Israel-Hamas conflict halts peak inbound travel season from Israel

The peak travel season for inbound travellers from Israel to India will be affected due to the war and subsequent flight cancellations.
 

While business travel from Israel to India continues throughout the year, recreational or leisure-related travel typically surges from October to March, coinciding with the escalation of the war in Israel.
 

According to the India Tourism Statistics 2022 data, inbound passenger traffic reached its peak in 2019, with India recording 73,137 arrivals from Israel. However, in 2021, following the Covid-19 pandemic, India saw only 4,601 arrivals from the country.
 

Approximately 53.2 per cent of the total passengers traveled from Israel to India during the peak season of October-December (Q4CY21). In Q1CY21 (January-March), 18.3 per cent of total passengers travelled to India, followed by 16.5 per cent and 12 per cent in Q3CY21 (July-September) and Q2CY21 (April-June), respectively, according to data.
 

Aashish Gupta, consulting chief executive officer of the Federation of Associations in Tourism & Hospitality, said, “This year, close to 65-70 per cent of the total inbound travellers would have come during the six months starting from October to March.

Unfortunately, the war began during the same time period. Leisure travel will be fully impacted as it is discretionary. Business travel, which is non-discretionary, may continue, but given the fact that flights are impacted, all kinds of travel will now be put on hold.”
 

Meanwhile, Air India has announced the cancellation of all Delhi-Tel Aviv flights between October 7 and October 14 for the “safety of our passengers and crew”.

 

The airline added, “Air India will provide all possible support to passengers with confirmed bookings during this period.”

Since the pandemic-induced suspension of international flights was lifted in March 2022, Air India has been the sole airline providing service between India and Israel. Currently, Air India operates 10 flights per week connecting Delhi and Tel Aviv, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.
 

Before the pandemic, Israeli carriers operated flights between India and Israel. Israeli carrier EL AL Israel Airlines used to operate one to three flights per week until March 2021. Another Israeli airline, Arkia, operated one to two flights per week between India and Tel Aviv between October 2019 and February 2020. Ameya Joshi, founder of the aviation analysis blog NetworkThoughts, noted, “Air India may be forced to extend the cancellations to Tel Aviv for a longer duration depending on the hostilities in the region. This may also cast doubt on the return of EL AL to India, which is scheduled for the winter schedule.

 If the conflict continues, it may lead to insurers raising premiums for flights since it is a conflict-prone zone.”
 

Travel agents who were anticipating a robust inbound travel business from Israel are currently working with airlines and hotels to process full refunds for travellers.
 

Rajiv Mehra, president of the Indian Association of Tour Operators, lamented, “Inbound tourism has still not picked up, and this is a significant setback for the tourism industry in India. All arrivals have been cancelled, and this will have a lasting effect as two to three months of travel are lost until the war ends. The business was looking promising from Israel for this season, but all of that is gone now. We are attempting to obtain full refunds from airlines and hotels. If issues persist, we will seek the Government of India’s intervention.”
 

Additionally, with the rise in the cost of aviation turbine fuel and travel restrictions due to the war, Gupta emphasises the need to derisk India’s inbound tourism portfolio, as such situations pose a severe challenge.
 

“It is essential that our country refocuses its marketing efforts on inbound tourism from other markets because we have to derisk our inbound tourism portfolio. We need to intensify our efforts in the US, Western Europe, East Asia, and Australia as priority markets. We can only hope that other markets, located in areas of conflict, remain unaffected and that the issue doesn’t spill over,” he added.