Tag: United Kingdom

Britain’s Heathrow Airport renewed its call for COVID-19 testing at airports on Tuesday as it reported an 88% plunge in July passenger numbers due to ongoing restrictions on travel which it said were strangling the UK economy. Heathrow, which is owned by a group of investors including Spain’s Ferrovial, the Qatar Investment Authority and China Investment Corp, said 60% of Heathrow’s route network remained grounded, requiring passengers to quarantine for 14 days on arrival, says a Reuters report. Despite thousands of Britons holidaying overseas after months of lockdown, the government has already reimposed quarantine on arrivals from Spain, Luxembourg, Belgium, ... 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

The UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced steep cuts to value added tax (VAT) worth over £4 billion in an attempt to revive the struggling British tourism and hospitality sector. In his statement to the House of Commons on Wednesday, the Chancellor said VAT will be slashed from 20% to 5% for a period of six months until January, giving every chance for the sector to bounce back. Sunak said he wanted to see pubs, restaurants, cafes and B&Bs “bustling again”, adding that the measures were “a plan to turn our national recovery into millions of stories of personal renewal.” ... Read more

The UK on Friday allowed quarantine-free international travel to nearly 60 “lower risk countries”, excluding India and the US, as it released a list of exempt nations posing “a reduced risk” from the deadly coronavirus. The UK Foreign Office Travel Advisory related to India remains unchanged as part of its wider advice for British nationals to avoid “all non-essential international travel”. The list includes European destinations of Germany, France, Spain and Italy as well as Australia and New Zealand, PTI has reported. Some of the Asian countries considered low risk include Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vietnam, with popular holiday destinations ... Read more

Pubs in England will open today at 6 am (BST) as lockdown measures eased past midnight. Downing Street said the opening time for pubs was a “sensible precaution” to avoid midnight parties that may be conducted to celebrate the reopening of the pubs which were shut since March. British Summer Time (BST), the civil time in the United Kingdom, is advanced one hour forward of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) so that mornings have one hour less daylight and evenings get one hour more. The pub industry said the reopening was “fantastic” but urged customers to respect staff and changes in ... Read more

Pubs, hairdressers and cinemas will be able to open from July 15 if coronavirus cases continues to decline in Scotland, its First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced. Sturgeon said the move was possible thanks to “real and sustained progress” in suppressing Covid-19. People in Scotland will be allowed to meet up with two other households indoors from July 15 and outdoor hospitality such as beer gardens will be allowed to re-open from July 6. Sturgeon also said the five-mile travel limit will be lifted from July 3, while non-essential retail within indoor shopping centres will re-open from July 13. Households will ... Read more

England, primarily London, always attracts shoppers from around the world. Which traveller in the world wouldn’t like to shop at Oxford Street, Knightsbridge, Bond Street or Covent Garden? After 83 days of coronavirus lockdown, non-essential stores in England reopened their doors on Monday, hoping to get the tills ringing again and start a long road to recovery. The stores have been closed since March 23 when Prime Minister Boris Johnson imposed a lockdown to stem the spread of the virus. While outdoor markets and car showrooms reopened on June 1, today witnessed the big return to business for retailers. According ... Read more

England is creating the world’s longest coastal path – a hiking route, that will run along the entire length of the English coastline. At 2,800 miles long, the England Coast Path will be the longest coastal walking route on the planet when it’s finished. It is likely to be completed in the next two years. The route will link up some already existing stretches of seaside paths (like the South West Coast Path, which runs from Minehead in Devon through Cornwall to Poole in Dorset), improve others and in some places create brand new routes for hikers. The plan is to attract tourists to the country’s pretty coastline, something ... Read more

The UK will impose a 14-day quarantine period for incoming travellers from today, despite strong opposition from several industry quarters. Three airlines — British Airways, Ryanair and easyJet — have complained to the British government in protest at the measures they say are “disproportionate and unfair on British citizens as well as international visitors arriving in the UK”. Under the new UK rules, residents and visitors travelling to the UK on or after June 8 must provide journey and contact details, and self-isolate for the first 14 days. This means they cannot leave the place they are staying except in ... Read more

Bahamas, commonly known as an archipelagic state, that consists of over 700 island chains is all set to conduct its 3rd annual Caribbean Aviation meet-up from 24th June at the capital city of Nassau in Bahamas. Delegates from the field of includes aviation include Dionisio D’Aguilar, minister of tourism and aviation, and tourism director-general; Joy Jibrilu, followed by professionals from US, Canada and Europe. The forum is said to conduct over 31 sessions that include presentations and conference. Discussion topics would be cornered within regional airlines, route development, airport development, airlift impact on tourism and the economy, investment considerations, trends ... Read more