by Pankaj Yadav
NEW DELHI, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) -- Tourist destinations in India, be it the hills in the north, beaches in the south, or heritage properties and palaces in the west, were full to their capacity as people thronged them in large numbers to celebrate and welcome the New Year on Saturday night, amid a fresh COVID-19 scare.
Celebrations continued on Sunday too, as popular market areas, hotels and restaurants in Delhi were packed to their fullest.
Despite the latest guidelines from the federal government about observing COVID Appropriate Behaviour (CAB), people hardly chose to wear face masks or observe social distancing at major markets in Delhi.
On Dec. 22 Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a COVID-review meeting with senior cabinet members and high-ranking health officials, when he laid stress on the CAB.
"COVID is not over yet. Strengthen ongoing surveillance measures, especially at international airports. Audit COVID-specific facilities to ensure readiness of hospital infra, including oxygen cylinders, ventilators and staff," a statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office said.
Citing the pattern of past COVID-19 outbreaks in the South Asian country, a few days ago the federal health ministry warned that the next 40 days would be crucial as India could see a surge in COVID-19 cases in January.
Mock drills were carried out last week at almost all hospitals across the country in a bid to check the readiness of health facilities amid a fresh COVID-19 scare.
Presently the number of fresh COVID-19 cases per day remains below 300. According to federal health ministry data released on Sunday morning, 265 new cases were reported during the past 24 hours.
Currently the active caseload in India stands at 2,706.
Tourism in India picked up in December, particularly thanks to domestic travellers. An influx of foreign tourists was also witnessed during the ongoing tourist season.
In one of the media reports a week ago, The Times of India reported, "An unprecedented rush of travellers has led to a manifold increase in cost of airfares and hotel bookings this holiday season."
Be it popular vacation destinations like Goa, Ooty and Puducherry or other metro cities like Delhi and Kolkata, most one-way air tickets are priced more than 10,000 Indian Rupees (over 120 U.S. dollars) with spot tickets crossing 20,000 Indian Rupees (nearly 241 U.S. dollars) in some cases, according to the report.
Chairman of the Travel Agents Association of India Nagesh Pampati was quoted as saying that the prices of almost everything related to travel have increased exponentially.
Dr. Vijyendra Singh, an orthopaedic surgeon, and his wife Rachna, who specializes in gynaecology in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, chose the northern state of Punjab to celebrate and welcome the New Year along with their three kids.
"We had not ventured out of our home for almost a year-and-a-half. Our kids are placed in three different cities in India for their higher studies or jobs. They were all coming home for the New Year vacation. So we decided to plan our trip this time. We stayed two nights in Amritsar city and the rest two nights in Chandigarh. There was a huge rush of tourists as all hotels were booked to their capacity," said the doctor.
Confirming the "successful tourist season" in December, Indian Association of Tour Operators president Rajiv Mehra said that almost all hotels in north India were booked in advance.
"Hotel industry did a brisk business. Tour and travel operators also earned a quick buck as there was an increased demand for hired cabs," he said. ■
