Author: Tourism News live

For people stuck on either side of the Causeway, the possible resumption of cross-border travel between Singapore and Malaysia is cause for optimism, says a Straits Times report. The authorities of both countries agreed last week to restart cross-border travel for essential business and official travellers and long-term pass holders through two schemes: the reciprocal green lane and the periodic commuting arrangement. Though more details will be announced before these new travel schemes take effect on August 10, travellers will have to get swabbed for Covid-19 and submit their itineraries to the relevant authorities, the report says. Malaysian Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein ... Read more

The number of hotel room bookings under the “Rao Pai Tiew Gun” (Let’s travel together) campaign has reached 3.6 million. The campaign is one of the government’s tourism stimulus measures, providing a 40% discount per night (but not exceeding five nights) to 5 million travellers. Traisuree Taisaranakul, a deputy government spokeswoman, said that travellers are still booking hotels in the major tourism cities, most of them in the western and eastern regions, according to a report by Nation Thailand. People mostly booked hotels near the seaside for largely one-night stays. For slightly longer stays, people mostly booked hotels in the ... Read more

Indian Railways will introduce the first set of 12 private trains in 2023, followed by 45 more in the following fiscal. According to an initial timeline drawn by the Railways, all 151 private trains will be introduced by the end of financial year 2026-27. Proposals have been invited from companies to run these modern passenger trains on 109 pairs of routes across the country. The project would entail an investment of about Rs 30,000 crore. The request for qualification (RFQ), floated on July 8, is likely to be finalised by November. The financial bids will be open by March 2021 and selection ... Read more

IndiGo, India’s largest private airlines, has decided to lay off 10% of its workforce due to the economic crisis induced by COVID-19 pandemic, its chief executive officer Ronojoy Dutta said on Monday.  “It is for the first time in the history of IndiGo that we have undertaken such a painful measure,” Dutta said in a statement. “From where things stand currently, it is impossible for our company to fly through this economic storm without making some sacrifices, in order to sustain our business operations,” Dutta said. “Therefore, after carefully assessing and reviewing all possible scenarios, it is clear that we ... Read more

The Chilika Development Authority (CDA) has constructed a museum near Barkul, on the banks of the Chilika lake, to showcase the marine diversity of Asia’s largest brackish water lagoon. The project has been executed under the National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Ecosystems (NPCA) of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) at an investment of around Rs 50 lakh. Chief Executive of CDA Susanta Nanda said around 80 commercially important varieties of prawns, crabs and fish will be on display in the fish-shaped museum. “A total of 330 species of fish and 12 species of prawns of  Chilika sustain the ... Read more

The Japanese government’s plan to revive domestic tourism has run into rough weather, just 48 hours before the launch of its new travel campaign. The campaign, Go To Travel, has been designed to give a helping hand to the pandemic-ravaged tourism industry but policymakers are unable to set details on the contentious subsidy programme with citizens pointing to possible health hazards, a Japan Times report says. The campaign is scheduled to start off from July 22. The programme subsidizes domestic travel in Japan, with the government providing up to half of the costs of travels. Each tourist can get a ... Read more

One of India’s pioneering tour guides, V Balaram, passed away today morning due to cardiac arrest. He was 52-years-old. Balaram was a key driving force in popularising the Kerala Tourism brand in its initial days when very few guides could present a holistic view of Kerala and its culture. Balaram was a well-known German speaking guide, whose professionalism was instrumental in promoting Kerala as a destination of choice in source markets such as Austria, Germany and Switzerland. Armed with immense knowledge of various international cultures besides supreme command of Kerala’s tourism delights, he was associated with Tour India, one of ... Read more

Radisson Hotel Group South Asia has announced its partnership with table reservation and food discovery platform EazyDiner to strengthen its food and beverage capabilities in the region. The collaboration will serve all 94 operating hotels of the group’s portfolio in India and will include table booking and home delivery services, Radisson Hotel Group South Asia said in a statement. “We are excited to roll out our association with EazyDiner to usher in a new era of restaurant dining and safe food deliveries with participation across our network,” Radisson Hotel Group, South Asia, MD and VP Operations Zubin Saxena said. “This partnership ... Read more

