Tag: covid-19 pandemic

India’s national carrier Air India will connect Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai with Singapore, Canada and Germany. Bookings for the same will open later today. Here are the details: Air India will operate four additional flights from July 19 to July 22 connecting Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai with Singapore. Bookings will open today at 12 noon. Schedule: Bengaluru-Singapore-Bengaluru: July 19Mumbai-Singapore-Mumbai: July 20Chennai-Singapore-Chennai: July 21Delhi-Singapore-Delhi: July 22 India-Germany Air India will operate two additional flights on July 21 and July 23 connecting Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kochi with Frankfurt, Germany. Bookings will open today from 2 pm. Schedule ... Read more

Emirates, the leading Dubai-based carrier, is set to cut as many as 9,000 jobs because of the coronavirus pandemic. Prior to the crisis, Emirates had 60,000 staff members. In a conversation with the BBC, Emirates president Tim Clark said the airline had already cut a tenth of its staff but said: “We will probably have to let go of a few more, probably up to 15%.” The global airline industry has been severely impacted by coronavirus, with activity all but grinding to a halt. Tim told the BBC that the airline was “not as badly off as others”. But its ... Read more

The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that the Travancore royal family has the shebait rights over the  management of Thiruvananthapuram’s iconic Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple. The shebait is like the trustee of a religious endowment, as per the traditions of maintaining and preserving the idol and property. The Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple is one of India’s richest temples, which draws thousands of tourists to Thiruvananthapuram annually. It’s a major fixture in South India’s religious tourism circuit. In its verdict, the apex court said that death will not affect the rights of shebaitship of the family over the deity, and it will continue according ... Read more

Walt Disney World Resort in Florida reopened to guests on Saturday welcoming visitors back to the Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Parks. EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios will reopen on July 15. Drawing on experience from the successful reopening of Shanghai Disney Resort, Disney Springs, and Walt Disney World resort hotels and transportation, the theme parks will reopen with a deliberate, responsible approach that includes limits on attendance and controlled guest density. New health and safety measures implemented across the parks will follow recommendations from health agencies and government officials. Disney will create new ways for guests to enjoy attractions and characters while ... Read more

Around 700 tourists have visited Himachal Pradesh since the state government allowed entry of tourists almost a week ago. The healthy tourist inflow has happened despite the majority of hotel owners and their associations in the state not wanting tourists from other states to enter Himachal. Tourism and civil aviation secretary Devesh Kumar said that the standard operating procedure issued by the department was prepared after examining SOPs of other states who have opened their borders for tourism. Tourism director Yunus said that officials are verifying the documents and registration of tourists at the entry points to the state and they are ... Read more

The Vanuatu government had promised its biggest stimulus package ever to try to soften the coronavirus blow, and at 4.2 billion vatu ($52 million), it was considered to be one of the largest in the Pacific on a per capita basis. But people say they are yet to receive any of the relief payments promised for those who have lost work, the ABC has reported. Vanuatu is a South Pacific Ocean nation made up of about 80 islands that stretch 1,300 kilometres. With school holidays in Australia, Vanuatu’s picturesque beaches and turquoise waters would normally be busy with tourists at ... Read more

The novel coronavirus has halted many of the usual events across Iowa, including the Iowa State Fair, that help draw tourism and income during summer. But not all of Iowa’s traditional events have been nixed: Des Moines’ Butter Cow Festival is still a go, according to a report by Des Moines Register. During what would have been the first weekend of the fair, attendees can enjoy live music from local bands, food vendors, and breweries from 4:30-11 pm on August 14 and 15 at Lauridsen Amphitheater at Water Works Park. The band line-up on August 14 will include Richard Arndt, Jason Brown and The Purple ... Read more

Ladakh, the roof of the world, is home to breath-taking Himalayan landscapes and an ancient Buddhist culture living in harmony with nature for over a thousand years. A traveller’s paradise, Ladakh attracts people from far and wide for its awe-inspiring nature, rural simplicity and spiritual intensity. The speakers in the Dekho Apna Desh webinar conducted by the Ministry of Tourism – Paras Loomba and Jaideep Bansal from Global Himalayan Expedition – took the viewers on a pictorial journey to the land of high passes and showcased the unexplored areas of Ladakh. They discussed Ladakh’s traditional homestays and focused upon the ... Read more

