Author: Tourism News live

The Russian tourism industry has lost 187 billion euros over the past six months due to coronavirus, and it will take at least a year and a half to restore the industry to pre-crisis levels, president of the Russian Union of Travel Industry Andrei Ignatiev said, citing data from the Federal Tourism Agency. However, Ignatiev said that the situation has begun to change for the better. He said about 2.5 million people work in the tourism industry in Russia and 5-6 million people work in related industries. Tourism has already begun in the region, he noted, and expressed hope that ... Read more

The Dekho Apna Desh webinar series titled ‘Uttarakhand Simply Heaven’ highlighted the potential of tourism in Uttarakhand’s two regions namely Kedar Khand (Garhwal Region) and Manu Khand (Kumaon Region) and touched upon popular destination like Gangotri, Yamunotri, Badrinath, Kedarnath, Hemkhund Sahib and the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Valley of Flowers. The webinar session was presented by Pushpesh Pant, an eminent scholar, food historian and an expert in international relations, Ganesh Saili, a renowned author, noted photographer and an authority on the history of Uttarakhand and Shashank Pandey, a certified outbound trainer, MD of Aspen Adventures, Rishikesh. The session was ... Read more

Leisure tourists who would like to visit Thailand during a soft reopening may have to spend at least 14 days within designated areas, though a negative test for Covid-19 after two weeks would free them to go anywhere in the country, Bangkok Post has reported. Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, the tourism and sports minister, said his ministry has talked with Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha about creating a travel bubble for tourists, requiring them to plan a trip with a minimum 14-day stay. Instead of being kept in quarantine, tourists could still travel within five designated areas: Chiang Mai, Koh Samui, Krabi, Phuket ... Read more

Britain’s biggest holiday company Tui is seeking to reassure prospective customers by offering cover for passengers against coronavirus-related problems. The company has announced a “Covid-19 cover scheme” that will be provided with every holiday from the UK for the rest of 2020. If travellers are asked to self-isolate, it will cover the cost of an extended stay and a new return flight home. The scheme will also cover testing costs and, if medically required, repatriation. Andrew Flintham, managing director for Tui UK & Ireland, said: “It means that they can book with confidence, knowing that extra costs associated with Covid-19 that wouldn’t ... Read more

Dubai-based carrier Emirates has scheduled several repatriation flights to assist stranded Indians in the UAE after receiving the green light from the civil aviation authorities in India and the UAE. Repatriation flights to five Indian cities – Bengaluru, Delhi, Kochi, Mumbai and Thiruvananthapuram – are on track from July 12 to 26. The flights to Bengaluru and Mumbai are subject to state government approval. Frequency of flights between July 12 and 26 Bengaluru: Two daily flights Delhi: Two daily flights Kochi: Two daily flights Mumbai: Three daily flights Thiruvananthapuram: One daily flight Flights from India to Dubai These repatriation flights ... Read more

With Covid-19 throwing a spanner in the works of the international aviation industry, the well-heeled traveller is looking to engage private jets and chartered flights even more regularly. A chartered flight is an unscheduled flight that is not part of a regular airline’s routing. A chartered flight is any aircraft, whether an 8-seater private jet or a 180-seater airliner, exclusively rented for an itinerary.  They are usually classified into group charters or individual client flights.  With a group charter flight, the flying experience is determined by whomever is chartering the plane, whether it be for a special tour, or group travel or a ... Read more

India’s tourism minister Prahlad Singh Patel has said there won’t be any need to wait for long periods of time, to secure permission to shoot films in any of the monuments of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). Patel said that film makers will get permission for shooting within 3 weeks of applying online on the ASI website (asiegov.gov.in/login).  He further said that this move is aimed at not only promoting  film shooting within India, but will also increase the popularity of Indian monuments. Patel urged the film industry to shoot at less popular ASI monuments along with known ones, ... Read more

