Category: News

Lithuania is looking to attract tourists from Germany, Italy, France, the United Kingdom, Japan and China to boost revenues and is taking proactive steps to spread awareness. Keliauk Lietuvoje (Lithuania Travel), a national tourism promotion agency, has opened search for representatives in these countries for initiating tourism marketing services. The aim of tourism marketing services would be to raise the profile of Lithuania as a country attractive for tourists and to boost incoming tourist flows, the agency told news wire BNS. According to the Central Procurement Portal, the agency signed contracts with Milan-registered Aigo (257,100 euros, ex-VAT), Travel Link Market ... Read more

Expedition cruise specialists Rainforest Cruises has announced conservation-themed Amazon River Cruises in Peru, this year. Guests will have the rare opportunity to participate in critical pink river dolphin research and raise their awareness of conservation issues in the region, said Rustourismnews in a report. Two voyages aboard the Zafiro vessel will be hosted by the Rainforest Trust to promote conservation awareness. A representative from the charity will lead the cruise and guests will have the opportunity to learn about their initiatives and hear from guest speakers from the local Amazon Rescue Centre (CREA) about their conservation efforts, with a special focus on ... Read more

North Macedonia’s Minister of Economy Kreshnik Bekteshi has said the country has outlined a set of measures to support tourism amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Bekteshi declared that the support of local tourism, which is one of the most affected sectors by the coronavirus crisis, is the main priority for the Ministry of Economy. “Given that the hotel industry is most affected by the crisis, we will encourage activities related to training, conferences, and seminars in hotels. Events and conferences will be co-financed by 50% of the costs or up to 30,000 Macedonian Denar (about 549 US dollars) per applicant,” Bekteshi ... Read more

The Ghana Tourism Federation (GHATOF) has called on the government to turn its attention to the deteriorating tourism sector and commit enough resources to boost infrastructure for a better outcome. The Federation in a statement signed by the President, Bella Ayayee Ahu, noted that it has been working tirelessly to improve on service quality of the industry to ensure growth and development. According to the Federation, the state of physical and soft infrastructure in the sector, inadequate investments, reputation as a high cost destination, poor tourism support services, lack of professionalism and service quality are factors that continue to hamper ... Read more

The King Hussein International Airport has resumed domestic flights between Aqaba and Amman after flights were shut down due to travel restrictions to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. General Manager of Aqaba Airports Company (AAC) Nasser Majali told the Jordan News Agency, Petra, that the airport’s preparedness was “completely in accordance with the requirements and approvals of the Jordan Civil Aviation Regulatory Commission”. He said that arrangements have been made for the arrival and departure of domestic flights operated by local airlines, including Royal Jordanian, Jordan Aviation and Fly Jordan, stressing that the airport will “stringently adhere” to ... Read more

The US government has restricted charter flights from India, accusing it of “unfair and discriminatory practices” by violating a treaty governing aviation between the two countries, Bloomberg has reported. Air India has been making flights to repatriate its citizens during the travel disruptions caused by the Covid-19 outbreak, but also has been selling tickets to the public, the US Department of Transportation alleged. At the same time, US airlines have been prohibited from flying to India by aviation regulators there, the department said in its order. The situation “creates a competitive disadvantage for US carriers,” the agency said in a ... Read more

Delhi’s mango lovers are a disappointed lot. The annual mango festival organised by Delhi Tourism will not be organised this year at Dilli Haat, due to the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, a virtual edition of the mango festival will be organised to reminisce the previous years’ festivals. Over the years, Delhi Tourism’s annual mango festival has seen a wide variety of the fruit available for the visitors, drawing tourists from even outside the state. The festival has also been giving unique names to the fruits. Over the years, they have been named after famous actors, sportspersons and politicians, including Vidya Balan, Salman ... Read more

