Author: Tourism News live

Johnnie Walker, the whisky which traces its roots back 200 years, will soon be available in paper bottles. Diageo, the drinks giant that owns the brand, said it plans to run a trial of the new environmentally-friendly packaging from next year. The brand, popular with travellers the world over, is sold in glass bottles, but the firm is now looking for ways of using less plastic across its products, according to a report by the BBC. Whisky tours are very popular with tourists who visit Scotland and Diageo is playing a role. The Johnnie Walker Princes Street attraction is the ... Read more

Online travel company Yatra.com on Tuesday said it has entered into a partnership  with upGrad Enterprise (the B2B arm of online higher education firm upGrad), thus foraying into the educational technology (edutech) segment. As the company aims to diversify its portfolio beyond travel, this partnership will enable its corporate clients to deliver advanced learning and skill development for their employees, Yatra.com said in a statement. Yatra.com, however, did not disclose any financial details of the partnership. “In a tough economic climate, it is important to develop and reskill the workforce to overcome the challenges being presented. We are excited to join forces with ... Read more

For the next seven weeks, Dubai’s residents and visitors can shop, relax, eat and repeat with amazing deals and offers on luxury hotel stays, beachfront adventures and family-fun getaways. Dubai Summer Surprises (DSS), which runs until August 29, is part of Dubai’s annual retail calendar that features major retail-based celebrations, mega sales and exclusive retail experiences and attractions aimed at further enhancing the retail sector. This summer season, Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment (DFRE) highlights a great selection of unmissable hotel offers that will transform your summer into an unforgettable vacation in the city. The following are the details put ... Read more

Jammu and Kashmir reopened to tourists on Tuesday, allowing only air travellers to enter the territory. The decision to partially reopen the region was taken by the government, which stated that safety guidelines will have to be strictly followed by the tourists. “There will be partial opening of the tourism sector for visitors from outside J&K, limited to tourists arriving by air only,” the government said in a statement. “In the view of the COVID related measures, it was imperative to put in place a protocol to be followed by the tourists as well authorities engaged in the hospitality sector.” ... Read more

Andhra Pradesh is preparing to develop its tourism sector after suffering heavy losses over the past six months. As part of this, tourism minister Avanthi Srinivas conducted an industry review recently and decided to set up five-star and seven-star hotels across seven tourist destinations in the state by forging public-private partnerships. He said the tourism department had lost a total of Rs 60 crores at the rate of Rs 10 crores per month due to the coronavirus pandemic. Earlier this year, the tourism department had completed the construction of nine tourism control rooms in various districts across the state for ... Read more

The Union Tourism Ministry organised a webinar under its “Dekho Apna Desh” series on the topic ‘Himachal: Around the next bend’ focusing on the beautiful villages, mountains, pristine rivers, culture and heritage of Himachal Pradesh. Himachal Pradesh is a northern Indian state in the Himalayas. It’s home to scenic mountain towns  such as Dalhousie. Host to the Dalai Lama, Himachal Pradesh has a strong Tibetan presence. This is reflected in its Buddhist temples and monasteries, as well as its vibrant Tibetan New Year celebrations. The region is also well known for its trekking, climbing and skiing areas. Swathed by cedar, ... Read more

California has clamped new restrictions on businesses as coronavirus cases and hospitalisations soared, forcing the governor to close all popular entertainment destinations. Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, ordered bars closed and restaurants, movie theatres, zoos and museums across the nation’s most populous state to cease indoor operations. Gyms, churches and hair salons must also close in the 30 hardest-hit counties, Reuters reported. “It’s incumbent upon all of us to recognize soberly that COVID-19 is not going away any time soon, until there is a vaccine and/or an effective therapy,” Newsom said at a news briefing. The governor called the move ... Read more

Hotel Association of India (HAI), the apex body of the hotel industry in India, has said it will wholeheartedly support Jammu & Kashmir’s further development as a tourism destination. At the recently concluded India Global Week, KB Kachru, Vice President, Hotel Association of India and Chairman Emeritus and Principal Advisor South Asia, Radisson Hotel Group called on investors to consider J&K for their new ventures citing good returns based on promising infrastructure and in the Union Territory.  The India Global Week 2020 was recently inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and witnessed the presence of several luminaries from across the ... Read more

Thousands of Australians have been left in travel limbo in Bali after Indonesia announced that it will end emergency stay visas handed to foreigners at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Immigration has announced that the temporary visas many Australians have been using to stay on the island while the pandemic passes will end in just 30 days, Channel 9 News has reported. After that period, all foreigners without an authorised visa will need to leave Indonesia, unless there are no flights available to return to their home countries. That could mean the 3000 Australians tourists currently in Bali on emergency visas ... Read more

More than 500 Nicaraguan workers in the tourism and hotel industry, who have lost their jobs due to the Covid-19 health crisis, have been stranded for more than three months in the Cayman Islands,  because of the government’s refusal to allow them their right to return home, says a report by Confidencial, a leading weekly newspaper. “We want to return to our homeland; it is our constitutional right. We are out of work, and we are surviving thanks to the good heart of the government and the people of the Cayman Islands who have been supporting us”, said Earny Atly, ... Read more

Sri Lanka’s second underwater museum has opened, off the Sandy Bay beach in Trincomalee. The island’s first ever underwater museum was inaugurated earlier this year in the Galle Harbour. The museum was built utilizing the manpower of the Sri Lanka Navy. All the statues placed here have been handmade by naval personnel and these unique sculptures have been produced from concrete and eco-friendly materials. The site will promote the formation of corals which will be an added feature with the passage of time. The museum has been set at a depth of around 60ft within an area of 150ft length and ... Read more

Full-service carrier Vistara has announced a set of safety measures for its customers as part of its safe-flying initiative. The “FlyerCode” initiative comes following a survey conducted by the airline recently in which as many as 55% of the respondents expressed fear of exposure while travelling and apprehension about fellow passengers not following health and safety protocols, Vistara said in a release. The airline has urged the customers to follow the set of measures for safe-flying and remain careful, observant, distanced and empathetic, whenever they fly. As part of the FlyerCode, Vistara has urged its customers to provide all their ... Read more

Hong Kong Disneyland will shut down again on Wednesday because of an uptick in coronavirus cases, less than a month after it reopened, Disney said on Monday. According to the company, the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort hotels will remain open but with reduced services. The theme park first closed in January and then reopened on June 18. Hong Kong’s Department of Health has reported a spike in coronavirus cases in recent days. The department reported 28 confirmed cases on Saturday and an additional 38 cases on Sunday, to take the total number of cases to over 1,470. In contrast Orange County, Florida, ... Read more

Philippines speaker Alan Peter Cayetano wants the government to ramp up testing among tourism frontliners as the country prepares for reviving domestic tourism. Cayetano cited the need to include tourism in the government’s plan to expand its testing strategy to cover nonmedical frontliners, who are not showing symptoms of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19). He also urged the Department of Tourism (DoT) to work with the Task Force Test, Trace, Treat and the private sector to accelerate the plan to conduct Covid-19 testing for the workers in key tourist destinations, Manila Times has reported. “An aggressive and sustained Covid-19 testing ... Read more

German flag carrier Lufthansa has announced that it will cut 20% of its leadership positions and 1,000 administrative jobs, in a restructuring plan to cope with the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.  After downsizing the executive board of the Lufthansa parent company, the corporation is now also planning similar actions at its subsidiaries, with Lufthansa Cargo AG, LSG Group, and Lufthansa Aviation Training set to lose one board position each.  The airline said that it would also halve its investment in new aircraft, although it could still add up to 80 new planes by 2023. According to a statement, ... Read more