Travel agents are expressing concerns over travel from the UAE to India and vice versa after the Indian government implemented mandatory 7-day home quarantine for international travellers with effect from January 11. As per the announcement made by the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, all international passengers are required to undergo mandatory seven-day home quarantine upon arrival in the country.

They are also required to undergo an RT-PCR test on the eighth day of arrival in India. The updates have been issued in view of the rising cases of COVID-19 in the country.

According to travel agents, a clear picture of the changes in travel trends between the UAE and India will emerge in the coming days. Speaking with the media, Mir Wasim Raja, manager, MICE and holidays, Galadari International Travel Services, stated that while the decision was announced on Friday, it is still early to reach a conclusion about changes in travel.

"Business travel may affect both inbound and outbound passengers. People travelling for two days on a business visit may not want to restrict to quarantine for seven days. But, I believe this new travel update may not affect the tourists from India to Dubai," Raja added.

While all passengers travelling from the UAE to India are not required to undergo an RT-PCR test upon arrival, the requirements may vary from state to state. Some states are randomly selecing about two percent of passengers for post-arrival testing at the airport. Other states such as Kerala and Maharashtra are testing all passengers upon arrival.

Concerned airlines are identifying passengers for random PCR testing in each flight and laboratories have been asked to prioritise the testing of samples of such passengers.

However, the updated rule call on all passengers to undergo home quarantine for seven days. In addition, they are required to undertake an RT-PCR test on the eighth day of their stay in India.

Taha Siddique, a travel agent based in coastal Karnataka, underlined that the state government has imposed weekend curfew and other strict restrictions. With uncertainty in lockdown restrictions in states like Kerala and Karnataka, business trips may be affected.

"Many of my clients residing in the UAE are not willing to attend weddings and other celebrations. A few inbound travellers to India from UAE even cancelled their tickets due to quarantine rule, as their return is scheduled within 3 days," he added.

Iflah Ahmed, a regular business traveller to UAE from Kozhikode in Kerala postponed his trip for the next month due to newly-imposed restrictions in the state.

"I am a distributor of plastic home and kitchenware and have to travel to Gulf countries regularly. But due to the new travel update, I will be continuing my work on-call, which may be quite difficult. A seven-day quarantine after every travel sounds a challenge that I cannot be ready for leaving my duties," Ahmed said.