Tag: covid-19 crisis

Hyatt says all of its hotels in the Asia Pacific region have completed the first phase of its new cleanliness programme, Business Traveller reports. All 149 hotels in the region have hired “hygiene and wellbeing leaders”, a measure that is part of the hotel group’s Global Care and Cleanliness Commitment, which was announced in early May to restore confidence in travel. Other hygiene and safety measures introduced in phase one include providing alcohol wipes at restaurants and as part of in-room amenities, knock-and-go room service, “increased frequency” of cleaning air filters, implementation of a new wellness policy for colleagues, and ... Read more

Air India has withdrawn job offers sent out to around 180 trainee cabin crew members amid the economic slowdown in the aviation sector due to the coronavirus pandemic, news agency PTI has reported. “The airline has taken a decision to withdraw job offers for about 180 trainees who were to join as cabin crew after completing their training as the aviation sector has been hit hard due to the coronavirus pandemic,” said an airline official. In a letter sent to one such trainee cabin crew member on July 6, the airline said, “In view of the current aviation scenario, it ... Read more

The Ritz-Carlton, Aruba, has reopened to guests. The relaunch of Aruba’s top luxury resort comes as the destination opens its borders to tourists from the United States, Caribbean Journal reports. The Palm Beach-area property has made some changes, including a newly-crafted menu, the addition of carry-out options at restaurants, and a reopened casino that is now the “premier non-smoking casino in Aruba”. The property has a total of 320 guest rooms and suites, the aforementioned 24-hour casino, a club lounge and a spa with 13 treatment rooms and six eateries. Those eateries include the signature BLT Steak, and Casa Nonna, the ... Read more

Air India on Sunday announced that it will operate 14 more flights under the Vande Bharat Mission for the evacuation of Indians stranded in the United Kingdom. The flights will be scheduled between July 15 to 24. Bookings will open today from 2 pm on the Air India website. Passengers may also visit the airport or city booking offices, the airlines tweeted. Air India flights to London are scheduled from several cities in India such as Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Cochin, Hyderabad, Goa, Kolkata, Vijayawada and Amritsar. Anurag Srivastava, an external affairs ministry spokesperson, announced that 637 international flights ... Read more

The Delhi High Court has asked SoftBank-backed Oyo Hotels & Homes to file an affidavit in the court in two weeks on its unencumbered assets. The July 7 order came in a case filed by hospitality company Anam Datsec, which has accused Oyo of non-payment of dues for its Golden Sands property at Calangute in Goa and sought more than Rs 8 crore in damages. Anam Datsec claimed that Oyo had agreed to pay Rs 14 lakh a month as the minimum guaranteed amount when it entered into a management services agreement with the company for the property in 2018. ... Read more

In an effort to aid tourism in the state and revive the sector amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Gujarat government is looking to promote the Statue of Unity and the area surrounding the site as a place for destination weddings. The authorities have decided to map the Statue of Unity Tent City 1 as a wedding venue. Authorities have been quoted by The Indian Express as saying that the picturesque location that also has an open-to-sky setting with Narmada Dam in its backdrop makes Statue of Unity Tent City 1 a compelling location for people looking for destination weddings. The ... Read more

The fourth cycle of the All India Tiger Estimation 2018, results of which were declared to the nation on Global Tiger Day last year by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has entered the Guinness World Record for being the world’s largest camera trap wildlife survey.            Terming this achievement a great moment, Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said that India has fulfilled its resolve to double the tiger numbers four years ahead of target. The country now has an estimated 2967 tigers as per the latest census. With this number, India is home to nearly 75% of the global tiger population and has ... Read more

The Croatian Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli has said that Slovenian tourists do not need to worry about their arrival in Croatia, particularly in the coastal Adriatic area where the epidemiological situation was good. Cappelli, who was in Croatia’s delegation led by Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic for the talks with their Slovenian hosts on Friday, said that the meeting had revolved around tourism-related issues against a backdrop of the epidemiological situation. “During the meeting in Slovenia we emphasised the importance of Slovenian visitors for the Croatian tourism industry. Currently, there are 92,000 Slovenians vacationing here, and 70% of them are in three Adriatic counties: Istria, ... Read more

