Category: News

About 70% of OYO’s hotels in China have reopened. The Indian hospitality firm is witnessing a slow rise in bookings in China, which is its second largest global market after India. OYO is present right across China in most of its prominent locations. It has 500,000 rooms in China, contributing 32% of OYO’s global revenue. The company said: “We have seen a consistent rise in occupancy in the last five weeks. We are witnessing over 50% occupancy rates in South China in comparison to North China.” OYO currently has plans in place to open the remaining hotels over the next ... Read more

Today we are taking you to the land of bisibele bath, coffee, silk and Mysore Pak. It’s also the land of brave Queen Rani Chennamma also known as Kittur Chennamma of the princely state of Kittur who led an armed rebellion against the East India Company. Yes, we are taking a trip to Mysuru. We probably know enough of the Mysore Palace and the Brindavan Gardens, and hence we are not going into it. Today what we are going to bring to you is a joint initiative between the ministry of tourism and another government institution the National Institute of ... Read more

Hawaii will discourage tourists from visiting its vacation hotspots till end of June. The coronavirus related stay-at-home measures will continue up until that period, state governor David Ige has said. The current 14-day mandatory quarantine for everyone traveling into the state, which began in March, will certainly be extended until the end of next month, Ige said in an online question-and-answer session late on Thursday. Tourism is a big part of Hawaii’s economy – more than 10.4 million visitors came to the islands last year, supporting some 216,000 jobs in a population of around 1.4 million, a Reuters report said. ... Read more

China’s COVID-19 lockdown has ended, and travel is tentatively restarting. In this article, McKinsey looks at how the country has recovered so far, what Chinese travellers think about their future travel, and how industry players are responding to these trends. Countries and regions around the globe are gradually moving past the peak of the pandemic. We hope that China’s experience can shed light on what other countries can—and cannot—expect for their own travel recoveries. How tourism in China is restarting Mainland China’s lockdown is over; new domestic reported cases of COVID-19 are practically zero. Businesses remain cautious, but almost all offices, ... Read more

Dubai Tourism has come out with detailed guidelines for the tourism and hospitality sectors to safeguard travellers. It has said large outdoor tourism activities involving more than five people, sports events, parties, hotel amenities like swimming pools, spas, sauna, gyms and prayer rooms will not be permitted. All outdoor activities involving less than five persons are allowed. Water sports activities, boat and bike rentals, jet skis and sky diving are permitted, in a controlled environment. Public beaches are still closed, except for tourism activities as mentioned. Food and beverages are allowed, but restaurants, cafes and foot stands need to follow ... Read more

France has decided to pump in €18 billion (US$19 billion) to support its tourism sector, in one of the biggest relief packages the industry has seen across the globe. The tourism sector has been hammered by the COVID-19 crisis, resulting in worldwide shutdown of beaches, leisure attractions and hotels. Businesses with just 20 employees and €2 million in annual revenue in the tourism, hotel and restaurant sector will also be able to tap a solidarity fund until the end of the year, to receive grants of up to €10,000. Nearly 90 million foreign tourists had visited France in 2019, making ... Read more

National carrier Air India has said that it will operate flights to 32 countries to bring back stranded Indians. “Reservation for travel from India to select destinations in the USA, UK, Australia and to Frankfurt, Paris and Singapore has commenced from 1700 hrs on May 14 on the website,” a statement from the carrier said. Union Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has said that under the second phase as many as 30,000 Indians will be returning to India – which is almost double of the 14,800 Indians – which was the target number in the first phase. “In 1st phase ... Read more

Emirates is all set to operate scheduled flights to Chicago, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Melbourne, Milan, Paris, Sydney and Toronto from May 21. “We are pleased to resume scheduled passenger services to these destinations, providing more options for customers to travel from the UAE to these cities,” Adel Al Redha, Emirates’ chief operating officer said. As several of the destinations currently have travel bans and other entry restrictions in place, the airlines says it will only accept passengers who meet the criteria for entering their destination country. “We have implemented additional measures with the relevant authorities in respect to social distancing ... Read more

Chances are that very few domestic travellers may be looking at Odisha as a travel destination. Its tourism brand is not as strong as some of the other states and hence people tend to overlook it. But things are changing.  Its temples, architecture, natural beauty, beaches, lakes and music have begun to attract tourists. Moreover, Odisha is known as an ancient  civilization. Let’s look at the key destinations. Jagannath Temple, Puri is one of the most sacred pilgrimage destinations in Odisha. It is the temple of Lord Vishnu and holds great significance. Sun Temple, Konark : This is a World UNESCO heritage site. It was built ... Read more

The Aruba Tourism Authority has announced a new destination booking policy for couples dreaming of booking a 2021 wedding or honeymoon.  Couples can now book their event of a lifetime with the participating hotel or resort venues of their choice with confidence, knowing their special occasion can be postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic issues, by providing a 30-day notice period. As part of Aruba’s ‘Happily Ever After Guarantee’ program, weddings and honeymoons booked for 2021 can be postponed for up to a year from the original event date.  “With nearly 316 million people under lockdown in the U.S. alone, the travel and weddings industry ... Read more

The number of foreign tourists in Thailand may plunge by almost two-thirds to 14 million this year. This will be the lowest level in 14 years, as the coronavirus pandemic hits global travel, according to estimates from the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), a Reuters report said. The TAT now predicts only 14 million to 16 million foreign visitors this year, sharply down from 33.8 million projected in March. Last year’s foreign arrivals were a record 39.8 million. Tourism is crucial to Thailand as spending from foreign tourists amounted to 1.93 trillion baht ($59.98 billion), or 11% of GDP last ... Read more

The airline and travel industries are adopting novel measures to build confidence among travellers. CarTrawler, a Dublin based mobility solutions provider, has come up with a report about the various ways in which the companies are trying to drive up confidence among consumers. Airlines, hotels, vacation rentals, car hires, airport transfers, and sightseeing companies are already making decisions to ensure the safety of their customers, the report said. This confidence will be built in layers, and here are some of the examples provided in the report: Emirates prohibits large carry-on bags in an effort to reduce congestion in the aisles ... Read more

The Civil Aviation Ministry has come out with a draft standard operating procedure (SOP) for commencing commercial passenger services in the country, that will make travelling safer but more tedious. The passengers will need to show the `green status’ on their Aarogya Setu app, go through temperature checks, do web check-in and fill up a detailed questionnaire, if the draft is approved. One of the key recommendations is not to allow cabin baggage in the aircraft. The passengers will also have to reach airport at least two hours before the flight departure. The draft SOP has also mooted having the ... Read more

Edgard Ziebat is not your regular tourist. He is a wanted criminal in his home country of Germany and had landed in New Delhi on March 18 from Vietnam. That’s where his luck ran out. He was looking to get to Turkey, but India ended up cancelling all flights to that country on the same day. Few days later, India suspended all international flights as the coronavirus pandemic was gathering pace. So, there he was, stuck at the transit area of the Indira Gandhi International airport with nowhere to go. When airport authorities contacted the German embassy, they refused to ... Read more

Qatar Airways has announced that it will offer healthcare professionals 100,000 free, round-trip tickets as a way of thanking them for their heroic work looking after people during the current COVID-19 pandemic. “Healthcare professionals from every country in the world will be eligible for tickets,” the carrier said in a statement. The giveaway will open on May 12 and close on May 18 and healthcare professionals can register for the offer at qatarairways.com/ThankYouHeroes. “Healthcare professionals that receive the promotion code can book up to two complimentary economy class return tickets on Qatar Airways operated flights – one for themselves and ... Read more