Category: News

The Eastern Caribbean island of Dominica is now open for tourism. The “Nature Island” officially reopened its borders to international travellers (including those from the United States) on August 7, Caribbean Journal has reported.   All travellers to Dominica must show proof of a negative COVID-19 test result taken within 72 hours prior to the day of their arrival. They must complete Dominica’s COVID-19 travel screening questionnaire, at least 24 hours prior to travel. Discover Dominica Authority CEO Colin Piper told Caribbean Journal that all travellers will be tested via Rapid Diagnostic Test upon arrival.  Those who are tested will be subject to mandatory quarantine ... Read more

Indians are the most confident in the world about resuming international travel once they are allowed to do so, according a travel survey. They also top the list of people most eager to travel internationally in the next 12 months with 77% saying they are keen to travel, followed by Thais at 70% and Indonesians at 60%, said news agency ANI, quoting the new survey. Singapore is the most favoured destination for people living in India, Indonesia, Thailand, Hong Kong and the Philippines when it comes to post-lockdown travel, said the newly released study conducted jointly by social research agency ... Read more

Dubai’s tourism and hospitality sectors are seeing a “rapid rebound” after the July 7 reopening, in a positive turn of events which has surprised the travel industry. Bookings by Emirates Airline and flydubai are also on the upswing, with the former now confirming 70 destinations, while flydubai will cover 66 destinations over summer, says a Gulf News report. “Since then (July 7), we have been greatly encouraged by the market’s response in the second phase of our recovery strategy, which was activated along with the gradual resumption of economic sectors, as well as the staggered and tentative restart of travel ... Read more

Equitable Tourism Options (EQUATIONS), a research and advocacy NGO working on environmental impact of tourism on local communities in India, has urged the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, to withdraw the draft Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) notification 2020. Instead, it should conduct a detailed and broad public consultation involving all stakeholders and the public in order to draft a strong and robust Act. “The proposed draft EIA Notification falls short in many ways, particularly with respect to tourism. It fails to take into account that tourism requires a robust environmental scrutiny,” the NGO has said. “The COVID-19 crisis ... Read more

Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta has expressed satisfaction with the measures being taken by stakeholders in the hospitality sector to protect tourists from the coronavirus pandemic. He said Kenya is ready to receive tourists and encouraged local and foreign travellers to take advantage of the prevailing low rates to visit the country’s famous tourist sites, says a report by CGTN Africa. “I want to take this opportunity to encourage every single Kenyan to take advantage and to travel…You can travel, you can move,” the President said. “And now as you know, we have also opened up our skies and flights are ... Read more

SpiceJet flew its first flight to Canada this week, carrying 352 passengers from New Delhi to Toronto. This marks the low-cost carrier’s second long-haul flight, after its recent Amsterdam flight. SpiceJet is pushing to break into the long-haul market, using wet leased A330neos, and now has permission to fly to the US and UK. SpiceJet’s flight to Canada is its first outbound repatriation flight, carrying Canadian citizens and residents to Toronto. The previous flight, from Amsterdam to Bangalore, and onward to Hyderabad, on August 1, was the carrier’s first long haul flight.  The flights are a part of India’s Vande Bharat Mission, which ... Read more

Millions of Americans consider Ireland a home away from home. But as the number of coronavirus cases in the United States surges, many Irish businesses say they have been forced to turn away some of their most lucrative customers – vacationing Americans – according to a report by NBC News. Most visitors to Ireland, including those from the US, have to fill out a COVID-19 Passenger Locator Form that includes their contact details while in the country and where they will be staying. They also are required to self-quarantine for 14 days, staying indoors and avoiding contact with other people as much as ... Read more

Alliance Air employees union president Binoy Viswam has questioned the Government’s decision to privatise Air India and introduction of the leave without pay policy for its employees. He stressed that over the past two years, the entire Air India organization has been severely affected by the Government’s decision to privatise the airline.  ”The uncertainty over the future as well as the Government’s decision to cut wages and introduced a leave without pay policy has caused great mental stress to all employees. In such circumstances, it is possible that the maintenance and safety of aircraft is also jeopardised and it is ... Read more

Pattaya’s famous Walking Street nightlife district is now open to vehicular traffic around the clock, but not everyone is pleased. Business owners in the Walking Street area are asking the Pattaya City government to extend the current trial allowing vehicles onto the street to all hours of the day. The trial was proposed as international borders are still closed due to the COVID-19 crisis, leading to a lack of tourists. An estimated 60% of its businesses remain closed, although some nightclubs are still popular, even with reduced traffic. The opening event on Friday night was led by Pattaya City Deputy Mayor ... Read more

The Karnataka government has tweaked its quarantine requirements and has dropped the seven-day institutional quarantine for international travellers. So far, international returnees had to undergo seven days of institutional quarantine, with the exception of those above 60 years of age, children under the age of 10, pregnant women and people with terminal illnesses who were allowed to self-isolate at home. But this rule has now been changed. Asymptomatic international returnees to Karnataka will undergo a 14-day home quarantine instead.  Those who are symptomatic will be sent to COVID-19 centres for testing. Their swabs will be taken, one for the rapid antigen ... Read more

By Swaroop Kallada, Secretary – Tourism Professionals Club It’s a bad time for the entire world. When the virus was detected in Wuhan, we were a little bothered about its consequences but never knew our lives would come to a standstill.  It’s a reality now that our passion alone cannot drive us to the end of the tunnel where things start to look   normal. We had dreams and our lives were colourful. But all of that has been shattered. India was known for its traditional hospitality, as far as tourism is concerned. And the secret was the passionate people ... Read more

Indian-Americans have welcomed India’s decision to restore the Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) card benefits, including the visa-free travel to the country, which were suspended in view of the coronavirus pandemic, reports PTI. The OCI card, which allows lifelong visa-free travel to India with certain limitations to people of Indian-origin, was suspended by the Indian government on April 11 amidst a nationwide lockdown and travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The sudden decision had created chaos and anxiety among the hundreds and thousands of Indian-origin people. A large number of them had taken to the social media platforms like ... Read more

The Punjab tourism department will provide free training and skill development to the youth in the state who are interested in a career in the tourism and hospitality industry post COVID-19. The tourism and cultural affairs minister of the state, Charanjit Singh Channi, said that more than 2000 students would be trained under the umbrella scheme of ‘Hunar Se Rozgar Tak’. The trained students will also be assisted in job placements. The minister said that a large number of tourism service providers in the unorganized sector require basic training and certification to provide better services standards and consumer satisfaction. Therefore, ... Read more

British Airways has announced that it will be operating five flights every week from Delhi and Mumbai, and four each week from Hyderabad and Bengaluru to London’s Heathrow airport from August 17. India and the United Kingdom had finalised their air bubble last month to rescue stranded nationals amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In its latest statement, the British Airways said that all passengers eligible as per the home ministry guidelines will be allowed to board the flights. “Wearing a facemask at all times and bringing enough to replace them every four hours for longer flights, ensuring they have everything they ... Read more

Jammu & Kashmir is looking to connect Gulmarg with Kargil and Drass in Ladakh, with a 600 km-long highway. The new highway will be constructed touching all the picturesque tourist spots in the Kashmir Valley, each of which will be “another Gulmarg”, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam has said. The project cost is estimated at Rs 8,000 crore. “We are planning to construct a 600 km road which will touch tourist attractions like Keran, Gurej and Machhal. The road will connect all unexplored tourist spots and picturesque valleys and help open them for the tourists,” Subrahmanyam told a ... Read more