Daily Times

If somebody would’ve have told us last year to invest in Zoom shares and stock up at home on pasta, tons of litres of Dettol, and toilet paper, I would’ve laughed it off as a joke. I think many memes were floating similarly on the internet about this. Unfortunately, now, it feels like the joke was on us. (No disrespect to any of the things listed). We didn’t have a time machine or soothsayer to predict all that came towards us in the first quarter of the year(and then some as the year progressively got worse). I also remember in the early part of the year doing a mental checklist on how to wangle out some trips on my bucket list of the world to see. The year 2020 has not been that year for anybody to travel at all. I think this year is the year possibly most have prayed or hoped or wanted good health, safety, and security more than ever. Those who would’ve sorted out their bucket lists of incredible sights and journeys would now be those millions of whose travel itinerary never took place.

The glimmer of future travel seemed possible and hopeful when Emirates started their series of well-planned ads on travel to UAE during the mid-year. Dubai being the hot spot for many Pakistanis as they say itis the next best thing to going abroad. Not that it was any cheaper. But when the restrictions still remained that on landing there one would still have to get a COVID test done, things did not pick up as hoped. I was told that one got a test done from here which was fair enough. But upon landing another test was required right after the 1.5-hour flight. If tested positive for Covid-19, I would have to quarantine at a quarantine center/hotel and not be able to step out for 2 weeks. In addition to that, one would have to belt out half of the expenses of food and stay. A 3-day leisure trip could turn into a nightmare. Who would want to take a risk at like that and at what expense? Even the travel agent at that point advised against it. For him it was a ticket sale at my risk but even he cautioned as to the current scenario. Another friend had to fly back from the US and the cost alone was over $4000. That one-way flight was perhaps the most expensive that she had ever taken. If this was one way to discourage people from traveling at all and staying put in one place, then it was fully achieved.

With travel restrictions that make you pause a bit on booking that flight onwards, no matter how good the deal sounds, people have refrained from expenditure on travel for leisure, especially abroad

My WhatsApp pinged a few days ago with a barrage of too good to be true travel packages sent by a travel agent. 4 Days and 5 nights, hotel stays all included with taxes and transfers with a private car was like a dream package. Last year I would’ve imagined this is some kind of scam as it was cheaper than traveling to and staying in Rawalpindi. However, this year now that lockdown restrictions had lifted this seemed possible as the last quarter of the year had started. This deal and other such deals were possibly not even going to get the travel agents close to a recovery plan for their own business.I asked the local sales agent what he did to survive these last few months. He said he wasn’t being paid and had lived off his savings. I felt sad as he tried to sell us the latest tickets sales to Turkey. As people picked up the deals being offered, he was possibly grateful to be back at the desk trying to please customer demands.

It is true that as initial lockdowns lifted, people with resident visas flew toff to Dubai given they had resident visas. Quite a few posted pictures about trips to the glorious mountainous regions of Pakistan. Yet, travel has not been the same. With travel restrictions that make you pause a bit on booking that flight onwards, no matter how good the deal sounds, people have refrained from expenditure on travel for leisure, especially abroad. Many airlines have already filed for bankruptcy. Initially, we saw flights to Asia were where the sales plummeted. However, as the Covid-19 virus spread throughout Europe and other continents, many airlines were forced to file for bankruptcy as International travel came to a complete halt. The global pandemic did not just affect International airlines but domestic ones which soon faced huge losses and several have had to shut their operations down. It did feel as if the world had been paused on its axis. Although hope and perseverance has seen us through this year, the fact remains that many industries such as travel and hospitality are desperately trying to recover the six months of no business at all.

So, for now for most of this remaining year, we go for essential work or not at all. The wearing of facemasks throughout the flights has not deterred some of my friends who made it work somehow beating claustrophobia and the discomfort of wearing it while they slept on long flights. But most of these people I knew had to travel for a reason or essential work. None of the ones who would do it for leisure were pushed to book a flight wearing a mask throughout their vacations. Most have said that they would rather wait till restrictions ease next year and a choice is given as it is no way to enjoy a holiday. As the last breath of 2020 seems now underway and the year wraps up, one reminisces about the way life was when all one had to do was think of the airport transfers and excess baggage on a tourist trip. Although we cannot get the months back one can expect that thing will open up fully next year for sure. One prays that travel restrictions will lessen so that the world will journey with ease out once more again.

The writer is known for her articles on socio-cultural impact