With Covid-19 cases continuing to rise steadily in Kerala, the government has decided to discourage travel of aged people and children below 10 years and enforce reverse quarantine vigorously. On Monday, the state reported 138 fresh cases taking the tally to 3,310, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s office said. In the last three days, the state has reported more than 100 Covid-19 cases daily. The government is worried because a large number of expatriates from Persian Gulf countries are expected in the coming days. More than 80% of recent Covid-19 cases in the state were expatriates or people who came from ... Read more

Guam is looking to open itself to tourists from July. The Guam Visitors Bureau is courting potential tourists from Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and other markets, but acknowledges that Guam has no control over other countries’ decisions to again allow their citizens to travel abroad or lift their 14-day quarantine requirements, or when airlines will resume their flights. Guam is a US island territory in Micronesia, in the Western Pacific. It’s distinguished by tropical beaches and ancient latte-stone pillars and has a distinct Spanish colonial heritage. Recognizing challenges to reviving the island’s main industry, The Guam Daily Post queried lawmakers on how ... Read more

The COVID-19 pandemic is not only causing distress in the health sector but has also brought other activities, including tourism, to a grinding halt leaving many families on the brink of uncertainty, news agency UNI has reported. After the ban on coal mining in April 2014, which was the highest revenue earner for the State’s exchequer, tourism had emerged as an economic saviour, but with the spread of coronavirus, which, subsequently led to the lockdown for nearly three months, stakeholders are now staring at a bleak future. With no tourists at all for nearly three months now, those running tourist ... Read more

Georgia’s plan to reopen the country to tourists while safeguarding the relatively under-control coronavirus situation was centred on allowing only tourists from countries that had minimal coronavirus outbreaks. But those plans took a hit when Israel – the first country with which Georgia had signed an agreement – experienced a spike in COVID-19 infections. “Papers are ready to be signed, but after the epidemiological environment worsened in Israel we sat down and decided to delay this,” Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia has said. Georgia is also in negotiations with Baltic countries, the Czech Republic, Poland and Austria over creating the green corridors, but nothing has ... Read more

The Ayush Department, which is into promoting alternative medicine systems in India, has introduced new schemes through its Ayur Raksha clinics to spread the message of ayurveda. The schemes – Swasthyam, Sukhayushyam, Punarjani, and Amritham – will be promoted through the clinics in government run ayurvedic institutions. Swasthyam is focussed on reducing the intake of medicines to focus on daily routine, seasonal routines, good food, and moderate exercise for physical and mental health Sukhayushyam is focussed on the health of the elderly. Medicines should not leave them sapped of energy but be able to boost their immunity. They should also ... Read more

Several organizations in Latvia’s tourism sector have sent an open letter to the European Commission (EC), drawing attention to the difficult situation in the sector, as well as the lack of government support. “In Latvia’s tourism sector, which accounts for almost 5% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), there is currently no indication that the situation is likely to improve. On the contrary, it is deteriorating every day,” said the representatives of the various organizations. According to them, Latvian tourism and hospitality companies are currently in a worse situation than they were during the 1998 Russian financial crisis and the financial ... Read more

Solomon Islands has called on the Australian and New Zealand governments to ask for their active consideration in allowing the COVID-19 free island nation to be included in a potential ‘South Pacific travel bubble’ when international travel restrictions are finally lifted. Tourism Solomon CEO, Josefa ‘Jo’ Tuamoto, while praising the government for the proactive steps it has taken, added that Australian and New Zealand travellers could be assured of their safety when visiting the destination. Australian and New Zealand travellers form the bulk of the country’s international visitor intake and allowing the destination to be included in the bubble would ... Read more

The Bahamas has reversed itself on COVID-19 tests for tourists. After announcing that foreign visitors and Bahamians returning home will not need to obtain a negative COVID-19 test when the country reopens on July 1 to international commercial flights, Tourism and Aviation Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar told Parliament that a negative test will now be required, Miami Herald has reported. “There has been much concern expressed about the reopening of the country to foreign visitors,” D’Aguilar said. “The Bahamas, which now requires a COVID 19 test to enter the country up to July 1, will also require a COVID-19 test after ... Read more