Category: News

The Kerala Travel Mart (KTM) Society has urged its members to contribute to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund, to support the government in fighting the pandemic. “It is our responsibility to extend support to the government by contributing our humble share towards Chief Minister’s Relief Fund, even though we are in deep trouble,” said KTM President Baby Mathew, in a letter addressed to the members. “Every small amount of help from us is valuable and we can collectively extend our financial support to the government. Requesting all the members to make this effort successful by contributing financial assistance as much ... Read more

Will the state government’s move, allowing for deferment of fixed electricity charges for a period of six months, help the hospitality industry? The sector had asked for a waiver of fixed charges, but that demand was not met. Tourismnewslive.com quizzed a number of leading industry players about this, seeking their comments. Over to their views. Chacko Paul – Managing Director -The Travancore Heritage Chowara & Lepondy, Pondicherry Hospitality industry is one of the highest tax generating as well as the biggest provider of jobs. But it is also the worst affected sector due to this Covid-19 pandemic. In this present ... Read more

California governor Gavin Newsom ordered all beaches and state parks in Orange County to temporarily close, after images in the news showed crowds gathering on beaches violating the state’s physical distancing rules. Beaches and all state parks in California will be closed, effective Friday, May 1. Activity seen on only a few beaches threatened the progress California has made in battling coronavirus, the governor said Thursday. “Specific issues on some of those beaches raised alarm bells,” Newsom said. The vast majority of coastlines saw people following the statewide orders, he said. But the “density, the volume of people, concentrated space, ... Read more

Greece is looking to reopen the country to tourists from July onwards, as it looks to kick-start its economy again after being hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. Tourism accounts for up to 12% of Greece’s GDP, with revenues of $20 billion in 2019. Greece went under lockdown on March 23 and is looking to lift restrictions from Monday, while hotels will be allowed to reopen on June 1. Greece is regarded as one of the most preferred travel destinations in the world. “We do want people to come to Greece,” Tourism Minister Harry Theoharis said in an interview with ... Read more

Tawang, the picturesque tourist destination in Arunachal Pradesh, has launched an app that can be used for online registration of persons entering the district after the lock-down is lifted. An official communication from the state said that the app, developed by the district administration at Tawang, would help officials at entry gates fill up the details of the persons entering the district. The same will be directly fed to the server installed in district headquarters. Through this the officials at the headquarters would have direct information about the people entering Tawang. Besides minimising the manpower required for collecting information, the ... Read more

Switzerland Tourism, while encouraging travelers across the world to stay home and stay safe, has launched a new campaign — #dreamnowtravellater — to keep hope afloat in travelers across the world, giving them something to look forward to when the pandemic is finally behind us. Under normal circumstances, most of us right now would be diligently planning our summer vacations this year, but these are not normal times. As the COVID-19 pandemic spreads across major parts of the world, many countries are doing what they can to keep their citizens safe. Restrictions on domestic and global travel is one of ... Read more

Switzerland has thanked Kerala for enabling the repatriation of its citizens along with other European nationals in a seamless manner. On Saturday, April 25th, over 160 Swiss citizens and residents as well European nationals had boarded a Swiss flight from Kochi to Zurich, after being stuck in Kerala for many days due to the COVID-19 crisis. In a letter written to chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, the Consul General of Switzerland, Sebastien Hug said, “I would like to express my deepest gratitude for the great support given by the government of Kerala for ensuring a safe and smooth repatriation. In particular, ... Read more

The state government should immediately announce relief measures for the benefit of micro and medium scale entrepreneurs in the tourism sector, the Association of Tourism Trade Organisations India (ATTOI) President, Vinod CS has said. “Concerns of taxi drivers, guides and such other people in the unorganised sector have not been addressed. The government has promised action but nothing has come through so far,” he said. “It’s high time the government announced something substantial. We have been waiting for many weeks now. Small time tourism entrepreneurs, tour operators and homestays need help at this time. I hope the government will do ... Read more

Tatiana Kermin, a 31-year-old Russian yoga teacher, is on her maiden visit to Kerala having heard about its natural beauty and uniqueness from several of her friends. She was due to fly back to Moscow on March 31 but with India deciding to opt for a lock-down she was left stranded. That was just the beginning of her troubles, as she wasn’t prepared to face a predicament of this kind and had no clue about surviving the crisis, in a land where she knew none. Tatiana had no accommodation, food or medicine once the lockdown commenced and worst of all ... Read more

British deputy high commissioner Jeremy Pilmore-Bedford has thanked the Kerala government for the assistance and support given for the repatriation of British nationals who were stranded in Kerala due to the coronavirus crisis. The relief flight was a complicated one and involved the aircraft first landing to pick up passengers in Thiruvananthapuram before flying to Kochi to pick up a larger group from there. “We also moved large numbers of passengers to the airports from various locations from across Kerala as well as from locations in Tamil Nadu close to Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram,” Bedford said in a letter to chief ... Read more

The latest data from United Nations’ specialised agency for tourism, UNWTO, shows that all destinations now have travel restrictions in place. Of these, 83% have had Covid-19 related restrictions for four or more weeks already. UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said: “Tourism has shown its commitment to putting people first. Our sector can also lead the way in driving recovery. This research on global travel restrictions will help support the timely and responsible implementation of exit strategies, allowing destinations to ease or lift travel restrictions when it is safe to do so. This way, the social and economic benefits that tourism ... Read more

Lock-down restrictions should be lifted in places relatively unaffected by the coronavirus so that India’s economy revives, ATTOI President Vinod CS said on Tuesday. “After May 3, complete shutdown may not be possible. We have to locate the hotspots and isolate those areas. Rest of the places should be allowed to function as usual,” he said, concerned about how the various industries across the country are facing a huge setback. He felt that the focus should be on preventing community transmission in affected areas. The affected and relatively unaffected areas have to be demarcated while maintaining access control. “Complete lockdown ... Read more

Come July, Dubai hopes to reopen itself for tourists. After having halted arrivals last month to contain the coronavirus pandemic, the economic hub wants to encourage travel for business and leisure by July or latest by September. The process will be gradual and could be delayed until September, depending on global trends, Helal Al Marri, director general of Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, said in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Tuesday. Many countries remain closed and it’s more about the bilateral discussions, Al Marri said. Is it going to be July when things start slowly opening up? ... Read more

The ayurveda hospitality industry must focus on those consumers who truly need ayurveda as an essential part of their lives. The attempt should be to position ayurveda as close to nature tourism, says Ramnidhiwasan, founder of Mekosha, in an interview. Excerpts: Q: Ayurveda tourism is an important part of Kerala tourism. In the post Covid-19 world, how can we ensure that we don’t lose business? Kerala had built a good momentum in 2019. A world post COVID-19 would have the consumers focus only on the essentials. Leisure travel, travel as a hobby, travel for adventure and exploring, while they will ... Read more

Russia’s Federal Tourism Agency (Rosturizm) wants to help the industry recover from the coronavirus crisis by relaxing visa rules after the country reopens its borders. According to the agency’s recommendations, Russia should introduce multiple-entry tourist visas valid for up to five years in order to offset heavy losses sustained by all parts of the travel and tourism industry amid the coronavirus lockdowns. The country has grounded international flights, closed border crossings, and suspended issuing visas and e-visas last month as the country began to see a surge in COVID-19 cases. Rosturizm warns that the measures will lead to “colossal losses ... Read more