Vax tourism idea goes viral before takeoff

Hyderabad: As India is facing acute shortage of vaccines amid a raging Covid 2.0, vaccine tourism is the new buzz on internet from last few days. This term began trending online when travel operators from European countries started offering a vaccination-cum-vacation trip to Russia. Such a tour package is also doing rounds on social media attracting the Indian travellers. Several travel enthusiasts have shown interest to buy the tour package but in vain.

A flyer of Dubai-based travel agency Arabian Nights Tours has gone viral on WhatsApp. It offers a 24-day-long trip from Delhi to Moscow in Russia including two-doses of Sputnik V vaccine, visa support, sightseeing in Moscow and St Petersberg, transport, food and accommodation in three-star hotel at a cost of Rs 1.29 lakh per person. Even the below middle-class Indians fall flat for this lucrative deal. Thousands of people tried calling the number displayed in the advertisement and finally they were upset to know that the package is yet to take off.

"Amid lockdown and curfew, this package seems to be a perfect escape from the boredom here, but it was not happening. These trips for vaccine tourism to Russia must start soon," said R Pavan, an IT employee. "The package offer was suspicious. Forget vaccination, 24-day accommodation in Russia at Rs 1.29-lakh budget is not realistic," says P Chaitanya, an entrepreneur. The management of Arabian Nights Tours was not willing to respond to Bizz Buzz queries. According to a reliable source, the travel agent did not get necessary approvals to commence the package from either of the countries and its information was leaked unofficially prior to the official launch. Over 2,000 phone calls were received by the travel agent in a single day enquiring about the offer. The members of Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) also wondered how this package will work out. The national body of the tourism industry tried to get information from Russian authorities.

They found that only Russian citizens and foreign citizens with registration in Moscow can get vaccinated over there. Any tourist with the assistance of a travel agent may not be permitted for vaccination.

IATO President Rajiv Mehra said, "Arabian Nights Tours is not our member, so I don't comment on the authenticity of their package. The idea of vaccine tourism is not viable for Indians when both indigenous and foreign vaccines are available here. It may be a good idea if people from African nations come to our country for vaccination."