Tag: covid-19 crisis

The Delhi Hotel and Restaurant Owners Association on Thursday announced that Chinese nationals would no longer be provided accommodation in over 3,000 hotels and guest houses across the city. Said association president Sandeep Khandelwal, “The Chinese are not the world, we can survive without them as well. We are all law-abiding citizens and no one will take law in their hands, but this would make the Chinese worried. War and trade cannot happen at the same time.” Khandelwal added that the association would also try to get five-star hotels on board with this decision. While a majority of hotels have ... Read more

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given his approval for declaring Kushinagar Airport in Uttar Pradesh as an international airport, during a cabinet meeting. Its elevation as an international airport will help the state to grow its tourism fortunes. Kushinagar Airport is located in the vicinity of several Buddhist Cultural Sites like Sravasti, Kapilvastu, and Lumbini. Kushinagar itself is a Buddhist cultural site. Declaring it an international airport will offer improved connectivity, wider choice of competitive costs to air-travellers from Kushinagar. It will result in boosting domestic/international tourism and economic development of the region. Kushinagar is located in the north-eastern part of Uttar ... Read more

Pubs, hairdressers and cinemas will be able to open from July 15 if coronavirus cases continues to decline in Scotland, its First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced. Sturgeon said the move was possible thanks to “real and sustained progress” in suppressing Covid-19. People in Scotland will be allowed to meet up with two other households indoors from July 15 and outdoor hospitality such as beer gardens will be allowed to re-open from July 6. Sturgeon also said the five-mile travel limit will be lifted from July 3, while non-essential retail within indoor shopping centres will re-open from July 13. Households will ... Read more

South Africa’s tourism sector has lost an estimated R68bn in revenue amid the coronavirus outbreak, which has necessitated national lockdowns and enforced restrictions on global travel. The R270bn tourism industry, which anchors South Africa’s less-developed provinces, is reeling and counting the cost of the worldwide pandemic, says Tourism Business Council of South Africa (TBCSA) CEO Tshifhiwa Tshivhengwa. The entire value chain and associated industries that depend on tourism and hospitality are feeling the squeeze induced by the coronavirus crisis, The Africa Report has said. The R68bn revenue loss comes with loss of employment. The other industries and sectors we impact are going ... Read more

As coronavirus cases continue to rise in Tamil Nadu unabated, the state government has intensified the lockdown measures and has even imposed restrictions on inter-district travel.  Thirty-three deaths and 2,865 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday, taking the tally in the state to 67,468 while the death toll touched 866. This is the highest single-day spike in the number of cases.  Tamil Nadu surpassed the grim milestone of 60,000 total coronavirus cases on Monday.  At a time when all states across India have been on an ‘Unlock’ mode from June 1, Tamil Nadu government was the ... Read more

“I believe I’ll never see her alive again.” Bettina Wintermark worries that her adopted country Norway’s pandemic travel ban means she won’t be able to make one last visit to her dying mother in France. The Scandinavian country, which was quick to bring the new coronavirus under control, has ignored calls to lift, or at least ease, its travel restrictions, making it probably the most closed nation in Europe, according to news agency AFP. Most non-residents are still not allowed to enter the country, and while foreign trips are not forbidden for Norwegians, the 10-day quarantine requirement upon return to ... Read more

The Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG) has urged Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to not further delay restarting tourism in the State.  A delegation of the TTAG met the Chief Minister on Tuesday with a letter requesting to unlock the tourism industry that has been shut due to COVID-19 induced lockdown. They claimed that closure of the tourism sector has severely impacted the stakeholders.  “Closures of all the hotels, restaurants and bars on account of COVID-19 and the closures have continued from March 2020 till now but it cannot remain closed for a much longer period as there ... Read more

