Tag: covid-19 crisis

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

The Confederation of Kerala Tourism Industries (CKTI) is seeking urgent financial aid from the government for the survival of the sector that has been ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic. The confederation said the government should take additional measures to help the 15 lakh employees who are directly linked to the travel/tourism/hospitality segment. Meanwhile, following a series of online meetings that saw representation from 35 registered trade associations, CKTI re-elected EM Najeeb as its chairman. The main objective is to ensure survival and then the revival of the industry, CKTI stated in a press release. The tourism sector is the most ... Read more

The Indian Government and the State Government of Kerala should be held responsible for their criminal negligence towards the struggling travel and tourism sector, tourism body ATTOI has contended, citing instances of employees committing suicide. While many other countries, both developed and developing, have come forward with plans to support the industry, the Indian government and the state of Kerala have ignored the sector, ATTOI President Vinod CS has said. Even neighbouring countries like Sri Lanka and states such as Himachal Pradesh have given shape to financial packages and benefits for tourism employees, but God’s Own Country hasn’t come to ... Read more

The Kerala High Court has refused to grant any relief to Johnny Paul Pierce, a 74-year-old US citizen, who had sought extension of his stay in India as he feels safer in Kerala than in America. The high court said that extension of visa tenure of foreign nationals is the exclusive domain of the Government of India. Justice CS Dias observed that a foreign citizen cannot claim fundamental right to reside and settle in India, adding that the power of the Government of India to expel foreigners is absolute and unlimited. Pierce’s visa is valid till January 26, 2025, but ... Read more

he Hotel Association of India (HAI), which represents over 300 hotels across categories, has sought the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) support to tide over the financial crisis. The sector is staring at a ₹90,000 crore revenue loss in 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic. The current debt levels in the organized hospitality sector, which is barely 10% of the total industry, stands at ₹45,000 crore, the association said. RBI had announced relief on loan moratorium on interest and principal repayment for six months till August. “Unfortunately, an immediate term solution will only defer the crisis as what is needed is ... Read more

Italy’s latest stimulus package, aimed at helping the economy overcome the coronavirus pandemic, will offer help to the tourism and auto sectors, Reuters reports. Economy Minister Roberto Gualtieri told a parliamentary committee on Tuesday that such a move was much needed and urgent. The government has said it will present the measures in an emergency decree in early August. A source told Reuters this month that slightly less than 1 billion euros ($1.17 billion) would be put forward to strengthen current incentives to encourage sales of state-of-the-art combustion engine cars as well as electric and hybrid vehicles. Gualtieri did not ... Read more

Effective 1 August, all travellers flying Etihad Airways from around the world to Abu Dhabi, and those transferring via Abu Dhabi onto other flights, will be required to show a negative COVID-19 PCR test result. The tests have to be carried out from a list of approved testing facilities listed on www.etihad.com/destinationguide, alongside their ICA approval if Abu Dhabi is their end destination. The PCR test must be carried out within 96 hours prior to arrival in Abu Dhabi and a negative COVID-19 PCR test result certificate from one of the approved clinics listed must be shown for approval to board. ... Read more

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said international travel ban cannot stay in place indefinitely, and countries should do more to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus within their borders. A surge of infections had prompted countries to reimpose some travel restrictions in recent days. Only with strict adherence to health measures, from wearing masks to avoiding crowds, would the world manage to beat the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization’s director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said at a virtual news briefing on Monday. “Where these measures are followed, cases are going down,” he said, praising Canada, China, Germany and South Korea ... Read more

Norway’s Arctic-archipelago Svalbard on Saturday recorded its highest-ever temperature, the country’s meteorological institute reported. For the second day in a row, the archipelago registered 21.2 degrees Celsius (70.2 Fahrenheit) in the afternoon, just under the 21.3 degrees recorded in 1979, meteorologist Kristen Gislefoss told news agency AFP. Later in the afternoon however, at around 6:00 pm local time, it recorded 21.7 degrees, setting a new all-time record. The Svalbard islands would normally expect to be seeing temperatures of 5-8 degrees Celsius at this time of year. The island group is the only inhabited isle in the northern Norway archipelago, that ... Read more

Spain is safe for tourists and Spaniards, the government insisted on Sunday after Britain abruptly imposed a two-week coronavirus quarantine on travellers returning from there, says a Reuters report. Last year, Britons made up over a fifth of foreign visitors to Spain, which relies heavily on tourism revenues, meaning the UK move could deal a hard blow to efforts to restart the Mediterranean country’s economy after months of lockdown. “Spain is safe, it is safe for Spaniards, it is safe for tourists,” Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya told reporters. The Spanish government will focus its efforts on trying to persuade ... Read more

Dubai-based airline Emirates has said that on-arrival polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests will be mandatory only for passengers from specific countries, starting August 1. The airline has issued a list of 29 such countries, Gulf News reports. These countries include India, Brazil, Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, Philippines, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and select US airports among others. The US airports included in the list are Dallas Fort Worth (DFW), Houston (IAH), Los Angeles (LAX), San Francisco (SFO), Fort Lauderdale (FLL) and Orlando (MCO), says the Gulf News report. All passengers arriving from these points of ... Read more

A consortium of Flight Simulation Technique Centre, Big Charter and Imperial Capital Investments LLC has reportedly secured $100 million that will be pumped into Jet Airways in order to revive the defunct airline. The consortium is one of the two bidders that submitted resolution plans for Jet Airways earlier this week. Lenders had shortlisted it, along with three other entities, for Jet Airways’ insolvency process back in June. Biraja Jena, Chairman of Dubai-based Imperial Capital, told Moneycontrol that they have secured $100 million from their partners. The investment banking and wealth management firm has also roped in Middle Eastern business house Taha Group as ... Read more

Prahlad Singh Patel, India’s Minister of State for Tourism and Culture, will inaugurate the two-day ‘FICCI Tourism Conclave’ on July 29. The conclave is being organised with a vision to bring together global thought leaders and key policy makers from the travel & tourism industry under one virtual platform to ideate, interact and share knowledge. The virtual conclave will create an opportunity for the participants to plan, promote, market, strategise and implement the best practices to revive the business in the sector, post COVID-19, the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) stated. The FICCI Tourism Committee said it ... Read more

The Norwegian government will make an exception for Tom Cruise and his crew to shoot parts of his latest “Mission: Impossible” movie in Norway this autumn without imposing quarantine requirements, says a Reuters report. Production of the seventh and eighth instalments of Paramount Pictures’ lucrative action movie franchise was halted in February due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The seventh movie is currently scheduled for release in November 2021 and the eighth in November 2022. Cruise will reprise his role as secret agent Ethan Hunt in both movies with Christopher McQuarrie returning as director. “It (the filming) will be carried out ... Read more

New Zealanders got out in force around the country during the school holidays, with some areas enjoying a boost of more than 50% in domestic tourist numbers compared to last year, according to a report by New Zealand Herald. New data shows the number of New Zealanders outside of their home region peaked at 550,000 on July 11 – the highest since March. Kaikoura had a 56% boost in numbers and the West Coast 51% as the South Island benefited most from increased travel by Kiwis, who are now largely confined to this country for holidays as a result of ... Read more