Leisure tourists who would like to visit Thailand during a soft reopening may have to spend at least 14 days within designated areas, though a negative test for Covid-19 after two weeks would free them to go anywhere in the country, Bangkok Post has reported. Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, the tourism and sports minister, said his ministry has talked with Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha about creating a travel bubble for tourists, requiring them to plan a trip with a minimum 14-day stay. Instead of being kept in quarantine, tourists could still travel within five designated areas: Chiang Mai, Koh Samui, Krabi, Phuket ... Read more

Britain’s biggest holiday company Tui is seeking to reassure prospective customers by offering cover for passengers against coronavirus-related problems. The company has announced a “Covid-19 cover scheme” that will be provided with every holiday from the UK for the rest of 2020. If travellers are asked to self-isolate, it will cover the cost of an extended stay and a new return flight home. The scheme will also cover testing costs and, if medically required, repatriation. Andrew Flintham, managing director for Tui UK & Ireland, said: “It means that they can book with confidence, knowing that extra costs associated with Covid-19 that wouldn’t ... Read more

The Norwegian government has revised its coronavirus travel restrictions allowing people from many European (EU/EEA/Schengen) countries including the UK to visit Norway with no quarantine requirements from July 15. However, residents of Portugal, Hungary, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria and Luxembourg remain excluded due to the high rate of infection in those countries. With the exception of residents of Kronoberg, Skåne and Blekinge, Sweden also remains excluded. Norway’s Minister of Trade and Industry Iselin Nybø said the move was “good news” for Norway’s tourism industry. “Tourism companies across the country can now receive guests from a number of countries in Europe again. The ... Read more

Saint Lucia has introduced several new and updated protocols for arrivals from July 9, following a reassessment of market conditions. Travellers will be required to obtain a negative PCR (polymerised chain reaction) test within seven days of travel unless they are arriving from countries in the travel bubble designated by the government of Saint Lucia. Visitors travelling only from destinations that have zero or a low instance of Covid-19 cases will be exempt from the seven-day pre-testing requirement, Breaking Travel News has reported. These destinations currently include Antigua, Barbuda, Aruba, Anguilla, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Bonaire, British Virgin Islands, Curaçao, Dominica, ... Read more

After lifting all travel restrictions, Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board (MPTB) has introduced a new campaign Intezaar Aapka to attract tourists who would like to visit the state. The campaign is running currently on all social handles of the state tourism board. The campaign includes a series of communications about the destinations that are awaiting tourists.  Being under lockdown for more than 100 days now, travellers are eager and willing to come out of their houses with families, not far but for a short weekend getaway. Keeping such points in mind, the MPTB is promoting places of tourist interest such as Ujjain, Panchmari, Amarkantak, Bandhavgarh, ... Read more

The UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced steep cuts to value added tax (VAT) worth over £4 billion in an attempt to revive the struggling British tourism and hospitality sector. In his statement to the House of Commons on Wednesday, the Chancellor said VAT will be slashed from 20% to 5% for a period of six months until January, giving every chance for the sector to bounce back. Sunak said he wanted to see pubs, restaurants, cafes and B&Bs “bustling again”, adding that the measures were “a plan to turn our national recovery into millions of stories of personal renewal.” ... Read more

Japan’s latest bullet train is not just faster and smoother. It is also loaded with safety features that can withstand most emergency situations. The N700S — the ‘S’ stands for ‘Supreme’ — entered into service on July 1 and serves the Tokaido Shinkansen line, which links Tokyo Station and Shin-Osaka Station in Osaka. It can run up to 360 kilometres per hour, a new record set during a test run in 2019, making it one of the fastest trains in the world. The operating speed, however, will be capped at 285 kilometres per hour, CNN reports. It’s the first new bullet train ... Read more