Tag: corona virus crisis

OYO, the Indian hotel-booking startup backed by Masayoshi Son’s Softbank, is merging its operations in Japan and appointing a new chief executive officer to oversee the combined entity. The reorganisation involves Oyo’s hotel-booking and apartment-rental units coming together into a single company called Oyo Japan, to be led by Ryoma Yamamoto as CEO with Ryota Tanozaki as his deputy. Both of them have been promoted from senior roles in the existing Oyo operations, said a Bloomberg report. Japan has been a focal point for Oyo’s international expansion due to Son’s endorsement and association with the Softbank brand name. The company operated Oyo Hotels and Oyo Life ... Read more

Jalesh Cruises has said that it will commence cruise operations from November 6, following the Indian government’s decision to allow sailing from October 1. As a result, MV Karnika will set sail on that day, the company said in a press release on Tuesday. To offer a safe and secure holiday on the sea, Jalesh Cruises will offer all passengers free rapid Covid-19 testing at the time of embarkation. Passengers will receive their test results in 15 minutes, board the ship without any fears or worries and set sail into the blue. Jurgen Bailom, President and CEO, Jalesh Cruises said, “The announcement ... Read more

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) says that if the country remains closed in the last quarter of the year, the number of foreign tourists will dramatically shrink to seven million for 2020. TAT deputy governor for tourism products and services, Thapanee Kiatphaibool, said while domestic tourism has started to rebound, most businesses are still feeling the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. In the first six months of this year, the number of foreign tourists stood at 6.69 million, a contraction of 66% compared with 2019, according to a report by Bangkok Post. The industry, however, has been helped by ... Read more

Air New Zealand has partnered with Tourism New Zealand on a campaign launched this year to get Kiwis holidaying around the country while foreign tourists aren’t allowed. The winter phase of the ‘Do something new, New Zealand’ campaign launched on Monday and hopes to boost the number of people hitting the slopes at Aotearoa’s ski fields. Holiday destinations Taupo, Christchurch and Queenstown will be promoted through social media, digital display advertising and online during the campaign. Bjoern Spreitzer of Tourism New Zealand (TNZ) says working with Air NZ is “vital to continue positive momentum”. As well as increasing domestic capacity ... Read more

Domestic tourists are trickling back to Bali with authorities recording a gradual increase in arrivals at Ngurah Rai International Airport as the island reopens its doors to domestic tourism. In a ceremony to mark the official reopening, 84 passengers flying Garuda Indonesia from Jakarta received garlands from Bali’s Vice-Governor Tjokorda Oka Artha Ardana Sukawati, popularly known as Cok Ace, on Friday morning. They were the first of approximately 4,000 domestic tourists to arrive on the island that day, Coconut.co reports. Airport management firm Angkasa Pura I spokesman Rahmat Adil Indrawan said on Saturday that there was a gradual increase of ... Read more

India’s Ministry of Tourism as part of its Dekho Apna Desh series held a webinar on “Heritage tourism in Gujarat”, presenting the fascinating and diverse heritage of the state of Gujarat ranging from ancient archaeological sites and majestic medieval monuments to modern architectural marvels.    Presented by Ranjit Sinh Parmar, Secretary-Heritage Tourism Association, Gujarat and Anil Mulchandani, author, travel writer and food critic, the webinar showcased the varied tourism products of Gujarat like its beautiful forts, palaces, havelis and other historical properties that have been converted into heritage hotels or opened as homestays. The presenters recounted how being on the West coast of India with approximately 1600 kms of coastline, Gujarat had attracted traders, ... Read more

VG Jayachandran, CEO of Tour Designers, says product development and research must be the main functions of the State tourism department, not marketing. At present, in the name of marketing, millions are spent which never hit the target, he says. Any organisation, which doesn’t have the participation of all stakeholders, will not find a place in this situation – whether it is FAITH or any other confederation. They are just old wine in used bottles, he says. Excerpts from an interview: Q: Why do you think governments – both at the Centre and State levels – have ignored the pleas of ... Read more

