Category: News

French Polynesia’s president Edouard Fritch plans to go to Paris next month in an effort to secure loans amounting to $525 million to deal with the Covid-19 crisis. In an address to the assembly, Fritch said $375 million would be sought for the running of the territory whose tourist industry was crippled by the virus outbreak. He said $US150 million was needed for the social security agency CPS. Fritch stressed the need to open up for tourism, citing the plight of Bora Bora whose 10,000 inhabitants have been hardest hit. He said its employees in the tourism sector missed out ... Read more

Morocco’s minister of tourism Nadia Fettah said the country was committed to extending  cooperation with their “brotherly Arab countries” in the field of tourism. During a virtual meeting, Fettah said Morocco is keen to reinforce “joint Arab action” and consolidate the “distinguished relations” between Arab countries, Morocco World News said in a report. The Moroccan minister also emphasized the importance of solidarity and joint action among Arab countries to preserve the resilience of the tourism sector amid the current global crises.  The Arab League, the World Tourism Organization, and Arab and regional organizations must support the tourism sector and mitigate ... Read more

Pranayama will help us in building immunity and curing respiratory illnesses, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said. Addressing the nation on Yoga Day 2020, Modi emphasised the benefits of yoga and how it is helping the world in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. “Yoga is helping us in this fight against this pandemic. The pranayama will help us in building immunity and resolving respiratory illnesses,” he said. Highlighting the importance of exercises, PM Modi requested citizens to make yoga a part of their regular life. “All of us are doing yoga at home with the family. International Day of Yoga ... Read more

DJ Hector It’s a trickle. But that’s enough for now. Green shoots have started to dot the domestic tourism map of Kerala, with guests braving the pandemic to light up their travel plans. Let’s take the example of Gokul and Suramya, a honeymooning couple, who decided to drive all the way from Thiruvananthapuram to Wayanad to beat the lockdown blues. It wasn’t an easy decision to make, considering the surge in coronavirus cases not just in Kerala but across India itself. Their parents and relatives had suggested some places near Thiruvananthapuram for their stay. A few others did not want ... Read more

Tomorrow is International Day of Yoga. The mass performance of the Common Yoga Protocol (CYP) – one of the most popular Yoga programmes across the world – will remain at the heart of the International Day of Yoga (IDY) like always, but this year it will be observed in a non-congregative manner. Yoga is an invaluable ancient Indian practice with numerous benefits to both physical and mental health. Given the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic including restrictions on the movement of people and a slowdown in economic activity, the benefits offered by Yoga have become especially important for physical ... Read more

To boost domestic tourism in India, safety and hygiene at travel destinations will be important,  tourism minister Prahlad Singh Patel has said. Tourists want to ensure that the places where he is staying, eating and travelling are safe and sanitized, he said. All over the world, with the lockdown being enforced and flights being halted, places that mainly rely on tourism for their revenue have been suffering. Moreover, the hesitation of most people regarding the sanitization of the destinations is also a major hurdle. In an interaction with the Indian Express, he said India needs to show a new spirit ... Read more

Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel has promised free vouchers for tourists for a one-night stay in the country. All citizens and workers from the border regions above 16 years of age can benefit from the deal. Soon, the 700,000 vouchers will be on their way. Each will be worth 50 euros. Their validity will be until the end of the year. The money cannot be spent on meals or activities but can be combined within one family or a couple – for example, two persons can combine and have 100 euros deducted on their accommodation invoice for one night. The ... Read more

Costa Rica’s government will halt reopening the country’s economy due to an increase in the number of coronavirus cases over recent days, a senior official said on Friday. The Central American nation which has already lost 100,000 jobs due to the pandemic, and this decision will hit the economy hard. “These are not numbers to think that nothing is wrong and that we can continue with the reopening,” Health Minister Daniel Salas said during a news conference. Over the last 24 hours, Costa Rica has registered a record 119 new coronavirus infections, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to ... Read more

Denmark will further open its borders to countries with an “acceptable level” of coronavirus infections, softening travel restrictions that were set until August 31. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has said that the government will set criteria that will allow travel to and from certain countries. There are however no details or explanation yet regarding what the “objective criteria” are. “It will make it easier to continuously open (borders) for entry and exit and still have control over the situation at home,” Frederiksen said. On June 15, Denmark began reopening its borders to tourists from Germany, Norway and Iceland. It also allows ... Read more

Monaco is slowly opening up its tourist points to travellers, after reopening its borders on June 15. Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a sovereign city-state, country, and microstate on the French Riviera in Western Europe. The Tourist and Convention Authority’s information points, located on Boulevard des Moulins and at the train station, are once again welcoming visitors to the Principality. To respect social distancing measures implemented by the Prince’s Government, tourists will be able to consult digital brochures online and via QR Codes. The French Riviera, which includes the Principality of Monaco, Nice and the Alpes-Maritimes region, along ... Read more

Israel has said that travellers coming in from Greece will not have to partake in the 14-day Covid-19 quarantine. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu  met with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakisis to discuss reopening tourism between the two countries, setting August 1 as the date to open the borders.  “We are thrilled that we have been able to set a date for resuming international tourism, beginning with Greece,” said Asaf Zamir, Isreal’s Minister of Tourism. “This is an important development for the citizens of our two countries and a critical step in restoring the travel industry around the globe, helping to position us ... Read more

Jamaica, which reopened its borders to international travellers on June 15, is looking to scale up tourism back to pre-coronavirus levels. Like many Caribbean islands, Jamaica’s economy is heavily dependent on tourism, accounting for 35% of GDP and 120,000 jobs. The country’s tourism sector saw record breaking growth in 2019, but hopes of repeating that this year was put on hold when the coronavirus pandemic halted travel globally, Travel Market Report said. As the country once again begins to welcome visitors, it’s with a rigorous and thorough set of protocols in place to protect workers and guests. Jamaica’s Director of ... Read more

Aruba has announced that the country will welcome tourists from the Caribbean (with the exception of Dominican Republic and Haiti), Europe, and Canada from July 1. Visitors from the United States will be allowed from July 10. Official opening dates for other markets, including South America and Central America are yet to be determined. The decision to reopen borders, which were closed due to COVID-19 restrictions in early-March, was made in conjunction with the Department of Health, taking into consideration the ongoing guidance from the World Health Organization (WHO) and Centre for Disease Control (CDC) in the United States. “The safety ... Read more

Raj Gopaal Iyer, CEO of UDS Group of Hotels, believes Kerala should have the right marketing strategies to showcase medical and leisure tourism. The state government should come up with a proper agenda/plan to submit before the Central government, thereby helping employees retain their jobs, he says. But the biggest problem he believes is the poor air connectivity to Thiruvananthapuram, with tourists ending up spending more on airfare than accommodation. Excerpts: Q: When we spoke a few weeks ago, the coronavirus crisis was on its ascendency. But now we are in a phase where the virus is spreading at an ... Read more

Earlier this week, Garuda Indonesia had announced that its flight attendants will forego wearing face masks, thereby attempting to go in a completely different direction to that of every other airline in the world. However, on Friday, the flag carrier said it is scrapping the plan. Garuda’s boss Irfan Setiaputra had previously announced that the airline was considering face shields as an alternative to masks to ensure that customers could see the facial expressions of the cabin crew. On Friday, however, Irfan said face shields “will not replace face masks but will complement them instead”. “We are evaluating the most ... Read more