The Kerala government has said it is in talks with India’s central government on mandatory pre-flight COVID-19 testing for expats. A decision in this regard is expected shortly. Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said while the state is looking at enforcing the pre-flight testing from June 25 for chartered and private flights, a final decision on the same will be taken only in consultation with the central authorities. Of the 2,711 positive cases since May 4, 2,595 cases are of people who returned to Kerala from either abroad or other parts of the country. The Chief Minister had earlier written ... Read more

Italy’s massive tourism industry has taken a hit from two months of total shutdown and an ongoing ban on visitors from outside Europe. Hence, in a bid to revive the sector, which makes up 13% of the country’s GDP and 15% of jobs, some parts of the country are offering incentives to holiday in Italy this summer, reports The Local.it. Here’s a guide to what’s on offer if you’re planning to travel to Italy this summer. Sicily The island’s government wants to give discounts on plane tickets, subsidise hotel stays and cover the cost of guided tours for visitors arriving in ... Read more

People travelling from outside of the EU and the Schengen area will be able to visit Spain from June 30. Transcontinental non-essential travel to Spain from outside of Europe has been given the green light by the Spanish government, following the EU’s recommendation for member states to gradually reopen their borders from June 15 onwards. Tourists from the USA and Canada, Latin America, Africa, Oceania and Asia will in theory be able to book their holidays to Spain from that day, although the announcement published in Spain’s daily government bulletin states that restrictions on holidaymakers from outside of the EU and Schengen ... Read more

European Union countries desperate to revive their economies and reopen borders to tourists may bar US citizens from entering because the country’s efforts to contain the coronavirus pandemic has not shown any positive results, the New York Times reported on Tuesday. Drafts of lists of countries that would be blocked show that the US — which has had at least 2,312,302 confirmed cases and 120,402 deaths, the most in the world — is among those under consideration for the ban along with Brazil and Russia, the paper reported. EU nations are considering potential lists of visitors who would be acceptable based on how their ... Read more

Restrictions on travel, introduced in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, are slowly being eased, allowing tourism to restart in a growing number of destinations, the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) said on Tuesday. According to the UNWTO’s latest research, as of 15 June, 22% of all destinations worldwide (48 of them) have started to ease restrictions – up from just 3% (7 destinations) on May 18 – with Europe leading the way. Destinations that have eased travel restrictions for tourists include: – 37 destinations in Europe, including 24 of the 26 Schengen Member States– 6 destinations in the Americas, including 5 Small Island Developing States– 3 destinations in Asia and the ... Read more

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has released the third phase of its ‘Safe Travels’ measures designed to rebuild global consumer confidence and reduce risk in the Covid-19 context. The latest focus covers the reopening of global attractions, holiday rentals and car hire companies. Protocols for the attractions industry were compiled on the basis of insights and frameworks developed by the Global Association for the Attractions Industry. The measures increase the focus on health, safety and physical distancing standards for venues such as amusement parks, aquariums, family entertainment centres, museums, science centres, theme parks, water parks, zoos and other ... Read more

With the coronavirus community transmission looming, the Thiruvananthapuram city corporation has clamped down on travel, by restricting key entry points and enhancing patrolling of affected areas. The functioning of Palayam and Chalai markets and major shopping centres will be affected as shops can only be opened on alternate days. The police will control the entry of people into public places. This could affect domestic tourists to a great extent.  The decision will be applicable to malls and supermarkets also. The city has decided to strengthen monitoring of fishermen going to Tamil Nadu shores.  All shops should have washing areas and sanitisers ... Read more

India is considering establishing “individual bilateral bubbles” with the US, the UK, Germany and France allowing airlines of each country in the pact to operate international passenger flights, the Aviation Ministry said on Tuesday. The ministry’s statement has come after the US Department of Transportation announced on Monday that it has barred Air India from operating chartered flights between India and the United States from July 22 without its prior approval, in an apparent retaliation for the Indian government not allowing American carriers to operate between the two countries. The Aviation Ministry said, “As we contemplate further opening up in ... Read more