Dispute forces companies to adjust

Tom Smith, vice president of sales and marketing for North America for Intrepid Travel, says that tour operator’s sending Canadians to India is dependent on the Indian government reversing its visa decision.

“We were shocked by the sudden suspension of visas by India for Canadians announced in September, which unfortunately remains in place,” he says. “There’s still no indication of how long this will be in effect and as such, it’s unclear just how long this will impact tourism to the destination. This will really all depend on the longevity of this suspension and whether the political tensions which sparked it can be resolved or continue to escalate. We have noticed a sharp decline in interest since the announcement was made, with traffic to our India trip pages on the site down by 51% compared to the first half of September, however this is really par for the course given the situation.”

Smith noted that India has always been a highly popular destination among its Canadian travellers. 

“We do know that once travel has opened up again, it should be well positioned for a strong recovery. We’re offering our travellers booked on trips to the destination the option of travelling on another trip, at a future time or in another destination,” he added. “Alternatively, a credit can be provided. Our local teams are well connected in India and are monitoring the situation to keep travellers up to date in real-time.” 

NARAT spokeswoman Renata Snidr says both Canada and India would benefit from an easing of tension, with Canada-India travel serving both countries well.

“For economic relations to normalize between Canada and India, it will take considerable effort by both governments,” Snidr says. “The visa restrictions on Canadians visiting India, impacts many in the travel trade, including NARAT, where we have had to find solutions for Canadians reserved on travel programs to India, not being able to obtain Indian travel visas. Considering that Canada has a sizeable community which have personal and business ties with India that is contingent of travel, a resolution is, however, to be expected. Tourism is an important economic generator for India… Due to the importance which travel plays in the economic relationship between the two countries, it is likely that the visa restrictions would be eased before economic relations are stabilized. Though I would not want to be presumptuous, optimistically, I would expect that we could see visa restrictions easing in early 2024, if not earlier.”

Caroline Mongrain of World Expeditions says she’s eagerly awaiting a resolution of the visa issue.

“We’re in a wait-and-see situation about Canadian tourism in India,” she adds. “Our travellers are from all of North America, plus our international offices, so we can still run our trips in the country. Fingers crossed, this situation won’t last too long; India is a fantastic destination for adventure travel.”