Category: News

“I believe I’ll never see her alive again.” Bettina Wintermark worries that her adopted country Norway’s pandemic travel ban means she won’t be able to make one last visit to her dying mother in France. The Scandinavian country, which was quick to bring the new coronavirus under control, has ignored calls to lift, or at least ease, its travel restrictions, making it probably the most closed nation in Europe, according to news agency AFP. Most non-residents are still not allowed to enter the country, and while foreign trips are not forbidden for Norwegians, the 10-day quarantine requirement upon return to ... Read more

The Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG) has urged Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to not further delay restarting tourism in the State.  A delegation of the TTAG met the Chief Minister on Tuesday with a letter requesting to unlock the tourism industry that has been shut due to COVID-19 induced lockdown. They claimed that closure of the tourism sector has severely impacted the stakeholders.  “Closures of all the hotels, restaurants and bars on account of COVID-19 and the closures have continued from March 2020 till now but it cannot remain closed for a much longer period as there ... Read more

The Kerala government has said it is in talks with India’s central government on mandatory pre-flight COVID-19 testing for expats. A decision in this regard is expected shortly. Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said while the state is looking at enforcing the pre-flight testing from June 25 for chartered and private flights, a final decision on the same will be taken only in consultation with the central authorities. Of the 2,711 positive cases since May 4, 2,595 cases are of people who returned to Kerala from either abroad or other parts of the country. The Chief Minister had earlier written ... Read more

Italy’s massive tourism industry has taken a hit from two months of total shutdown and an ongoing ban on visitors from outside Europe. Hence, in a bid to revive the sector, which makes up 13% of the country’s GDP and 15% of jobs, some parts of the country are offering incentives to holiday in Italy this summer, reports The Local.it. Here’s a guide to what’s on offer if you’re planning to travel to Italy this summer. Sicily The island’s government wants to give discounts on plane tickets, subsidise hotel stays and cover the cost of guided tours for visitors arriving in ... Read more

People travelling from outside of the EU and the Schengen area will be able to visit Spain from June 30. Transcontinental non-essential travel to Spain from outside of Europe has been given the green light by the Spanish government, following the EU’s recommendation for member states to gradually reopen their borders from June 15 onwards. Tourists from the USA and Canada, Latin America, Africa, Oceania and Asia will in theory be able to book their holidays to Spain from that day, although the announcement published in Spain’s daily government bulletin states that restrictions on holidaymakers from outside of the EU and Schengen ... Read more

The tourism industry in Japan is showing signs of a gradual pickup after the novel coronavirus crisis dealt it a severe blow. According to a Japan Times report, many lodging facilities that resumed business after the lifting of the government’s coronavirus state of emergency in May are seeing a gradual recovery in reservations this month, mainly from local customers. Financial aid from local governments for regional tourism has also contributed to a pickup in demand. However, inbound tourists from outside Japan remain almost non-existent, and concerns over a second wave of coronavirus infections linger. “Cancellations of domestic travel reservations have ... Read more

European Union countries desperate to revive their economies and reopen borders to tourists may bar US citizens from entering because the country’s efforts to contain the coronavirus pandemic has not shown any positive results, the New York Times reported on Tuesday. Drafts of lists of countries that would be blocked show that the US — which has had at least 2,312,302 confirmed cases and 120,402 deaths, the most in the world — is among those under consideration for the ban along with Brazil and Russia, the paper reported. EU nations are considering potential lists of visitors who would be acceptable based on how their ... Read more

Restrictions on travel, introduced in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, are slowly being eased, allowing tourism to restart in a growing number of destinations, the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) said on Tuesday. According to the UNWTO’s latest research, as of 15 June, 22% of all destinations worldwide (48 of them) have started to ease restrictions – up from just 3% (7 destinations) on May 18 – with Europe leading the way. Destinations that have eased travel restrictions for tourists include: – 37 destinations in Europe, including 24 of the 26 Schengen Member States– 6 destinations in the Americas, including 5 Small Island Developing States– 3 destinations in Asia and the ... Read more

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has released the third phase of its ‘Safe Travels’ measures designed to rebuild global consumer confidence and reduce risk in the Covid-19 context. The latest focus covers the reopening of global attractions, holiday rentals and car hire companies. Protocols for the attractions industry were compiled on the basis of insights and frameworks developed by the Global Association for the Attractions Industry. The measures increase the focus on health, safety and physical distancing standards for venues such as amusement parks, aquariums, family entertainment centres, museums, science centres, theme parks, water parks, zoos and other ... Read more

With the coronavirus community transmission looming, the Thiruvananthapuram city corporation has clamped down on travel, by restricting key entry points and enhancing patrolling of affected areas. The functioning of Palayam and Chalai markets and major shopping centres will be affected as shops can only be opened on alternate days. The police will control the entry of people into public places. This could affect domestic tourists to a great extent.  The decision will be applicable to malls and supermarkets also. The city has decided to strengthen monitoring of fishermen going to Tamil Nadu shores.  All shops should have washing areas and sanitisers ... Read more

India is considering establishing “individual bilateral bubbles” with the US, the UK, Germany and France allowing airlines of each country in the pact to operate international passenger flights, the Aviation Ministry said on Tuesday. The ministry’s statement has come after the US Department of Transportation announced on Monday that it has barred Air India from operating chartered flights between India and the United States from July 22 without its prior approval, in an apparent retaliation for the Indian government not allowing American carriers to operate between the two countries. The Aviation Ministry said, “As we contemplate further opening up in ... Read more

Shillong now has another tourism attraction in arsenal. Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma has inaugurated a set of Orchid Log Houses overlooking the beautiful hills of Mawdiangdiang. The tourism project is funded under the Swadesh Darshan initiative of the Ministry of Tourism. Mawdiangdiang is located 6 km from Shillong towards the east. The Meghalaya government expects that the canopy walkway and the log houses will be a sought-after tourist attraction even as the state is planning to formulate a novel tourism strategy to attract high-end domestic tourists. In the wake of the COVID-19 situation when foreign travel is still likely to ... Read more

Hundreds of thousands of people are now on the move in Central and Southeast Europe as travel restrictions imposed to contain the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) are eased, according to a news report by Intellinews. Croatia More than 350,000 tourists are now in Croatia and the number is rising by the day, Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic said last week. Admittedly this is low compared to last year, when 20 million people visited the country, but it is positive news for the tourism-dependent country that is trying to save at least part of the summer season this year ... Read more

Although Karnataka has cleared its new tourism policy (2020-25), for the district of Chikkamagaluru a separate policy is being formulated, to address the growing concerns of environmentalists and conservationists. The hill district with just a population of 12 lakh receives a tourist footfall of 85 lakhs annually. In the wake of rampant violations — construction of resorts, roads, exploitation of water resources in ecologically fragile areas and spoilage of hills ranges by irresponsible tourists — the need for a separate tourism policy was felt, New Indian Express said in a report. Efforts have begun to frame guidelines so as to make ... Read more

To overcome the revenue loss caused by the lack of foreign tourists during the coronavirus pandemic, Estonia’s Ida-Viru County has launched a campaign with the goal of attracting at least 100,000 tourists over the summer. Ida-Viru County, or Ida-Virumaa, is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is the most north-eastern part of the country. The county contains large deposits of oil shale – the main mineral mined in Estonia. As oil shale is used in thermal power plants, Ida-Viru contains most of Estonia’s energy resources. Last year, a record year for tourism, saw 91,000 tourists stay in Ida-Virumaa from ... Read more