Just a day after the new set of rules came into force on Monday, Uttarakhand government further relaxed post-COVID norms for entry of travelers into state, bringing it almost at par to those of neighbouring hill state of Himachal Pradesh.
Two important conditions have been done away with in the new notification issued on Tuesday, September 22, 2020. Now there will be no prebooking of minimum two nights required to enter the state. More importantly, no negative COVID-19 test report will be now required. Travelers as well as the hotels of their stay will have to keep an eye on symptoms and in any case of a symptom related to COVID-19 showing up, they will have to immediately inform the concerned health authorities.
Two things will still be checked on the state borders- registration on the smartcitydehradun.uk.gov.in website, which is still mandatory, and the thermal scanning for any unusual body temperature. Rest of the rules will be the same which came into force from September 21.
Commenting upon the entry rules for Uttarakhand, Animesh Kumar, Director of Travel and Tourism Consulting at GlobalData, a leading research and consulting company said, “Uttarakhand has taken a balanced approach in removing the travel restrictions and presented some significant learnings for other tourist destinations in India and across the globe.”
He further added, “The economy of Uttarakhand has a high dependence on tourism and the stakeholders in the industry have been requesting for relaxation or removal of travel restrictions. Several businesses have been severely impacted due to the travel restrictions and consumer apprehensions caused by COVID-19 pandemic. In view of Unlock 4 and the impact on the local tourism industry, Uttarakhand has removed the travel restrictions but has not thrown caution to the wind.”
“The guidelines mention the actions that need to be taken in case of both asymptomatic as well as symptomatic cases. The state would be providing the infrastructure but the guidelines also mention responsibilities of other stakeholders – tourists as well as hotels. Indeed, it is not the most convenient solution for tourists but considering the rising cases, safety must not be subordinated. The state has also announced a ‘Tourists Incentive Coupons’ scheme under which tourists would get either INR 1,000 or 25% discount – whichever is lower – on per day accommodation charges for up to three days.”
“Travel dependent destinations are desperate to revive the industry and are coming up with various strategies to attract tourists. However, several destinations have taken the path of either extreme caution or extreme imprudence. Destinations are required to find the middle path to ensure safety as well as to increase tourism activity, and the guidelines and incentives issued/offered by Uttarakhand largely fit that requirement.”
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