UNICEF<a href="https://data.unicef.org/covid-19-and-children/"> report</a> states that globally, 2 trillion hours of in-person schooling were lost. Another<a href="https://healtheducationresources.unesco.org/library/documents/hidden-impact-covid-19-childrens-education"> </a>UNESCO <a href="https://healtheducationresources.unesco.org/library/documents/hidden-impact-covid-19-childrens-education">report</a> says that the learning levels of children is lower as nearly 1 in 3 parents said they couldn’t support their child’s learning. And they will take a long time to catch up. <div type="image" title="Children lose 2 trillion hours of in-person schooling – and immunity" height="900" width="1200" msid="94388905" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Children lose 2 trillion hours of in-person schooling &amp;#8211; and immunity&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> The kids are also weaker health-wise according to experts – especially the kids below 10 years of age. They had spent their immunity building years as they stayed safe indoors, according to a<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8087417/"> study</a>. Heart ailments and diabetes cases skyrocket in India After playing mind games, COVID is also affecting our hearts. The infection has kicked a lot of people into early diabetes and they also face an increased risk of heart ailments, says a <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/378/bmj.o1838">study</a>. The health issues that it has caused the millions it affected, not including those still suffering from long COVID effects – will also stay on. Demanding movie goers are here to say Where did people get entertainment during the pandemic? Most governments in fact sent messages asking people to ‘stay home and Netflix’. They did, and OTT subscriptions soared. As they did so, they got used to layered stories in web series, subtle allegories and more. Now used to the ‘new-age entertainment’, they don’t want to go back to song and dance routine ‘basic’ movies and want something good enough to pull ‘em off their TVs and tabs. According to analyst reports and trade figures, 15 out of 20 Bollywood movies released in the first half of 2022 have tanked. So much so that producers are confused and Bhushan Kumar of T-Series <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-62145780">said</a> there’s confusion among producers and they don’t know what will and will not work. People want large scale entertainment like RRR, but with a twist. These demanding audiences are not going to go away soon either. <div type="image" title="People want large scale entertainment like RRR, but with a twist" msid="94389873" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;People want large scale entertainment like RRR, but with a twist&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Smaller weddings If people don’t want to step out to a theater without a good reason, they aren’t too keen on inviting unwanted people either. There has been a rush of weddings this year – but because of guest list restrictions and many people not keen on traveling out of town — the Big Fat Indian weddings are smaller. A few millennials and GenZ have caught on this trend too and some prefer it that way. Your dad can’t force you to invite the damad of your mom’s tauji’s cousin sister anymore. Condom sales halve, but where are the pandemic babies? Lack of socializing during COVID lockdowns killed half the sales of condom makers, according to the government’s response to an RTI query recently. While experts feared this would lead to a baby boom, birth rates in India’s financial capital Mumbai<a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/no-baby-boom-mumbai-birth-rate-fell-in-2021/articleshow/92323729.cms"> fell</a> in 2021. Whether it was due to COVID worries or strong pull-out game, either way, experts’ fears did not come true. Here’s hoping that won’t change soon either. Inflation skyrockets – and central banks are struggling to control it Inflation has skyrocketed around the world for multiple reasons – the US flooded the markets with an unprecedented amount of dollars, exporting its inflation all over the world. The supply chain issues worsened the availability of products, while consumers went on a revenue shopping spree post-COVID. This demand and supply imbalance further increased prices – and now<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/banks/news/race-for-rate-hikes-heres-how-much-central-banks-have-hiked-interest-rates-in-2022/slidelist/94344108.cms"> central banks all over the world are hiking interest rates</a> to bring inflation under control. That means the cheap home loan party might be over – and it won’t go back soon either. <div type="image" title="Inflation has skyrocketed around the world" msid="94389450" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Inflation has skyrocketed around the world&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Supply chain shocks become the norm Supply chain shocks have become the norm in the post-COVID world. China, the factory of the world, has continued with its stringent “Zero COVID” policy and that has hampered plenty of industries around the world. <div type="image" title="Car makers like Mahindra are asking their customers to wait for as long as 16 months for cars like XUV 700" msid="94389477" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Car makers like Mahindra are asking their customers to wait for as long as 16 months for cars like XUV 700&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> The semiconductor chip shortage is the most glaring example, and it has not only affected the electronics industry, but also automobiles – some car makers like Mahindra are asking their customers to wait for as long as 16 months for cars like XUV 700. What is not going to change for you when COVID ends? Here’s hoping your love for getting news online won’t change either!

SIMPLY PUT: What won’t end even after COVID does?

By Kushan Sarkar (Eds: Updating with fresh quotes and details) New Delhi, Mar 12 () No foreign player will be available for this year's IPL till April 15 due to visa restrictions imposed by the government to contain the deadly novel <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="coronavirus">coronavirus</keyword> outbreak, a top BCCI source told on Thursday, casting fresh doubts on the fate of the event. A closed-door IPL seems like a real possibility now but even a postponement cannot be ruled out given that 60-odd overseas recruits won't be available to ply their trade, at least in the intial stages of the event starting March 29 in Mumbai. "The foreign players who play in the IPL come under the Business Visa category. As per the government's directive, they can't come till April 15," a BCCI source told on conditions of anonymity. The fate of the IPL itself will be decided on March 14 at the event's Governing Council meeting in Mumbai. "All decisions will be taken by the GC in Mumbai," the source said. The government issued a fresh advisory with a ban on all existing foreign visas, except a few categories like diplomatic and employment, till April 15 in the wake of new positive cases of novel coronavirus in the country. India has reported 60 positive cases in the outbreak which has led to over 4,000 deaths globally. The "Details of Visas Granted by India" manual of the Ministry of Home Affairs states: "Foreign nationals who are engaged in commercial sports events in India on contract (including coaches) like <keyword id="6354831" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="indian-premier-league">Indian Premier League</keyword>, Indian Soccer League, etc. with remuneration. "They may be granted 'B-Sports' Visa with multiple entry facility for 13 appropriate period. Such a foreign national shall comply with all the statutory obligations like payment of taxes, etc." The BCCI source said that the government's directive doesn't specifically exempt those with Business Visas. "There is a clear distinction between employment Visa which has been granted exemption and the business visa. So it's better we dont take the risk." Having the IPL played in empty stadiums is an option being explored but without foreign players, it will certainly lack the zing which makes it the most successful T20 event in the world. "The Future Tours Program is such that if the IPL is postponed, most of the marquee foreign players might not be available as after this April-May, there isn't any window available. All other teams have bilateral commitments. At best, we can have it closed doors," the source said. The Road Safety Legends T20 meet from Thursday will be held behind closed doors with matches in Pune cancelled due to eight COVID-19 cases being reported in the city. The Maharashtra and Karnataka governments are already wary of organising home games of <keyword id="13880" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mumbai-Indians">Mumbai Indians</keyword> and the <keyword id="6354506" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Royal-Challengers-Bangalore">Royal Challengers Bangalore</keyword>.

You Searched For "mumbai covid restrictions" and got 4 results

Indians are making big plans of ‘revenge travel’ as COVID-19 restrictions get lifted in many states

Vaamanaa Sethi

The pace of infections and test positivity in Maharashtra is slowing down — but it is too soon to celebrate

Prabhjote Gill

SIMPLY PUT: What won’t end even after COVID does?

IPL in trouble after India restricts visas that will keep foreign players away

PTI

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