Category: News

It has been a bad week for Mexican tourism promotion, and it got worse Friday when the English language version of the country’s tourism website appeared with hilarious mis-translations. Entire states like Hidalgo and Guerrero apparently got machine-translated as Noble and Warrior. Worse for the VisitMexico.com site, there was systematic and inexplicable re-invention of the names of some fairly well-known tourist towns. The Caribbean resort of Tulum somehow became Jumpsuit. The nearby lagoon of Bacalar, on the Caribbean coast, was switched to the Gulf coast state of Tabasco, said a report by the Associated Press. The snafu came one day after ... Read more

The Union health ministry has issued a set of revised guidelines for international arrivals, that kicked in from yesterday. As per the new guidelines, five categories of passengers are exempted from the mandatory seven-day institutional quarantine such as pregnant women, children below 10 years of age and passengers who are suffering from serious illnesses. Last month, India formed air travel bubbles with countries like the US, the UAE, France and Germany under which airlines of both the countries are allowed to operate special international flights with certain restrictions. Following are the key guidelines to be followed: 1) All travellers should submit ... Read more

By Sheik Ismail, Member – Tourism Care Foundation (TCF) Founded in April 2020, the Tourism Care Foundation (TCF) is a non-profit organization whose objective is to help and support people who have lost their jobs and businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic, specifically in the tourism industry. One day my friend, Gafoor, called me and over our conversation we both discussed about the industry and the need to help our friends during these difficult times. During this pandemic, we have witnessed and noticed many of our colleagues facing utmost difficulty in meeting their basic and unavoidable needs like food, medicine, their ... Read more

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has said that the state would be supporting tourism sector employees who have been affected by the pandemic by protecting as many jobs as possible. Speaking at a meeting with Rhodes tourism professionals, Mitsotakis committed to provide for tourism sector employees, particularly seasonal staff in the “hard winter ahead”, to preserve as many jobs as possible, and to protect income “until the next tourist season, which I want to believe, I am almost certain, will be very different”, he said. The prime minister added that seasonal enterprises, those that generate over 50% of their turnover in the summer will be ... Read more

Portugal’s national tourism body Turismo de Portugal has launched a new travel insurance product for foreign tourists travelling to the country in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The insurance product has been introduced with the aim of showcasing that the country is safe for travellers and covers a range of different expenses including medical, surgical, pharmaceutical, and hospital charges associated with coronavirus. It also covers additional expenses that may occur from cancellation, interruption, or the extension of trips. According to reports, the insurance is valid for mainland Portugal and the autonomous regions of Madeira and Azores. It is also ... Read more

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has proposed creating an Ayurveda Tourism Task Force, with an objective of bringing all the key stakeholders on a common platform. The task force will plan and strategize on a road map to develop Ayurveda Tourism by working closely with the government and co-create solutions with the help of the stakeholders. Manish Ahuja, Head -Tourism & Director of FICCI, has invited Sajeev Kurup, managing director of Ayurvedamana Hospitals, to become the chairperson of the task force and lead Ayurveda Tourism to the next level. In the wake of the pandemic, ... Read more

Uttarakhand is looking to develop a ‘Ramayana Circuit’, comprising all holy sites linked with Ramayana in the state, to boost religious tourism. Under the initiative, officials are keen to bring holy sites associated with Ramayana and build them for tourists to visit and learn about. “We have some holy sites and temples in the state which are linked with Ramayana. We will develop all of them and bring it under our initiative of Ramayana circuit to boost religious tourism in the state,” state tourism minister Satpal Maharaj said. “We have some holy sites and temples in the state which are ... Read more

India’s Ministry of Tourism has partnered with OutsiteVR, a travel tech startup, to empower people to travel within India virtually. OutsiteVR is an experiential platform that allows you to virtually travel across popular heritage sites, historical monuments and tourist attractions using a smartphone, desktop, or VR headset. Here, one can explore interesting places in the country right from the ancient Key Monastery, Himachal Pradesh in the north to the picturesque Kannur Light House, Kerala in the south. You can also stroll the streets of the west for handicraft and traditional culture and finally venture all the adventures of India’s beautiful ... Read more

