Vaccine passports a shot within the arm for tourism sector

MUMBAI / NEU-DELHI: Given the renewed increase in coronavirus infections in India, the travel and tourism sector is putting its hopes on vaccination passports that will help countries open their borders to vaccinated people. The vaccination record is a digital document that shows that people have been vaccinated or tested against the virus.

Such a document enables cross-border travel with vaccine certificates or Covid-19 negative test reports from accredited laboratories at airports, as well as identity verification through an iris scan. “Vaccination cards will help the travel and tourism industry not only in India, but also internationally. At present, airports are not checking whether the test is actually being carried out, or the covid-19 report is being processed. A digital document will also curb fraud, “demanded the managing director of an online travel company for anonymity.

After a brief respite, the tourism sector in India is facing another crisis as the number of flights and hotel bookings have increased again as states impose partial lockdowns.

“Vaccination cards will definitely go a long way in getting the business back into the travel and tourism sectors. This will certainly prevent paperwork and standardized information fraud. However, we expect the general appetite for travel to rise again in the next two years a pre-covide level will return to three-quarters if more people are vaccinated, which gives people the confidence to travel, “said a senior airline official, seeking anonymity.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA), which includes 290 airline members from 120 countries, is in talks with leading Indian airlines to enroll them for their digital health passport. While Israel was the first country to introduce vaccination passports, Singapore announced on Tuesday that it would accept the IATA mobile passport for pre-departure checks. The IATA passport, designed to help revitalize international air travel, is used to verify secure test or vaccine information with governments, airlines, laboratories and travelers.

Several leading global airlines including Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Etihad and Air New Zealand have signed up for the IATA passport.

“The airlines have taken the toughest measures to prevent the virus from spreading. From today’s perspective, traveling in an airplane is completely safe. However, the increasing number of cases and travel restrictions are preventing people from traveling, “the airline official said.

A global survey by Amadeus Lab found that 93% of Indian travelers are willing to use a digital health passport for all travel.

From today’s perspective, India’s largest domestic airline IndiGo is currently working with IATA for a travel pass.

Currently, travelers are required to perform Covid-19 swab tests within 48 to 72 hours of their flight prior to departure and present the report at the airport. The average number of daily passengers dropped to 2.39,000 for the week ending April 3 and less than 2.51,000 for the week ending March 27, according to a report by ICICI Securities.

“Vaccination records or Covid test results, when incorporated into a passenger’s digital identity, can create a sense of security and trust. The travel industry desperately needs this and the easiest way to make this possible is through biometric and contactless technologies that will enable passengers to securely store and process their information, “said Mitul Ruparelia, VP & Head of Sales at Vision-Box UK, EMEA and India. Vision-Box is a provider of automated border control systems and electronic identity solutions.

Ruparelia said vaccination passports are secure and that information contained in a digital passport is already on hand with border control agencies. Digital passports eliminate paper documents, and all information is kept safe by the customer – e.g. B. from an airline or a border control agency. “We don’t have any data,” he adds.

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