The world is going through unprecedented times and it has become imperative to keep the travel industry as well as individual minds engaged for revival. As an initiative to celebrate India’s diverse touristic and cultural landscape, the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India has taken the initiative of organising a series of Webinars under the overall theme of ‘Dekho Apna Desh’. The platform is connecting a large number of tourism enthusiasts to hear and watch experts talking about their region, city, tradition, culture, heritage, and history. As part of this series, the Ministry of Tourism presented a webinar on ‘Photo-walking ... Read more

The Russian tourism industry has lost 187 billion euros over the past six months due to coronavirus, and it will take at least a year and a half to restore the industry to pre-crisis levels, president of the Russian Union of Travel Industry Andrei Ignatiev said, citing data from the Federal Tourism Agency. However, Ignatiev said that the situation has begun to change for the better. He said about 2.5 million people work in the tourism industry in Russia and 5-6 million people work in related industries. Tourism has already begun in the region, he noted, and expressed hope that ... Read more

The Dekho Apna Desh webinar series titled ‘Uttarakhand Simply Heaven’ highlighted the potential of tourism in Uttarakhand’s two regions namely Kedar Khand (Garhwal Region) and Manu Khand (Kumaon Region) and touched upon popular destination like Gangotri, Yamunotri, Badrinath, Kedarnath, Hemkhund Sahib and the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Valley of Flowers. The webinar session was presented by Pushpesh Pant, an eminent scholar, food historian and an expert in international relations, Ganesh Saili, a renowned author, noted photographer and an authority on the history of Uttarakhand and Shashank Pandey, a certified outbound trainer, MD of Aspen Adventures, Rishikesh. The session was ... Read more

Dubai-based carrier Emirates has scheduled several repatriation flights to assist stranded Indians in the UAE after receiving the green light from the civil aviation authorities in India and the UAE. Repatriation flights to five Indian cities – Bengaluru, Delhi, Kochi, Mumbai and Thiruvananthapuram – are on track from July 12 to 26. The flights to Bengaluru and Mumbai are subject to state government approval. Frequency of flights between July 12 and 26 Bengaluru: Two daily flights Delhi: Two daily flights Kochi: Two daily flights Mumbai: Three daily flights Thiruvananthapuram: One daily flight Flights from India to Dubai These repatriation flights ... Read more

With Covid-19 throwing a spanner in the works of the international aviation industry, the well-heeled traveller is looking to engage private jets and chartered flights even more regularly. A chartered flight is an unscheduled flight that is not part of a regular airline’s routing. A chartered flight is any aircraft, whether an 8-seater private jet or a 180-seater airliner, exclusively rented for an itinerary.  They are usually classified into group charters or individual client flights.  With a group charter flight, the flying experience is determined by whomever is chartering the plane, whether it be for a special tour, or group travel or a ... Read more

Punjab’s Tourism Minister Charanjit Singh Channi has directed the officials of the department to complete all projects on time, after assessing the situation along with the concerned officials. Principal Secretary Tourism & Cultural Affairs Hussan Lal, IAS, along with Director, Tourism and Cultural Affairs Kanwalpreet Kaur Brar held a review meeting to discuss the deadlines regarding completion of all projects. During the meeting the officials inspected the work on the Medal Gallery & Coin Museum being developed at Mohindra Kothi, Patiala, which is being done at an approximate cost of Rs. 8.95 crores with the help of the Asian Development ... Read more

Demand for charter flights from tier-2 cities is encouraging, IndiGo CEO Ronojoy Dutta has said. At present, the country’s largest airline is operating at 30% of its capacity, as restrictions by state governments on travel is hurting traffic. “The demand shows that we will reach 80% of our capacity by early next year,” Dutta said while addressing a webinar. “Our charter flights from the Middle East are good. And there is growth in smaller cities,” Dutta said. He said the airline’s passenger loads are decent, but added that in a route like Delhi-Ranchi, one leg may have 15 passengers, and ... Read more