Tag: USA

President Joe Biden on Monday is expected to reinstate COVID-19 travel restrictions to combat COVID-19 infections. The restrictions, which were in place for most of 2020, apply to non-U.S. citizens who have been in Brazil, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and much of Europe. Then-President Donald Trump rescinded the restrictions days before the end of his term. “With the pandemic worsening, and more contagious variants emerging around the world, this is not the time to be lifting restrictions on international travel,” the now-White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on Twitter last Monday. “On the advice of our medical team, the Administration does not ... Read more

Americans marked a muted Thanksgiving Day holiday on Thursday, sometimes seeing family only by video after political leaders discouraged travel or large gatherings in the face of the surging coronavirus pandemic. Thanksgiving, typically celebrated with big family dinners, became the latest major event in American life to be altered or diminished by the coronavirus in 2020 as most U.S. states struggle with spiraling infections and deaths. “All of a sudden I feel kind of lonely, I have to admit,” said Janis Segal, 72, as she prepared to join family members in a Zoom call for Thanksgiving. Eight months after the ... Read more

The San Francisco International Airport (SFO) has become the first airport in the United States to launch the rapid COVID-19 testing program for airport employees. The airport has tied up with Dignity Health-Go Health for the same. This partnership provides employee testing both at airport and at nearby Dignity Health-GoHealth care locations. The airport testing facility, located in the International Terminal, is currently returning test results in less than an hour, and anticipates further reductions in test result wait times. The GoHealth Urgent Care Return to Work program provides knowledgeable and experienced clinical guidance and resources, rapid COVID-19 testing capabilities ... Read more

The US administration has suspended all private charter flights between the United States and Cuba, to increase economic pressure on Havana, the BBC has reported. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted that “the Castro regime uses tourism and travel funds to finance its abuses and interference in Venezuela”. Last October the US banned regular scheduled flights to all cities in communist-run Cuba except Havana. Tourism to Cuba has already been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. Hardline policies towards Cuba and its regional ally Venezuela are welcomed by conservative Cuban-American groups in Florida, a key battleground state which Donald ... Read more

Severe winter storm in the central US has killed more than 3 people and lead to 500 flight cancellations. Around 5,700 delays were also reported on December 28. The north central plains and the Midwest of US were reported to be covered with eight to 12 inches (20-30 centimeters) of snow. The heavy snow and high winds snarled air and ground transportation during this busy holiday travel period. The condition is expected to be worsen in the coming days in the southwestern state of New Mexico, along with a deluge of rain in some southern and eastern states — ruining New Year travel plans ... Read more

Photo Courtesy: South China Morning Post Tourism experts expect a setback in the booming US tourism industry due to the escalating trade tensions between the United States and China. “There will be impacts on the tourism. The question is how long. We hope it’s temporary,” said Barry Lin, Vice General Manager of Destination Marketing Services at Chinese online travel agency, Tuniu to the media. “The tourism industry is monitoring the situation closely, as the National Day Golden Week, a national seven-day holiday starting on Oct. 1 in China, is getting closer,” said Lin. China is one of the major inbound ... Read more

അസാധാരണ വിശേഷങ്ങളുള്ള ലോകത്തെ ചില സ്ഥലങ്ങളിലേക്ക് വിനോദ സഞ്ചാരം നടത്തിയാലോ? ഇതിൽ നമ്മുടെ നീലക്കുറിഞ്ഞിയും ഉൾപ്പെടും. വരവായ് കുറിഞ്ഞിക്കാലം പന്ത്രണ്ട് വർഷത്തിലൊരിക്കൽ മൂന്നാർ മലനിരകളെ നീല നിറത്തിൽ മുക്കുന്ന നീലക്കുറിഞ്ഞി ശരിക്കും വിസ്മയമാണ്. ഈ ഓഗസ്റ്റ് മുതല്‍ ഒക്‌ടോബര്‍ വരെയാണ് നീലക്കുറിഞ്ഞിക്കാലം. ഇരവികുളം ദേശീയ ഉദ്യാനത്തിലെ രാജമലയിലാണ് നീലക്കുറിഞ്ഞികൾ കാണാൻ കഴിഞ്ഞ തവണ കൂടുതൽ പേരെത്തിയത്. അവസാനമായി 2006 ലായിരുന്നു നീലക്കുറിഞ്ഞി പൂത്തത്. കഴിഞ്ഞ നീലക്കുറിഞ്ഞിക്കാലത്ത് അഞ്ചുലക്ഷം വിനോദ സഞ്ചാരികളാണ് മൂന്നാറിലെത്തിയത്. ഇതിന്റെ മൂന്നിരട്ടി സഞ്ചാരികള്‍ ഇത്തവണ നീലക്കുറിഞ്ഞി കാണാൻ എത്തുമെന്നുറപ്പാണ്. പശ്ചിമഘട്ടത്തിലെ മലകളിൽ 1500 മീറ്ററിനു മുകളിൽ ചോലവനങ്ങൾ ഇടകലർന്ന പുൽമേടുകളിൽ കാണപ്പെടുന്ന കുറ്റിച്ചെടിയാണ് നീലക്കുറിഞ്ഞി(Strobilanthes kunthiana). 12 വർഷം കൂടുമ്പോൾ കൂട്ടത്തോടെ പൂക്കുന്നു എന്നതാണ് ഇതിന്റെ പ്രത്യേകത. ഒറ്റയ്ക്കു കണ്ടാൽ ഒരു പ്രത്യേകതയുമില്ലാത്ത പൂവാണ് കുറിഞ്ഞി. സീസണിൽ ഇവ ഒരു സ്ഥലത്തു വ്യാപകമായി പൂത്തു നിൽക്കുന്നതാണ് നിറപ്പകിട്ടു നൽകുന്നത്.   പുള്ളിപ്പുലിയല്ല, ഇത് പുള്ളിത്തടാകം അദ്ഭുതങ്ങൾ ഒളിപ്പിച്ച നിഗൂഢ ... Read more

