It’s peak tourist season in India, with foreign and domestic tourists flocking to destinations, including in Kerala. However, the ongoing aviation crisis with the disruption of IndiGo’s flights across the country has cast a pall of gloom over the tourism industry, which was getting ready for the Christmas and New Year season, with massive cancellations.
Speaking to The Hindu George Scaria, managing director, Keralavoyages India, a private tour operator, says, “I was literally on my toes on Friday night after an IndiGo flight from Varanasi to Delhi was cancelled. I had to arrange a luxury bus to take an 18-member Polish team that visited Varanasi to Delhi, from where they had to catch a morning flight to Poland. Somehow, they reached Delhi airport just before their flight time. I incurred a loss of ₹3 lakh for arranging the bus, their accommodation, and food alone.”
There were many instances in which foreign tourists had to board flights to their country after their luggage got stuck in different transit airports in India due to flight cancellations and delays.
Vinod Vattekkat, general manager, Clouds Valley Leisure Hotel, Munnar, says there have been a slew of cancellations in the past few days, and business will really be in trouble if the issue is not sorted out during this peak tourist season.
Group travellers who booked hotels have been cancelling their trips en masse, as they cannot afford rescheduling the trip, while the bookings of individual travellers could be rescheduled to some extent. After a dull November, the booking trend was good for December, with the destination and weather becoming favourable for a good season, says Mr. Vattekkat.
The tourism industry is in turmoil after the IndiGo crisis began, and the Centre should take urgent measures to restore normalcy, says E.M. Najeeb, senior vice-president of the Indian Association of Tour Operators.
Even if the services are restored in a few days, it may take weeks to bring normalcy to the sector. Already, foreign tourist arrivals have seen a dip in the first three quarters of 2025, with only 69.8 lakh foreigners visiting the country against 76.81 lakh during the same period last year.
The industry was hopeful this season, and the devaluation of currency had also instilled confidence among the stakeholders. Kerala has been making a comeback, riding high on the surge in domestic tourists, while its international recovery was just 62% compared to pre-COVID 19 figures.
Around 2.2 crore domestic tourists visited various tourist spots in Kerala in 2024, whereas foreign tourist number was 7.38 lakh.