LAST UPDATED: 14th July, 2021
Owing to the current global health crisis arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, and the subsequent repercussions of the closing of International borders, Unventured has suspended its scheduled long duration tours until further notice. Our earlier city tour operations in Mysuru and Bengaluru are also suspended until the local conditions improve.
We are currently accepting only private bookings for all long haul tours.
In the wake of the ongoing conditions, Unventured has launched a set of new nature-based and active tours. Our “Let’s Step Out” tours are private getaways into the remote Bengaluru countryside, away from all crowds and have been created keeping in mind the safety of our guests.
These tours are open to bookings and further information on the same can be found on our website.
This global health crisis has impacted everyone and we want to comfort and reassure you that your future travel plans are safe. We, at Unventured, are committed to supporting our customers in the best and safest way that we can.
We have detailed a Safety and Support SOP (Standard tour Operating Procedure)
to help adopt and travel in a COVID-19 world is live on our website and can be found here. Please do go through the City Tour SOP and the Weekend/ Multi-day Tour SOP to get a detailed insight into how we ensure your safety on an Unventured experience.
There are a lot of learnings coming in and we are consulting many experts along with helping our partners, transport teams and local homestays to understand this pandemic and subsequently adopting safety measures that will ensure greater transparency, trust and safety on tours we organize.
We will continue to monitor and update our travel advisory page for India, Bhutan and Sri Lanka to provide our guests with the latest information pertaining to travelling and local lives in these regions. We are working alongside our local partners, government authorities and trade bodies to ensure we have the latest information and understand all measures being taken for the safety of people in the region.
*LAST UPDATED ON : 14th JULY 2021
India began its efforts in managing COVID-19, on 22 March 2020, by observing a 14-hour voluntary public curfew. The government followed it up with a nationwide lockdown for 21 days, the biggest lockdown in the world for a population of 1.3 billion. On 14 April, the prime minister of India extended the ongoing nationwide lockdown until 3 May which was further extended until 31st May 2020, while enforcing restrictions in specific containment zones.
Read More India started phase-1 of the “unlocking” process on June 1st 2020, whereas malls and shopping centres started opening up post-June 8th, with a strict sanitization regime and entry protocols. Red zones with a higher number of COVID – 19 cases were sealed and continue to function as containment zones. The Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker, in its initial report based on data from 73 countries, reports that the Indian Government has responded more stringently than other countries in tackling the pandemic. It noted the government’s swift action, emergency policy making emergency investment in healthcare, fiscal measures, investment in vaccine research and active response to the situation, and scored India with a “100” for its strictness during the first wave and a “73” during the second wave, as region-wise lockdowns swept the nation. CURRENT STATUS: With the incoming of the second wave of Covid, India saw a surge in cases in the month of May – June, after a previous rapid declination during late 2020 – early 2021. Geographically, the cases were mostly clustered in the metropolitan cities, and the states of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, while the majority of North East India remain unaffected and safe. The recovery rate in India currently stands at 97%. India has started its nationwide vaccination where citizens of 18+ age are eligible to receive their Covid-19 vaccination shots at their nearest centres. India lifted its nationwide lockdown on June 1st, 2020. Post a second wave, and another subsequent lockdown in select states, currently all states are permitting travel. However, travellers might need to produce a negative RT-PCR test, vaccination certificate or need to acquire a special Epass. The regulations vary from state to state and individual travellers have no quarantine compulsion. Most restrictions from movement inside a state have been lifted, except for that in containment zones, but all International flights and borders continue to remain suspended for tourism purposes until further notice from the government. OUR INDIA TRAVEL ADVISORY: The rate of spread in India has seen a recent momentum, along with the rate of recovery in a few states name Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Delhi. We advise NO TRAVEL to India until further notice. Please contact us for any further information and local insights into specific regions you wish to travel through. Read Less
Bhutan reported its first case on 6 March, a 76-year-old US male who travelled to the country via India. The government immediately shut borders to foreign visitors for two weeks and now extended it indefinitely until further notice. Another Bhutanese national student who had returned from the United Kingdom was found to be positive for COVID-19, the third case in the country.
Read More Around 90 people who came directly in contact with patient 1, along with his 59-year-old partner, driver, and guide were quarantined. The tiny, landlocked country, famous for measuring Gross National Happiness has emerged as a popular tourist destination in recent years. CURRENT STATUS: In Bhutan, from 3 January 2020 to 6:00 pm CEST, 14 July 2021, there have been 2,324 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with a total of 1 death, as reported to WHO. As of 4 July 2021, a total of 486,126 vaccine doses have been administered, and most of the population has been vaccinated. However, travel to Bhutan is still not permitted by the local Bhutanese government, and is suspected to remain so until further notice. OUR BHUTAN TRAVEL ADVISORY: The Bhutanese government along with the current King of Bhutan have proactively ensured necessary contact tracing and effective measures to contain any spread, along with closing the border indefinitely. We advise NO TRAVEL to Bhutan until further notice. We continue to monitor the situation in Bhutan and keep this section updated on a regular basis. Please contact us for any further information and local insights into specific regions you wish to travel through. Read Less
The COVID-19 pandemic was first confirmed in Sri Lanka on 27 January 2020. Nearly 3,500 people have been under quarantine in 45 quarantine centres which also include 31 foreigners from 14 countries. Sri Lanka has been ranked 9th best country in the world for its successful immediate response to tackling the virus. Sri Lanka used an effective method of contact tracing and cluster identification in local areas to avoid long durations of Nationwide lockdowns.
Read More The government allowed normalcy to return to the citizen and lifted the nationwide curfew on 18 May 2020, which had been placed on the country since 20 March 2020. On 18th March Sri Lanka suspended all passenger arrivals from all countries. However, cargo, departures and transit have been continued. CURRENT STATUS: Sri Lanka has permitted travel into the country for vaccinated travellers. Fully vaccinated travellers do not need to undergo 14 days quarantine if their on-arrival RT-PCR test is negative. Passengers must have a printed negative COVID-19 PCR test taken at most 72 hours before departure from the first embarkation point. The test result must be in English. Restaurants, café and intercity travel has resumed in Sri Lanka, while public gatherings, concerts and events stay banned. Commercial airlines are operating flights to and from Sri Lanka. OUR SRI LANKA TRAVEL ADVISORY: The rate of spread is well managed until now, the numbers are in localised clusters and the curve is flattening. If you are planning to visit a tour to Sri Lanka, we request you to talk to us first. We continue to monitor the situation in Sri Lanka and keep this section updated on a regular basis. Please contact us for any further information Read Less