Singapore will make incoming travellers wear an electronic monitoring device to ensure that they comply with coronavirus quarantine, even as it reopens its borders. From August 11, the devices will be given to incoming travellers, including citizens and residents, from a select group of countries, Reuters has reported. Travellers to Singapore are required to activate the device, which uses GPS and Bluetooth signals, upon reaching home. They will receive notifications on the device which they must acknowledge. Any attempt to leave home or tamper with the device will trigger an alert to the authorities. Singapore, which has not given details ... Read more

English Premier League champions Liverpool FC has announced a new global partnership with the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority and Economic Development Board of Mauritius, as the club’s official tourism and economic development partner. The deal forms part of the country’s drive to become a leading global tourist destination and business hub of Africa. The three-year partnership will see Mauritius benefit from a range of LFC digital, social media and marketing assets.  As well as being one of the top premier luxury holiday destinations in the world with one of the highest rates of return visitors, Mauritius is also one of ... Read more

India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has issued fresh guidelines for international arrivals. These guidelines will be operational from 00.01 hours, 8th August 2020) Before Planning for Travel: i. All travellers should submit self-declaration form on the online portal (www.newdelhiairport.in) at least 72 hours before the scheduled travel. ii. They should also give an undertaking on the portal that they would undergo mandatory quarantine for 14 days i.e. 7 days paid institutional quarantine at their own cost, followed by 7 days isolation at home with self-monitoring of health. iii. Only for compelling reasons/ cases of human distress such as ... Read more

Andhra Pradesh’s Tourism Minister Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao has said that in order to generate revenues for the sector, hotels across the State will be turned into paid quarantine centres. Addressing the media at the Secretariat, he said, “Tourism sector has suffered huge losses due to the COVID-19 crisis. So, we have decided to rent out low-occupancy tourism hotels as COVID quarantine centres.” The private hotels are already being used as quarantine centres. “Tourism hotels in Nellore, which were used as quarantine centres, have generated a revenue of Rs 2 crore in the past few months,” said Rao, adding that revenue of ... Read more

The Association of Tourism Trade Organisations India (ATTOI) is organising a webinar on August 6, featuring two eminent individuals – Claudia Wagner, managing director of German tour operator FIT Reisen and Muralee Thummarukudy, Chief of Disaster Risk Reduction in the United Nations Environment Programme. The theme of the webinar is “We will overcome”. While Claudia Wagner will speak in English on the topic ‘Impact of Covid-19 and the revival of tourism’ from 3.30-4.30 pm, Muralee Thummarukudy will deliver his talk in Malayalam on the subject ‘Is there a spring season awaiting Kerala tourism?’, from 4.30-5.30 pm. Claudia Wagner has been with ... Read more

Kenya Airways resumed international flights on Saturday, heading to about 30 destinations for the first time since the routes were suspended in March due to the coronavirus, Reuters has reported. The carrier, in which Air France KLM holds a small stake, resumed domestic flights in mid-July after the government cleared local air travel. “We announced we are starting with 27 destinations, we increased it to 30 just following demand,” Allan Kilavuka, the airline’s chief executive officer, said during a ceremony ahead of seeing off a flight to London. He said for the rest of the year the airline expected demand ... Read more

Ryanair has initiated legal proceedings against Ireland, questioning the legality of travel restrictions that have kept a quarantine policy in place for all but 15 countries. The Irish carrier, Europe’s largest budget airline, said it is challenging what it described as the Irish government’s “ineffective” green list of countries, for which a 14-day quarantine requirement does not apply, Reuters reports. Ireland has taken a more cautious approach to reopening its economy and skies than many European countries. The green list, announced on July 22, contained some popular destinations Ryanair flies to, such as Italy and Greece, but not others including ... Read more

Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi has announced that a travel corridor arrangement has been set up with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to facilitate essential business trips, which included official and diplomatic visits. The minister said Indonesia proposed the agreement after consulting with related government bodies, as well as their counterparts in the UAE, Jakarta Post reports. “Indonesia and the UAE signed an agreement on an essential business travel corridor. The agreement is effective immediately,” Retno said. The travel corridor agreement, she added, was strictly for essential business travel such as businesspeople and diplomats, but not for tourists. The agreement ... Read more