Category: Round Up

English Premier League champions Liverpool FC has announced a new global partnership with the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority and Economic Development Board of Mauritius, as the club’s official tourism and economic development partner. The deal forms part of the country’s drive to become a leading global tourist destination and business hub of Africa. The three-year partnership will see Mauritius benefit from a range of LFC digital, social media and marketing assets.  As well as being one of the top premier luxury holiday destinations in the world with one of the highest rates of return visitors, Mauritius is also one of ... Read more

The Confederation of Kerala Tourism Industries (CKTI) is seeking urgent financial aid from the government for the survival of the sector that has been ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic. The confederation said the government should take additional measures to help the 15 lakh employees who are directly linked to the travel/tourism/hospitality segment. Meanwhile, following a series of online meetings that saw representation from 35 registered trade associations, CKTI re-elected EM Najeeb as its chairman. The main objective is to ensure survival and then the revival of the industry, CKTI stated in a press release. The tourism sector is the most ... Read more

The Kerala High Court has refused to grant any relief to Johnny Paul Pierce, a 74-year-old US citizen, who had sought extension of his stay in India as he feels safer in Kerala than in America. The high court said that extension of visa tenure of foreign nationals is the exclusive domain of the Government of India. Justice CS Dias observed that a foreign citizen cannot claim fundamental right to reside and settle in India, adding that the power of the Government of India to expel foreigners is absolute and unlimited. Pierce’s visa is valid till January 26, 2025, but ... Read more

The Ministry of Tourism is facing criticism for allegedly favouring facilitators with minimal qualifications over approved tour guides, who have played the role of cultural ambassadors for years. Syed Imtiyaz Jaleel, Aurangabad’s Member of Parliament, has written to the ministry pointing out that these facilitators chosen by an online process are often just 10+2 qualified. “It seems, it is the policy of the tourism department to promote these facilitators to work as facilitator-cum-guides,” Jaleel wrote in his letter to Minister of Tourism, Prahlad Singh Patel.  The Department of Tourism was established 60 years ago and since then, the department has been ... Read more

he Hotel Association of India (HAI), which represents over 300 hotels across categories, has sought the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) support to tide over the financial crisis. The sector is staring at a ₹90,000 crore revenue loss in 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic. The current debt levels in the organized hospitality sector, which is barely 10% of the total industry, stands at ₹45,000 crore, the association said. RBI had announced relief on loan moratorium on interest and principal repayment for six months till August. “Unfortunately, an immediate term solution will only defer the crisis as what is needed is ... Read more

India’s first full-fledged international cruise terminal is ready for commissioning at the Ernakulam Wharf on Willingdon Island in Kerala. Sagarika, the ₹25-crore cruise terminal spread over 12,000 sq.ft., has facilities to handle up to 5,000 tourists arriving in cruise vessels. The commissioning was scheduled for April, but had to be postponed due the coronavirus crisis. A new date is expected to be announced shortly. The terminal can be an important milestone for Kerala’s tourism sector, as the number of cruise ships visiting Kochi has been increasing every year. But many of these vessels that bring in high-spending tourists to the ... 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

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

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

A consortium of Flight Simulation Technique Centre, Big Charter and Imperial Capital Investments LLC has reportedly secured $100 million that will be pumped into Jet Airways in order to revive the defunct airline. The consortium is one of the two bidders that submitted resolution plans for Jet Airways earlier this week. Lenders had shortlisted it, along with three other entities, for Jet Airways’ insolvency process back in June. Biraja Jena, Chairman of Dubai-based Imperial Capital, told Moneycontrol that they have secured $100 million from their partners. The investment banking and wealth management firm has also roped in Middle Eastern business house Taha Group as ... Read more