ahmedabad anjali laddha a dentistry student had planned to join her friends for a holiday in spain in august i charted out my trip from france to spain to germany however when i didnt get a visa appointment for august travel i decided to defer it to the diwali break i tried applying for the schengen visa through different embassies tough luck i am yet to get an appointment and as a result my vacation is on hold for the time being she saidthe uncertainty around getting appointments for schengen visa applications for travelling to certain destinations in europe has hampered travel plans for diwali this year for several travellers according to travel industry sources appointments for schengen visas for most european countries are not available before the end of september which is leaving travellers in a state of frenzy with airfares skyrocketing as the diwali holidays near vacationers are either cancelling their europe trips altogether or making alternative arrangements to southeast asian or gulf countriesleft without a visa appointment another ahmedabadbased professional saurav hurra cancelled travel bookings for a trip to france and italythe earliest visa appointments are available two months from now by the time my visa arrives it will be too late delaying the trip does not make sense either as europe winters are relatively harsh therefore we cancelled the trip said hurrathis diwali people are getting a clear 10day holiday window from october 2231 and as a result the uptakes for europe are unusually higheurope travel is much less preferred during diwali but this time the demand is good due to a long break with visa appointments remaining unavailable for a month travellers are instead opting for destinations such as dubai south africa singapore malaysia thailand vietnam and cambodia or southeast asian region said anuj pathak president tour operators and travel agents association of gujarat tag travellers end up paying at least rs 15 lakh per person for a europe holiday which in many cases may not be fully refunded according to industry players as cancellation charges would apply travel agents who in fact have blocked tickets and paid advance for trips are now in a fix after covid19even after the visa appointment it takes weeks for the applications to be processed and the visa to be delivered with delayed appointments tourists are wary because if their visa gets delayed they will have to bear hefty cancellation charges said manish kuril a travel agent in vadodaratravel agents suggest that earliest schengen visa appointments are available by midtoend of september after which it takes at least two to three weeks to get a visa or even moreseasoned travellers who were aware of the situation instead made alternate plans i deferred my spain holiday plans from diwali due to delay in visa appointment availability it is not worth the risk to wait till the last moment for the visa said bharti naik a vadodarabased entrepreneurtravellers insistent on travelling to europe are instead opting for ukscotland and ireland itinerary