Abdulla Mausoom has been appointed as Maldives’ new minister of tourism. Maldives President Ibrahim Solih, in a ceremony held at the President’s Office in capital Male, officially presented Mausoom as minister of tourism. Mausoom was serving as the resident ambassador of the Maldives to Singapore, and non-resident ambassador of the Maldives to New Zealand, prior to his appointment to cabinet. Mausoom is a long-time parliamentarian who has previously served in Cabinet as minister of tourism and aviation, and minister of environment, energy and water. He was a board member of Maldives Association of Tourism Industry. Mausoom’s appointment comes following the ... Read more

Goa has framed new quarantine rules by which institutional quarantine has been made mandatory for symptomatic passengers till test result is available. The new directives require all passengers landing in Goa to go for 14-day home quarantine or 14 days of paid institutional quarantine. Passengers can skip home quarantine in the following cases: If the passenger furnishes a COVID-19 negative certificate issued by an ICMR-recognized lab. The test should not be older than 48 hours prior to the arrival in Goa. If the passenger chooses to take a swab test upon landing at a cost of INR 2000, and goes ... Read more

The iconic Emirates A380 will begin serving travellers on flights to Toronto starting August 16. The airline has already resumed A380 operations to Amsterdam, Cairo, Paris, London Heathrow and Guangzhou.  Customers can fly the Emirates A380 from Dubai to Toronto five times a week. Flights can be booked on emirates.com or via travel agents. Emirates flight EK 241 will depart Dubai at 9:10 and arrive in Toronto at 15:05 local time. The return flight, EK 242 will depart Toronto at 21:45 and arrive in Dubai at 18:30 local time, the following day. The Emirates A380 experience remains a favourite amongst travellers for its spacious ... Read more

The United States has lifted an advisory from March that said US citizens should avoid all international travel due to the coronavirus pandemic. But American travellers are still restricted or banned in many parts of the world, including in the European Union. The State Department on Thursday said it would instead resume travel services considering each country on a case-by-case basis. The announcement comes as President Donald Trump seeks a quick return to normal in the United States, which has suffered by far the highest number of deaths from COVID-19. “With health and safety conditions improving in some countries and ... Read more

Sayaji Hotels has reopened its Indore, Pune, Vadodara, Kolhapur and Raipur properties. The Hotel Group has also put in place a ‘Care beyond compare’ initiative, designed to meet the health and safety challenges presented by COVID-19. Through this programme, the patrons will be informed and updated about the change in services, designs & standards of operations that will be congruent to the norms of social distancing, safety & hygiene of the staff and cleanliness of the hotel. The properties have been opened after a two-day cleanliness inspection conducted by Rakshit Sharma, Head-HR and Dinesh Dahiya, VP Sales, Sayaji Hotels Ltd. Said ... Read more

Leading international online travel services provider Trip.com has announced a strategic partnership with AirAsia.com, counted as ASEAN region’s fastest growing travel and lifestyle e-commerce platform.  The strategic partnership will see Trip.com Group and AirAsia.com collaborate on a range of popular products and services available on both digital platforms, including cooperation in the areas of transit information for connecting flights, membership benefits and product marketing, to deliver an enhanced and streamlined experience for travellers. The cooperation is expected to generate synergies for both digital platforms, and is a joint initiative to spur greater demand for international travel by providing travellers with an ... Read more

TGI Hotels and Resorts has announced that seven of its properties have won the TripAdvisor 2020 Travellers’ Choice Awards. La Montana by TGI – Ooty, TGI Star Holidays Resort – Yercaud, TGI Kairos – Yelagiri, TGI Grand Fortuna – Hosur, South End by TGI – Bangalore, Fountain Tree by TGI – Bangalore and TGI Apple INN – Jaipur are the properties that have won the awards. “We are immensely delighted about the recognition. This incredible news could not have come at a better time for our team,” said Amit Kumar – Chief Marketing Officer of TGI Hotels & Resorts. “It is uplifting and much appreciated to ... Read more