Tag: covid-19 pandemic

Dubai-based carrier Emirates has rolled out a new online gateway to serve its travel trade partners around the world. Tailored for each market, and personalised for each partner to cater to their unique business environment and needs, the Emirates Partners Portal is designed as a one-stop shop for travel industry partners to quickly and securely access the full range of information on Emirates’ latest products, services and policies, and obtain technical support. The portal also offers a range of functions including self-service tools and support, and in-built automation of business processes, all aimed at delivering efficiency for travel partners, as ... Read more

The Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) has said that Indian and foreign airlines be allowed to operate, to revive the travel industry. The industry body said the government should allow foreigners to travel to India on a reciprocal basis. While there has been a substantial easing of lockdown conditions in line with phase one and two, phase three remains a crucial decision for the country, it said, according to a report by news agency ANI. FICCI said clear-cut dates should be announced by the states to open tourism, monuments, tourist attractions, hotels, restaurants and bars. All restaurants ... Read more

India’s first full-fledged international cruise terminal is ready for commissioning at the Ernakulam Wharf on Willingdon Island in Kerala. Sagarika, the ₹25-crore cruise terminal spread over 12,000 sq.ft., has facilities to handle up to 5,000 tourists arriving in cruise vessels. The commissioning was scheduled for April, but had to be postponed due the coronavirus crisis. A new date is expected to be announced shortly. The terminal can be an important milestone for Kerala’s tourism sector, as the number of cruise ships visiting Kochi has been increasing every year. But many of these vessels that bring in high-spending tourists to the ... Read more

The requirement that UK travellers returning from Spain have to quarantine themselves yet again for 14 days has been a huge disappointment for thousands of British holidaymakers. The move is disastrous for the hard-pressed travel & tourism industry, both in Spain and the UK, Gloria Guevara, President & CEO of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) has said. “While the health and safety of travellers – as well as those who work within the travel & tourism industry – is paramount, this move will be a bitter blow for those holidaymakers already in Spain who will now be forced into isolation ... Read more

Tourism, hospitality and aviation are among the worst affected sectors due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the latest survey by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said. About 90% of the respondents said that recovery within the tourism sector appears bleak in the next six months. The aviation sector came a close second, with about 85% categorising the future prospects as extremely bleak. Bankers said aviation is most likely to require support as the sector is highly leveraged, with high fixed costs. The survey findings suggest that the ill-effects of COVID may remain for next 3-5 years and may impact the quality of credit ... Read more

The Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism & Hospitality (FAITH), the nodal federation of all the national tourism associations, has revised the sector’s economic risk guidance to ₹15 lakh crore in view of the coronavirus situation. In its initial guidance, which was calculated and shared with the industry and the Central government in March, the federation had put the tourism sector’s economic risk at ₹5-lakh crore due to the pandemic. Later, it was revised upwards to Rs 10 lakh crore, as the situation worsened. Now, the figure has been further revised to ₹15-lakh crore as the pandemic continues to ravage the sector. FAITH ... Read more

Thomas Cook (India) and its group company, SOTC Travel Ltd, have partnered with ICMR-accredited medical centres pan India, to offer COVID-negative certification services. This initiative is an extension of the Thomas Cook & SOTC Assured Safe Travel Program in partnership with Apollo Clinics.  Through this service, the travel agency will ensure that the travellers receive the report results within 24 to 48 hours. The Thomas Cook & SOTC COVID-negative certification services include: assistance on requirements/procedures for COVID testing via ICMR accredited centres, information on multiple locations/options available for the test, scheduling appointments for the tests etc. The service will also enable ... Read more

K Vijaya Mohan, President of the Tours and Travels Association of Andhra, has said that travel agents in the state have suffered a cumulative revenue loss of Rs 2,000 crore due to COVID-19 outbreak. At this rate, they would end up losing Rs 3,400 crore by the year-end, he said. In a letter written to Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, he said the government should give certain benefits to bail out the travel sector. He noted there are about 1,000 travel agencies in the state and one third of them are in Visakhapatnam, many of whom are suffering economically. ... Read more

Britain has always been a health tourism destination of distinct pedigree with its high-class healthcare service. Tourists from around the globe pick the UK, for their treatments, due to the high degree of expertise available. Its National Health Service (NHS) has been a model healthcare system globally, but the country has been suffering from an obesity crisis of late. As a result, Britain unveiled plans to tackle an “obesity time bomb” from today, banning TV and online adverts for junk food before 9.00 pm, ending “buy one get one free” deals on such foods and putting calories on menus, says ... Read more

A cruise ship carrying 1,200 passengers set sail from Keelung Port on Sunday, on the first commercial sea tour since Taiwan imposed travel restrictions due to the COVID-19, the Maritime and Port Bureau said. The “Explorer Dream,” however, will visit only domestic ports, namely the islands of Penghu and Matsu, according to the operator, says a report by Focus Taiwan. With 1,200 tourists on board, the cruise liner will stop at Penghu and Matsu, before returning to Keelung in northern Taiwan on July 29, the operating company Dream Cruises said. Dream Cruises said it will offer 30 similar trips over ... Read more

Foreign guests will likely stay away from India not just this year but the next as well, EIH executive chairman PRS Oberoi has said. EIH is the listed entity of The Oberoi Group that runs hotels under Oberoi and Trident brands in the country. The travel industry was among the first to be affected by the pandemic and will, in all probability, be the last to recover, Oberoi said in his address to shareholders in the latest annual report. “Due to the COVID- 19 pandemic, we expect very few foreign travellers to visit India in the current year and in the next ... Read more

Air India’s northern regional office has formed a committee to identify “redundant” or “surplus” employees who would be asked to go on a compulsory leave without pay (LWP) for up to five years. P S Negi, Regional Director (RD), Northern Region, Air India, issued an order stating that an empowered committee is being constituted for the identification of such employees, news agency PTI has reported. Negi’s order, which has been accessed by PTI, said the general manager (personnel), general manager (finance) and departmental heads will be the members of the empowered committee. “GM (Personnel) will share the staff list with ... Read more

Leisure travel to downtown Los Angeles has sagged during the coronavirus pandemic, but guest rooms at the 94-year-old Hotel Figueroa are hot commodities as always. These days, however, most guests are locals taking day trips from home so they can work. A special program titled Work Perks aims to reposition some of the hotel’s 268 rooms as day-use offices, says a report by CNN Travel. According to Managing Director Connie Wang, this is a great opportunity for work-at-home warriors to get out of their houses and spend workdays in clean, quiet and socially distanced spaces that come with high-speed WiFi, unlimited printing ... Read more

British Airways-owner International Airlines Group (IAG) has said that American Express would pay it 750 million pounds ($955 million) to renew their partnership, providing a welcome boost to the airline’s finances at a time when it is burning through cash. Since lockdowns have eased, flying has restarted, but pressure remains on airline companies like IAG because travel is still at less than half of pre-pandemic levels due to ongoing restrictions for some destinations and consumer worries, says Reuters. IAG’s finances have been strained by the pandemic, leading to media speculation that it could need to raise new equity. It said ... Read more

Airlines are taking extreme measures to survive the pandemic, with Asiana Airlines Inc. flying the world’s biggest commercial plane more than 20 times, going nowhere and carrying no passengers, just to keep trainee pilots certified, Bloomberg has said. Keeping crew flight-ready is one of the challenges carriers face as they grapple with the unprecedented crisis that keeps more than a third of the world’s fleet grounded. The empty Airbus SE A380 flew over South Korea for a few hours a day for three days in May to enable pilots of the 495-seat superjumbo to practice taking off and landing. The ... Read more