Tag: covid-19 pandemic

The Travel Agents and Tour Operators Association of Gujarat (TAG) has submitted a memorandum to the state tourism minister, Jawahar Chawda, seeking relief measures through a tourism aid package. Rannotsav and the Statue of Unity attract tourists to Gujarat and travel agents who help bring in bookings should be incentivised, they said in their submission. Tourist-friendly infrastructure including stopovers with proper amenities should be developed along the key state highways and also highways leading to tourist destinations,” mentions the representation. In their letter, travel agents sought industry status for the travel and tourism sector and suggested several measures for reviving tourism in the ... Read more

The Karnataka government on Tuesday banned all tourism activities in the Kodagu district with immediate effect till further orders, in view of rising COVID-19 cases. An order issued by the Deputy Commissioner, Anis Kanmani Joy said that all resorts and homestays are to be closed for public and tourists till further orders. The order has asked owners of homestays or resorts not to take any new bookings and ordered to cancel the future bookings and refund the money back. However, it read that if someone is already staying in those resorts they can stay till their booking period is over, ... Read more

Dubai began welcoming back international travellers from Tuesday with safety measures such as temperature checks, mandatory masks, and COVID-19 testing in place. That Dubai is a tourist destination at all is largely thanks to its ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. In 2019 alone, Dubai welcomed 16.7 million international guests, up from 15.9 million the year before, according to the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing. The top seven tourist-sending nations were India, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, Oman, China, Russia, and the United States, says an Associated Press report. Those travellers also fuel Dubai’s vast restaurant, bar, ... Read more

Greece’s Tourism Ministry and the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) have launched a new campaign that focuses on the restart of Greek tourism, promoting the country as a safe destination. Titled“Destination Greece Health First”, the campaign will promote the country to markets abroad. It includes a video that features distinctive images of Greece and informs potential travellers that the country has undertaken all the necessary health protocols to ensure safe carefree holidays to its visitors. The video also introduces potential visitors to the “Greece Health First” microsite, where they can find information on everything they need to know about the health ... Read more

The JW Marriott Hotel in downtown Indianapolis is taking reservations with plans to reopen to guests this Thursday, July 9. Indiana’s largest hotel temporarily closed down operations more than 100 days ago due to the business decline caused by COVID-19. At that time, roughly 600 people worked at the JW Marriott in various capacities. Over the last few months, however, that staff has been reduced to only a handful of people, according to a report by Fox59. A rehiring process is underway to support the reopening. The hotel and hospitality industry has been devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic. In Indianapolis, hotels ... Read more

Norway will permit the residents of Schengen Zone and European Economic Area (EEA) countries to travel to the archipelago of Svalbard from July 15, according to the Norwegian’s Ministry of Justice and Public Security. Commercial flights, as well as expedition cruises (ships with capacity for 500 or fewer passengers), will be included in the reopening of Svalbard for travellers, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.  “It is important that tourism in Svalbard can also take part in the reopening we are now implementing in communities, but because of Svalbard’s emergency and emergency preparedness this opening must happen gradually and more controlled than on the ... Read more

The Chicago-headquartered Hyatt Hotels Corporation has said it will continue to grow the Thompson Hotels brand throughout the southern United States with deals for two new properties—Thompson Savannah and Thompson Buckhead—expected to open in Georgia in 2021. Marking the brand’s entry into the state, these projects will join four other Thompson hotels already under development including Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Austin, Texas. These six new properties are expected to join Thompson’s nine hotels across the United States and Mexico, many of which have resumed operations and are welcoming back guests. Thompson Hotels is a subsidiary brand of Hyatt. “We ... Read more

Bali, the Indonesian tourism hotspot, will reopen its borders to international tourists from September 11. Terming it “New Era of Life Order Protocol”, Bali will roll out a three-phased plan to restore the island’s economy, which begins this week. From July 9, the local administration will allow some businesses to operate. These include health services, fishing, restaurants, modern markets and finance. Tourism activities begin in phase 2 from July 31, when Indonesians will be allowed to visit. The final and third phase, when the island opens to international visitors, will start from 11 September. However, it is yet to release details on ... Read more

