Tag: covid-19 crisis

Nearly three months after it suspended visas granted to foreigners, India has finally allowed arrival of foreigners for purposes of business, healthcare, engineering and technical works. It has said they would be allowed to fly into India on non-scheduled chartered flights. In an order issued on Monday, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said, “Foreign businessmen coming to India on a business visa (other than on B-3 visa for sports) in non-scheduled commercial/ chartered flights would be permitted.” The ministry said certain other category of foreigners who could avail of this relaxation included “foreign healthcare professionals, health researchers, engineers and ... Read more

Marriott International, which has reopened all its hotels in China, is seeing a steady recovery in the United States, its biggest market. Chief Executive Officer Arne Sorenson said, “It’s not just leisure travel growing, but it is business travel. Chinese are flying again.” Sorenson said the occupancy rate in China was 40% currently, up from 7% to 8% in February, when COVID-19 started spreading. In the United States, Marriott’s hotels that have remained open, crossed the 20% occupancy threshold and continue to see an improvement, Sorenson said. The company had an occupancy rate of about 12% in North America in ... Read more

With the spread of coronavirus under control and domestic leisure travel growing, Middle East travel professionals are now looking to China to initiate international tourism. A joint survey conducted by the Ivy Alliance Tourism Consulting, China Comfort Travel Group (CCT), and Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), was discussed by a panel of experts during the three-day ATM Virtual event that is currently taking place. Danielle Curtis, the exhibition director (Middle East) of the Arabian Travel Market, said: “In China we are already witnessing the green-shoots of recovery and many industry experts are looking to China to kickstart international tourism.” Moderated ... Read more

Jalesh Cruises, India’s first premium cruise liner, has launched an industry-first application programme interface (API) with leading travel companies like Akbar Travels, Riya Travels, and Jagsons Travel Pvt Ltd. Through this partnership, Jalesh Cruises will integrate with the travel agencies’ existing systems by providing them with a convenient and seamless experience and update on a real-time basis. This will be done by connecting the data streams and allowing travel partners to access products, services on their portal, by corresponding the data flow across the connected supply chain. Through the API integration, the travel agents can avail of the benefits of ... Read more

The number of flights on offer from Munich Airport will be increased over the next few weeks. In the past few months, international air travel in particular had come to a virtual standstill on account of the numerous travel restrictions. Now, many airlines are starting to ramp up their operations again, starting June. Lufthansa will be flying regularly from Munich to Brussels, Milan, Rome, Vienna, and Zurich again within the next few days. On Tuesday, June 2, the airline reopened its route from Munich to Chicago. The first flight to Los Angeles is scheduled to take place on Wednesday. Initially, ... Read more

After over two months of closure due to the coronavirus lockdown, monuments and tourist attractions in Rajasthan have reopened. But there hasn’t been any footfalls yet. Tourism stakeholders have welcomed the government decision to allow reopening of these places but are also concerned as the pandemic continues to rage. “On the first day of reopening, we organised a cultural performance by folk artistes at 32 monuments in the state including in capital city. It was to mark the reopening of the monuments,” Prakash Chandra Sharma, Director, Department of Archaeology and Museum, told PTI. He said that domestic tourists mostly visit ... Read more

Madhya Pradesh, the central Indian state, is ready to welcome tourists back again after the relaxation of lockdown measures. Madhya Pradesh Tourism has shared a photo of luxury caravans on its Instagram page to invite tourists who would be interested in exploring the state without compromising on social distancing norms. “Rent a homely caravan with Madhya Pradesh (MP) tourism and go on to explore the Heart of India. This well-equipped vehicle ensures a chamber for the driver and you can enjoy a safe ride in your own bubbled space. A journey via caravan is all the more comforting and also ... Read more

