One more conflict puts city tourists' Durga Puja vacation plans on hold
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Kolkata: The reverberations of the conflict between Thailand and Cambodia were felt in Kolkata on Thursday, with tourists booked to travel to these countries during Durga Puja feeling the jitters.
The two neighbouring Southeast Asian countries are among the most popular destinations for leisure travellers from Kolkata. Nearly 2 lakh people from the city travelled to Bangkok, Pattaya, and Phuket in Thailand last year, while Phnom Penh and Siem Reap received around 50,000 visitors from Kolkata. Together, the two countries attract around 40-45% of the international traffic originating from Kolkata.
Phones in the offices of travel agents and tour operators in Kolkata rang off the hook shortly after news broke that Thailand launched air strikes on military targets in retaliation to Cambodia firing rockets and artillery at Thailand.
"Will it be safe to travel to the region?' was the most common question that travel agents fielded on Thursday evening.
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"We initially planned to travel to Turkey and Greece. But after the Indo-Pak conflict, in which Turkey lent its support to Pakistan, we dropped Turkey from the itinerary. Then the war between Israel and Iran, followed by the latter's missile attack on Qatar, forced us to drop travel via the region altogether.
Though we went to Thailand before, we decided to go there again because it appeared to be the safest bet. But now, even that is not an option.
We will probably take a holiday someplace in India this year," said Gariahat resident Dilip Ray.
Scores of other travellers who recently booked holidays to these countries are now requesting travel agents to cancel the foreign visit and instead organise a domestic tour.
Agents and operators who advised clients to travel to the region are requesting them to refrain from taking any decision yet and say they are pretty certain the situation will improve, given that a lot rides on tourist movement for the two countries, particularly Thailand.
"We hope the skirmish will be over soon. Otherwise, the impact will be devastating. Around 40-45% of outbound travellers from Kolkata visit Thailand, and around 7-8% visit both Thailand and Cambodia. A conflict will impact both countries,' said Travel Agents Federation of India national executive committee member Anil Punjabi.
Sensing the potential impact on its economy, the Tourism Authority of Thailand was quick to point out that the conflict zone was geographically restricted to remote areas of the Thai–Cambodian border and did not impact the popular tourist destinations.
"The Royal Thai Govt would like to reassure all travellers that the overall security situation in Thailand remains safe, stable, and welcoming. The recent developments are confined to a limited area near the Thai–Cambodian border in Ubon Ratchathani and Surin provinces and do not affect the rest of the country. Tourist destinations across Thailand remain operational, with no disruptions to travel, transportation, or public services," it stated.
Notwithstanding the assurance, tour operators acknowledge it will be difficult to convince travellers to visit a country at war. "No one wants to wade into a conflict zone on a holiday. While Thailand and Cambodia will bear the brunt, even other countries in the region — Malaysia and Singapore — will take a hit," Indian Association of Tour Operators chairman (West Bengal) Debjit Dutta said.
Travel Agents Association of India national executive committee member Manav Soni said unless the conflict ends soon, it could even impact airlines. "Five airlines operate between Kolkata and Bangkok, four of them daily. A lot is riding on this conflict," he said, hoping and praying the situation de-escalates soon.
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