Tag: corona virus crisis

Startups in Europe’s travel sector have levelled allegations of anti-competitive behaviour against Google. The search engine giant has a near complete grip on the search market in Europe, with a regional market share in excess of 90%, according to Statcounter. Industry sources say a majority of travel bookings start as a Google search — giving the tech giant huge leverage over the coronavirus hit sector, TechCrunch has reported. More than half a dozen travel startups in Germany are united in a shared complaint that Google is abusing its search dominance in a number of ways they argue are negatively impacting their businesses. Complaints ... Read more

The Ladakh, Leh and Kargil regions will be developed and declared as a carbon neutral region, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his Independence Day speech on Saturday. While the concept of carbon neutral villages have been looked at in India in the past and some villages in Kerala and Manipur have adopted it, this will be the first large region to be carbon neutral. “Just like Sikkim has positioned itself as an organic state, the Ladakh, Kargil and Leh region is moving in the direction of becoming carbon neutral. This will be achieved with participation from local people,” PM ... Read more

The US Department of Homeland Security has said that a COVID-19 ban on non-essential travel through border crossings with Canada and Mexico was being extended until September 21. The reciprocal travel ban aimed at slowing the spread of coronavirus was first imposed in March and has been extended several times since then, AFP has reported. “We continue to work with our Canadian and Mexican partners to slow the spread of #COVID19,” acting US Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said on Twitter. “Accordingly, we have agreed to extend the limitation of non-essential travel at our shared land ports of entry through ... Read more

The Singapore Tourism Board has partnered with Tripoto to launch a microsite within the latter’s website in an effort to keep Singapore in the minds of the Indian audience. The microsite is a one-stop guide for Indian travellers with content that encourages them to ‘Rediscover Now, Travel Later’. One of the key content features of the microsite is the ‘Singapore@home’ which invites the audience to explore the virtual experiences of some of the best attractions of Singapore and tourist offerings. There is also a collection of edutainment series ‘Try this at home, Tips from Singapore’ which features various Singaporean personalities ... Read more

Penghu, the archipelago to the west of Taiwan’s main island, received more visitors in July than during the six previous months combined. As the impact of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) in Taiwan lessens while overseas travel remains difficult, more Taiwanese are traveling around the country, often heading for small islands such as Green Island and Orchid Island in the south-eastern county of Taitung. Holidaymakers are also headed in the other direction, traveling by ship or plane to Penghu County, in the middle of the Taiwan Strait, Channel News Asia (CNA) has reported. The islands welcomed 290,000 visitors in July compared to 182,860 ... Read more

The eco-tourism centres that were closed due to the coronavirus pandemic will start to function from August 19, the chief wildlife warden has said. The centres will be reopened in stages, following strict safety protocol. With the closure of the ecotourism centres, people who were dependent on forest resources had lost their livelihoods. This had affected about 2,000 people directly and 7,000 indirectly, said the warden, prompting the authorities to reopen the eco-tourism centres. In the first stage of reopening, children below 10 years and adults above 65 years will not be allowed. Temperature checks will be conducted for all ... Read more

Dubai is likely to benefit the most in aviation from the United Arab Emirates’ historic deal to normalize relations with Israel, Bloomberg has reported, gaining a new stream of travellers that can help the Gulf travel hub bounce back from the coronavirus crisis that has decimated air traffic. The agreement between the two countries sets aside decades of enmity, opening ties through air travel, tourism, investment, security and telecommunications. Delegations from the two countries are set to meet soon to work out the details. The opening will give the UAE’s biggest carriers – Emirates and Etihad — an opportunity to feed Israeli passengers through ... Read more

The US administration has suspended all private charter flights between the United States and Cuba, to increase economic pressure on Havana, the BBC has reported. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted that “the Castro regime uses tourism and travel funds to finance its abuses and interference in Venezuela”. Last October the US banned regular scheduled flights to all cities in communist-run Cuba except Havana. Tourism to Cuba has already been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. Hardline policies towards Cuba and its regional ally Venezuela are welcomed by conservative Cuban-American groups in Florida, a key battleground state which Donald ... Read more

The Indian government on Friday reduced port tariff by 60% to 70%, to promote domestic cruise tourism. “The decision will support the cruise industry and protect it from the adverse economic impacts due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Union Shipping Minister Mansukh Mandaviya. “It will provide an opportunity for the country to earn huge amounts of foreign exchange and generate sizable direct and indirect onshore employment in cruise tourism,” the Minister added. The port charges for a cruise ship will be $0.085 per GRT (Gross Registered Tonnage) instead of the present rate of $0.35, for the first 12 hours stay ... Read more

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has said it has formed a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to fast-track the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway project. “NHAI has proceeded to form a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) company for financing, construction and operation of the Delhi-Mumbai ‘Greenfield’ Expressway,” the company said in a statement. The SPV has been registered by the name of ‘DME Development Ltd’ and will be wholly owned by NHAI, it said. “By floating SPV specific to a corridor, the NHAI is aiming at diversifying its resource base and developing a sustainable and self-liquidating approach to raise finances,” it said. Spanning ... Read more

Prime Minister Narendra Modi while launching the ‘Transparent Taxation’ platform has announced multiple reforms to improve tax compliance, faceless assessment and ease of filing returns. As part of the overhaul, the government has also proposed to reduce the threshold of various transactions for tax disclosure. This is aimed at widening the income tax base and checking tax evasion, Moneycontrol has reported. The list will now include white good purchases, property tax payment, medical and life insurance premium and even hotel payments. So, the next time you pay a hotel bill or medical insurance premium of more than Rs 20,000, incur ... Read more

Bali, Indonesia’s famous holiday island, is set to reopen to international tourists in September. Bali had officially reopened to domestic tourists on July 31, as part of its three-step plan to resume travel activities. As outlined by Bali governor Wayan Koster in July, the provincial government is expected to re-evaluate the plan on opening the border for international tourists “by the end of August” for an  opening date of September 11. These plans have been given a further shot-in-the-arm following comments by Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan. During an address to the Jakarta Foreign ... Read more

Domestic air traffic made a minor recovery in July, growing to 21.07 lakh passengers, a 6.1% increase from June, when 19.84 lakh fliers took to the air. Year-on-year, however, the traffic declined 82.3% in July.  In July 2019, 1.19 crore passengers had travelled by air. But here also there is a silver lining. The drop is lower than what was seen in June when the decline was 83.5%, year-on-year, Moneycontrol has reported. The data was released by industry regulator DGCA, on August 13. For the year till July, the industry had a total of 3.72 crore passengers, a drop of ... Read more

SpiceJet has unveiled an automated customer service and check-in facility via WhatsApp. The carrier’s customer service agent called “Ms Pepper” can be accessed by passengers at the mobile number 6000000006, SpiceJet said in a press statement. Earlier, these facilities were available in SpiceJet’s website or mobile application. “WhatsApp “Hi” to Ms Pepper on your way to the airport and she will help you with the mandatory web check-in process without the need to visit SpiceJet’s website and deliver your boarding pass directly to your mobile phone,” it stated. Moreover, the automated agent will solve customer’s queries on WhatsApp, the airline ... Read more

India’s largest crocodile park may have as little as four months before it runs out of funds to feed animals, pay staff and do research, as ticket revenue shrinks after coronavirus lockdowns choked the flow of visitors. Annual sales of about 5 million tickets usually make up roughly half the revenue of the park, located about 40 km from Chennai, but it has been shut since March 16, with no prospect of reopening in sight, says news agency Reuters. The lockdowns during the summer vacation season have cost an estimated ₹1.4 crore ($187,000) as visitors dropped by almost 2.5 million, said ... Read more