Arabian Travel Market’s virtual panel has advised hoteliers not to drop room rates, but focus on sanitisation and technology to build consumer trust. Hotels must not drop rates to increase occupancy, instead they should adapt to ‘new normal’ – embracing innovative technologies and being creative with offerings, the panel suggested. Global set of transparent hospitality standards relating to health, safety and hygiene will be key in regaining trust of travellers, industry experts who took part in the panel said on the opening day of the Arabian Travel Market’s inaugural virtual event, ATM Virtual, on Monday. The panel was moderated by ... Read more

In accordance with relaxations in lockdown conditions as announced by the West Bengal government, Sinclairs Burdwan is reopening its property from June 5. The rooms, suite and the restaurant will start functioning from that date, but the bar will remain closed till further notice. The swimming pool also will not be operational. At Sinclairs Burdwan, high standards of cleanliness will be  maintained with special emphasis on hand washing hygiene to sanitising of guestrooms and common areas, the hotel said in a press release on Tuesday.  Sinclairs Burdwan is spread over approximately 4 acres of land and in view of its ... Read more

There will be no price hike for package tours and routes in 2020, vice president of the Russian Travel Industry Union, Yuri Barzykin said in an interview. “Will the package tours and routes become more expensive this year? No, they will not be more costly,” he said. The domestic tourist traffic will recover by August in absence of the second wave of the coronavirus spread, Barzykin said. “However, according to estimates of specialists, the traffic will decline in the domestic market by 30-50%, although the outbound tourism will not operate,” he added. “I believe Europe will start opening for us ... Read more

The InterContinental Moorea Resort & Spa in the French Polynesia will close permanently, with its business suffering hugely due to the coronavirus pandemic. The resort’s area general manager Guillaume Epinette cited “unforeseeable market conditions resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic.” “The global health and economic downturn resulting from the novel coronavirus has had an exceptionally devastating impact on the travel and tourism industry,” said Epinette in a statement. “The permanent closure of the InterContinental Moorea Resort & Spa has been a very hard but carefully considered decision taken to preserve our other hotels within Pacific Beachcomber hotel group.” Pacific Beachcomber Hotels ... Read more

International passenger flights to and from India will not resume immediately, as the ban imposed by various countries on the entry of foreigners need to be addressed first, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has said. Domestic services were suspended in India due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown and resumed after a gap of two months on May 25. Scheduled international passenger flights continue to remain suspended in the country. “Numerous citizens have been approaching us to restart international flights. Several factors need to be addressed. Many international destinations are not allowing incoming passenger traffic, except for their own citizens or ... Read more

Singapore and China will launch a “fast lane” arrangement early next month to help encourage essential travel. The travel will be essentially for business and official purposes, as both countries emerge from the coronavirus pandemic with control measures in place. The arrangement would first apply to Singapore and six provinces or municipalities directly under the Chinese central government – Shanghai, Tianjin, Chongqing, Guangdong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, said Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) in a statement. This arrangement will be gradually expanded to the other Chinese provinces and municipalities, according to a report by The Straits Times. Both countries agreed ... Read more

Travel agency Skyscanner’s chief executive officer (CEO) Bryan Dove has stepped down. Vice-chairperson Moshe Rafiah will take over the position. Dove, who has pent five years with the company, said he is stepping down for family reasons. He will remain as a senior adviser to the company. Skyscanner is a meta search engine and travel agency based in Edinburgh, Scotland and owned by Trip.com Group, the largest online travel agency in China. Rafiah said: “Bryan has made a remarkable impact on Skyscanner. While the travel industry faces a challenging time, Skyscanner is a leader in the sector in every way.” ... Read more

Hospitality firm Oyo is trying to assuage the hurt of its furloughed employees, by offering them employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) worth around Rs 130 crore. An internal e-mail from its founder Ritesh Agarwal said the move is part of the company’s efforts to minimise the disruption experienced by these employees, news agency PTI said. On April 8, Agarwal had said in a letter that the company will place a certain number of employees on furloughs or temporary leaves, globally. In an internal town hall note to the impacted employees, Agarwal on Monday said that while he hoped that the ... Read more