Author: Tourism News live

The requirement that UK travellers returning from Spain have to quarantine themselves yet again for 14 days has been a huge disappointment for thousands of British holidaymakers. The move is disastrous for the hard-pressed travel & tourism industry, both in Spain and the UK, Gloria Guevara, President & CEO of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) has said. “While the health and safety of travellers – as well as those who work within the travel & tourism industry – is paramount, this move will be a bitter blow for those holidaymakers already in Spain who will now be forced into isolation ... Read more

Effective 1 August, all travellers flying Etihad Airways from around the world to Abu Dhabi, and those transferring via Abu Dhabi onto other flights, will be required to show a negative COVID-19 PCR test result. The tests have to be carried out from a list of approved testing facilities listed on www.etihad.com/destinationguide, alongside their ICA approval if Abu Dhabi is their end destination. The PCR test must be carried out within 96 hours prior to arrival in Abu Dhabi and a negative COVID-19 PCR test result certificate from one of the approved clinics listed must be shown for approval to board. ... Read more

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said international travel ban cannot stay in place indefinitely, and countries should do more to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus within their borders. A surge of infections had prompted countries to reimpose some travel restrictions in recent days. Only with strict adherence to health measures, from wearing masks to avoiding crowds, would the world manage to beat the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization’s director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said at a virtual news briefing on Monday. “Where these measures are followed, cases are going down,” he said, praising Canada, China, Germany and South Korea ... Read more

Tourism, hospitality and aviation are among the worst affected sectors due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the latest survey by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said. About 90% of the respondents said that recovery within the tourism sector appears bleak in the next six months. The aviation sector came a close second, with about 85% categorising the future prospects as extremely bleak. Bankers said aviation is most likely to require support as the sector is highly leveraged, with high fixed costs. The survey findings suggest that the ill-effects of COVID may remain for next 3-5 years and may impact the quality of credit ... Read more

The Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism & Hospitality (FAITH), the nodal federation of all the national tourism associations, has revised the sector’s economic risk guidance to ₹15 lakh crore in view of the coronavirus situation. In its initial guidance, which was calculated and shared with the industry and the Central government in March, the federation had put the tourism sector’s economic risk at ₹5-lakh crore due to the pandemic. Later, it was revised upwards to Rs 10 lakh crore, as the situation worsened. Now, the figure has been further revised to ₹15-lakh crore as the pandemic continues to ravage the sector. FAITH ... Read more

Thomas Cook (India) and its group company, SOTC Travel Ltd, have partnered with ICMR-accredited medical centres pan India, to offer COVID-negative certification services. This initiative is an extension of the Thomas Cook & SOTC Assured Safe Travel Program in partnership with Apollo Clinics.  Through this service, the travel agency will ensure that the travellers receive the report results within 24 to 48 hours. The Thomas Cook & SOTC COVID-negative certification services include: assistance on requirements/procedures for COVID testing via ICMR accredited centres, information on multiple locations/options available for the test, scheduling appointments for the tests etc. The service will also enable ... Read more

K Vijaya Mohan, President of the Tours and Travels Association of Andhra, has said that travel agents in the state have suffered a cumulative revenue loss of Rs 2,000 crore due to COVID-19 outbreak. At this rate, they would end up losing Rs 3,400 crore by the year-end, he said. In a letter written to Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, he said the government should give certain benefits to bail out the travel sector. He noted there are about 1,000 travel agencies in the state and one third of them are in Visakhapatnam, many of whom are suffering economically. ... Read more

Britain has always been a health tourism destination of distinct pedigree with its high-class healthcare service. Tourists from around the globe pick the UK, for their treatments, due to the high degree of expertise available. Its National Health Service (NHS) has been a model healthcare system globally, but the country has been suffering from an obesity crisis of late. As a result, Britain unveiled plans to tackle an “obesity time bomb” from today, banning TV and online adverts for junk food before 9.00 pm, ending “buy one get one free” deals on such foods and putting calories on menus, says ... Read more