Michael Dominic, the Chief Executive Officer of CGH Earth, one of Kerala’s best-known hospitality brands, believes efficiency and productivity will define the way forward for the Indian hospitality sector. He refers to the coronavirus crisis as a catastrophe that will force changes in the way we perceive the tourism sector and even entrepreneurship as a whole. In an interview with TourismNewsLive’s Editor-in-chief DJ Hector he talks about how there will be a paradigm shift in the business with “lean organisation” becoming the watchword. Excerpts: Q: Best wishes on reopening all your properties across Kerala. Probably, CGH Earth was the first major hospitality ... Read more

Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Tourism has announced that the government has taken a slew of measures to provide relief to stakeholders in the tourism industry. The Ministry, together with the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA), is taking steps to sustain the lives of employees directly involved in the tourism industry and other establishments registered with the SLTDA. Following relief measures have been approved with implementation mechanisms, the Ministry of Tourism said in a media release. Provide a loan at 4% to accommodation providers and destination management companies (DMCs) registered under SLTDA to pay salaries through Bank of Ceylon (BOC) ... Read more

India’s Ministry of Tourism, under the Dekho Apna Desh series, organised its 40th webinar titled “Women of India – Shifting Gears” outlining the thrills of women biking. The webinar session was held by two women bike enthusiasts of India – Jai Bharathi who is an avid motorcyclist, travel enthusiast and co-founder of MoWo (Moving Women), a social initiative encouraging women to travel on motorcycles; and Candida Louis, a biker, blogger, storyteller and motorcycle tour guide. Moderated by Rupinder Brar, additional director general, ADG, Ministry of Tourism, the hour-long session touched upon various aspects surrounding safety of women bikers of India, the ... Read more

The Haryana Tourism Corporation will run six liquor shops in Gurugram as a pilot project starting today. Officials said that it is the first time that a state government entity will be operating liquor vends in the district. The decision was taken by the state government after the tourism department suffered huge losses due to closure of tourism complexes and guest houses during the lockdown imposed to contain the spread of Covid-19. During the lockdown period, the revenue receipt of the corporation was almost nil. The Gurugram excise department had placed an advertisement on June 23 for auction of 78 ... Read more

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, flew hundreds of UFC participants including athletes and event crew to Abu Dhabi as the city prepares to host UFC Fight Island. UFC is the biggest mixed martial arts tournament in the world, with more than 300 million fans around the world. Etihad is the official airline partner of the event, which is Abu Dhabi’s inaugural major sporting event since the outbreak of COVID-19. This weekend, Etihad carried UFC stars Amanda Ribas, Jéssica Andrade and José Aldo from Sao Paulo to Abu Dhabi, with Paige VanZant, Rose Namajunas and Max Holloway jetting ... Read more

Several German officials on Monday said they hope Berlin would soon ease its coronavirus-related travel restrictions so that tourism activities with Turkey could resume. Turkey is one of the most popular travel destinations for German holidaymakers; nearly 5 million German tourists travelled to Turkey last year.  “Every country should be treated fairly and I am pretty confident that tourism activity between Turkey and Germany will resume soon,” the German government’s tourism commissioner, Thomas Bareiss, told German broadcaster NTV. “I hope that I will have the opportunity to travel to Turkey this summer,” Nils Schmid, foreign affairs spokesman for the Social ... Read more

The United States has stated that international students will not be allowed to stay in the country if the college in which they have registered is holding only online courses. Those failing to comply with the rules will risk deportation, the government warned. Students on F-1 and M-1 visas who face such a situation “must depart the country or take other measures, such as transferring to a school with in-person instruction to remain in lawful status,” the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency said in a news release on Monday. Those who violate the rules “may face immigration consequences including, but not ... Read more