Omran, the investment arm of Oman’s tourism ministry, will end a partnership with Port Investment Ltd (PIL) that entailed redevelopment of the Sultan Qaboos port. Omran will buy the 70% stake it doesn’t already own in Muttrah Tourism Development Co., established to redevelop Sultan Qaboos port for $1 billion, Bloomberg has reported.  It will make the acquisition at “a value as documented in the shareholders agreement,” Omran said in a statement. PIL is owned by Damac International, which is a joint venture between Damac PJSC and DICO Group. Mina Al Sultan Qaboos Waterfront was designed to include homes, offices, hotels ... Read more

In an effort to persuade more travellers to visit a portion of Eastern Montana, a coalition is seeking improvement to facilities along a 163-mile stretch of the Yellowstone River between Hysham and the North Dakota border. The 12-member Lower Yellowstone River Coalition — composed of business people, conservationists, politicians and recreation-minded individuals — sees the initiative as a way to boost tourism at a time when outdoor recreation is surging amongst a pandemic-anxious public, Billings Gazette has reported. “Outdoor recreation along the Yellowstone has not been promoted, nor seen its potential fully developed east of Billings, and it’s time to improve that situation ... Read more

Saudi Arabia is sticking by its target of attracting 100 million visits by 2030 despite the devastating impact of the coronavirus pandemic on its fledgling tourism sector, Arab News has reported. Saudi Tourism Authority Adviser Mahmoud Abdulhadi said that about a half a million tourism visas had been issued between last autumn and the arrival of the pandemic in the Kingdom in the spring, which brought international air travel to a halt. “Whenever there is a crisis of sorts (such as the coronavirus pandemic), tourism is probably the first to suffer but also the first to rebound, so this gives ... Read more

Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett, has warned that tourism entities that fail to comply with health and safety protocols designed to facilitate the phased reopening of the tourism sector amid the COVID-19 pandemic, will be shut down. Speaking at the Golf View Hotel in Manchester, during a tour of the newly opened South Coast Resilient Corridor on the weekend, the Minister stressed that: “If you are not COVID compliant we are going to shut you down and whether you’re big or you’re small, because we cannot compromise on health security.” Minister Bartlett said: “The start of the South Coast ... Read more

As Canada’s COVID-19 infections and deaths moderate, the explosion of new cases in the United States presents a challenge for Canadian authorities who must deal with both unwanted tourists slipping through the border and legitimate travellers who break the strict quarantine laws. The problem is compounded by a recent jump in crossings. More than 187,000 truck drivers and individuals entered last week from the US, a 30% increase over the end of May, according to news agency Reuters. While the border has been closed to non-essential travel since March 21, returning Canadians, essential workers and truckers, foreigners coming for family ... Read more

Icelandair has announced that it would be laying off all its flight attendants, ending a labour dispute with the crew members’ union that began last month. In an unprecedented move, the airline said it planned to have its pilots temporarily assume flight attendants’ roles overseeing the safety of those onboard, starting today. “Icelandair will permanently terminate the employment of its employment of its current cabin crew members and permanently discontinue the employment relationship between the parties,” Icelandair said in a statement. With this decision, Icelandair ended its ongoing contract negotiations with the Icelandic Cabin Crew Association (FFÍ) and will seek a contract with ... Read more

From today, Air India will open all its offices with full staff strength and normal shift hours. No special COVID-19 roster has been prepared. An order issued by the airline stated that all its offices will function in full strength from July 20 and no separate roster will be made for functioning under Covid-19 situation. Those not attending office will either have to apply for leave or will be marked absent, the notice said. The ‘work from home’ option will be granted only to pregnant women and with other medical conditions. Staff staying in containment zones can also apply for ... Read more