Norway’s Arctic-archipelago Svalbard on Saturday recorded its highest-ever temperature, the country’s meteorological institute reported. For the second day in a row, the archipelago registered 21.2 degrees Celsius (70.2 Fahrenheit) in the afternoon, just under the 21.3 degrees recorded in 1979, meteorologist Kristen Gislefoss told news agency AFP. Later in the afternoon however, at around 6:00 pm local time, it recorded 21.7 degrees, setting a new all-time record. The Svalbard islands would normally expect to be seeing temperatures of 5-8 degrees Celsius at this time of year. The island group is the only inhabited isle in the northern Norway archipelago, that ... Read more

A cruise ship carrying 1,200 passengers set sail from Keelung Port on Sunday, on the first commercial sea tour since Taiwan imposed travel restrictions due to the COVID-19, the Maritime and Port Bureau said. The “Explorer Dream,” however, will visit only domestic ports, namely the islands of Penghu and Matsu, according to the operator, says a report by Focus Taiwan. With 1,200 tourists on board, the cruise liner will stop at Penghu and Matsu, before returning to Keelung in northern Taiwan on July 29, the operating company Dream Cruises said. Dream Cruises said it will offer 30 similar trips over ... Read more

Spain is safe for tourists and Spaniards, the government insisted on Sunday after Britain abruptly imposed a two-week coronavirus quarantine on travellers returning from there, says a Reuters report. Last year, Britons made up over a fifth of foreign visitors to Spain, which relies heavily on tourism revenues, meaning the UK move could deal a hard blow to efforts to restart the Mediterranean country’s economy after months of lockdown. “Spain is safe, it is safe for Spaniards, it is safe for tourists,” Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya told reporters. The Spanish government will focus its efforts on trying to persuade ... Read more

Foreign guests will likely stay away from India not just this year but the next as well, EIH executive chairman PRS Oberoi has said. EIH is the listed entity of The Oberoi Group that runs hotels under Oberoi and Trident brands in the country. The travel industry was among the first to be affected by the pandemic and will, in all probability, be the last to recover, Oberoi said in his address to shareholders in the latest annual report. “Due to the COVID- 19 pandemic, we expect very few foreign travellers to visit India in the current year and in the next ... Read more

Air India’s northern regional office has formed a committee to identify “redundant” or “surplus” employees who would be asked to go on a compulsory leave without pay (LWP) for up to five years. P S Negi, Regional Director (RD), Northern Region, Air India, issued an order stating that an empowered committee is being constituted for the identification of such employees, news agency PTI has reported. Negi’s order, which has been accessed by PTI, said the general manager (personnel), general manager (finance) and departmental heads will be the members of the empowered committee. “GM (Personnel) will share the staff list with ... Read more

Dubai-based airline Emirates has said that on-arrival polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests will be mandatory only for passengers from specific countries, starting August 1. The airline has issued a list of 29 such countries, Gulf News reports. These countries include India, Brazil, Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, Philippines, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and select US airports among others. The US airports included in the list are Dallas Fort Worth (DFW), Houston (IAH), Los Angeles (LAX), San Francisco (SFO), Fort Lauderdale (FLL) and Orlando (MCO), says the Gulf News report. All passengers arriving from these points of ... Read more

Leisure travel to downtown Los Angeles has sagged during the coronavirus pandemic, but guest rooms at the 94-year-old Hotel Figueroa are hot commodities as always. These days, however, most guests are locals taking day trips from home so they can work. A special program titled Work Perks aims to reposition some of the hotel’s 268 rooms as day-use offices, says a report by CNN Travel. According to Managing Director Connie Wang, this is a great opportunity for work-at-home warriors to get out of their houses and spend workdays in clean, quiet and socially distanced spaces that come with high-speed WiFi, unlimited printing ... Read more