Punjab’s Tourism Minister Charanjit Singh Channi has directed the officials of the department to complete all projects on time, after assessing the situation along with the concerned officials. Principal Secretary Tourism & Cultural Affairs Hussan Lal, IAS, along with Director, Tourism and Cultural Affairs Kanwalpreet Kaur Brar held a review meeting to discuss the deadlines regarding completion of all projects. During the meeting the officials inspected the work on the Medal Gallery & Coin Museum being developed at Mohindra Kothi, Patiala, which is being done at an approximate cost of Rs. 8.95 crores with the help of the Asian Development ... Read more

Demand for charter flights from tier-2 cities is encouraging, IndiGo CEO Ronojoy Dutta has said. At present, the country’s largest airline is operating at 30% of its capacity, as restrictions by state governments on travel is hurting traffic. “The demand shows that we will reach 80% of our capacity by early next year,” Dutta said while addressing a webinar. “Our charter flights from the Middle East are good. And there is growth in smaller cities,” Dutta said. He said the airline’s passenger loads are decent, but added that in a route like Delhi-Ranchi, one leg may have 15 passengers, and ... Read more

Emirates plans to restore services to six more destinations from July 15 to August 15, bringing the carrier’s network to 58 cities. The Dubai-based carrier plans to resume flights to Geneva from July 15, Los Angeles from July 22, Dar es Salaam from August 1, Prague and Sao Paulo from August 2 and Boston from August 15. “We’ve seen an uptick in customer interest and demand since the announcement of Dubai’s re-opening, and also with the increased travel options that we offer as we gradually re-establish our network connectivity,” says chief commercial officer Adnan Kazim. “We continue to work closely with ... Read more

The Norwegian government has revised its coronavirus travel restrictions allowing people from many European (EU/EEA/Schengen) countries including the UK to visit Norway with no quarantine requirements from July 15. However, residents of Portugal, Hungary, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria and Luxembourg remain excluded due to the high rate of infection in those countries. With the exception of residents of Kronoberg, Skåne and Blekinge, Sweden also remains excluded. Norway’s Minister of Trade and Industry Iselin Nybø said the move was “good news” for Norway’s tourism industry. “Tourism companies across the country can now receive guests from a number of countries in Europe again. The ... Read more

The Croatian authorities have decided to open their borders for all travellers who intend to enter the country for business, tourism, or other personal reasons, including Americans. Despite the EU-wide entry ban on United States citizens, Croatia (a non-Schengen EU Member State), has taken the matter on its own hands and opened the borders to all EU/EEA nationals and individuals holding permanent residence in the EU/EEA countries, and more. According to a notice of the US Embassy in Zagreb, published in its official website, all third-country nationals have been eligible to enter Croatia since July 1.“All other foreign nationals, including ... Read more

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has called upon all travellers to don protective face masks to show they ‘wear to care’. As countries transition from lockdowns to reopening their borders, the wearing of face masks helps signal the return of safer travels, while also providing personal protection for users as well as those around them. WTTC’s call favouring mandatory mask wearing comes from evidence that countries which are recovering faster from COVID-19 are those where the use of face masks have been widely enforced and encouraged. Following medical guidance from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, WTTC advised ... Read more

Etihad Airways on Friday said it will operate a limited number of special flights from six Indian cities to Abu Dhabi between July 12 and July 26 for eligible passengers. The airline said it will operate services to Abu Dhabi from Bengaluru, Chennai, Kochi, Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai. “Eligible passengers include UAE nationals and residents as well as people with relevant UAE entry approvals from India. All passengers must have ICA approval from the government of Abu Dhabi before they travel and will not be permitted to check-in without the necessary approvals,” the airline said in its press release. ICA ... Read more

India’s national carrier Air India has started ticket bookings for five new flights from Dubai and Sharjah, scheduled to operate between July 11-14. The first of these flights, under the Vande Bharat Mission, will leave for Delhi from Dubai at 4 pm on Saturday. The rest of the flights will be from Sharjah. On Sunday, there will be two flights. Flight AI0904 will depart for Indore at 10.25am and AI1976 to Srinagar will depart at 11.40am. On July 13, there will be a flight to Chandigarh at 10.25am, followed by one to Ahmedabad on July 14. Announcing the schedule on ... Read more