New Delhi, Jun 30 (PTI) In six months to one year, things will begin to settle down and travel will be back much stronger than ever before as history has proven on all occasions that it is a fundamental need of global citizens, Indian Hotels Company Ltd MD and CEO Puneet Chhatwal said on Wednesday.

Global leaders must do everything to ensure that the right process and procedure are in place, so that travel can be started seamlessly, he added.

One of the responsibilities of the world leaders at this time has to be to get alignment for the next 3-6 months on travel protocols among nations, among regions, and people who have both the vaccines and the PCR-negative reports should be allowed to travel freely, Chhatwal said at India Global Forum.

About IHCL, Chhatwal said, "We have been able to vaccinate more than 90 per cent of our staff and that is a positive development, so that hotels are a safe place to be in."

IHCL has also put in a protocol that was needed based on the guidelines of WHO and the Ministry of Health in India, he said.

"In terms of under what circumstances we can operate in terms of social distancing, in terms of how and when the restaurants and hotels can be opened and that differed from state to state, because of the federal structure in India and I think the industry did quite a good job," he added.

The industry has shown resilience, courage and will be innovative enough to bounce back, Chhatwal said. HRS hrs

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)