US Tourism industry was in a downfall followed by President Trump’s initial executive order banning travel to the US from seven countries: North Korea, Syria, Iran, Yemen, Libya, Somalia and Venezuela. Now, after the Supreme Court ruling to uphold the ban, the travel and tourist industry is in a revival mode. Supreme Court decision upholding the travel ban on five Muslim-majority nations as well as North Korea and some travellers from Venezuela will stimulate restoration of the tourism industry Roger Dow, the president and chief executive officer of the U S Travel Association, said, “The most important thing is the administration has got to change its rhetoric to welcoming ... Read more

Australia is one of the most preferred spot for the international tourists. This fact is confirmed by the new statistics from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The statistics reveal that a record number of 9.02 million international visitors last year. This records a huge increase of 7.7 per cent while compared to last year. The sudden rise in Australia’s sector is attributed to the tourism flow led by China. The majority of tourists in Australia are from China, going beyond New Zealand as the major source of tourists to the country. The total number accounts to one-sixth of the tourists, ... Read more

Marking a new record of visits, San Diego County had 7.6 million visitors for the first three months of 2018. The recent statistics by San Diego Tourism Authority confirms that the number of tourists visiting the county has increased considerably and so is the spending spree. The hotel bookings, museum visits, theme parks business have also gone higher and there were tourists who even visited the county just for a day. The rise in number of tourists went up by 8.4 percent during the first quarter and their spending amounted to a total of $2.5 billion, which records a 5 ... Read more

Awarded Luxury Beach Villa – Pinilla, Costa Rica TripAdvisor has announced the winners of the second annual Travelers’ Choice awards for Rentals. 30 best holiday homes across the globe are awarded across three categories i.e. Luxury ($300+ USD per night), Mid-Range ($100-150 USD per night) and Affordable ($99 USD per night and below). A Cozy Designer Minerva Apartment located in downtown Rome was declared the winner in Affordable category with the rates starting as low as $66 per night. An oceanfront condo in Kauai, Hawaii tops the list in Mid-Range category. A Luxury category was topped by a Costa Rican beach ... Read more

Asia is known as the powerhouse of aviation market. However, according to new research by flight data provider OAG, three of world’s busiest routes are North American airports. Two of those routes shuttle passengers between United States and Canada. One reason for this high demand maybe Canada is drawing record numbers of international travellers, including those from USA. Or it might be the resurgence of interest in international travel by Canadians after a setback by a weak economy and unfavourable currency exchange rates. The airline carried a record 48 million passengers last year after inclusion of 30 new routes last year ... Read more

By launching direct service between Václav Havel Airport, Prague and Philadelphia International Airport (PHL), American Airlines has brought USA and Czech Republic closer. The daily flights will be operating throughout the summer season, providing more than 2,800 seats per week between the two cities. The flights are operated using Boeing 767-300 aircraft and is the first airline to connect the Czech Republic and the state of Pennsylvania with a direct flight. The business class offers 28 fully lie-flat, aisle accessible seats arranged in one-two-one configuration. The class is equipped with personal Samsung Galaxy tablets loaded with the latest movies, TV ... Read more

It was a happy news for the tourism industry, as the foreign tourist arrival exceeds to over 13.4 per cent more than that of the previous year statistics. Foreign tourist arrival for the period of January-March 2018 was 31.27 lakh, while January-March 2017 recorded only 28.45 lakh arrivals. The statistics can be further dissected as more foreign arrivals of about 19.59 % were registered from Bangladesh followed by UK (11.56%), USA (10.79%), Russian Federation (3.89%), Sri Lanka (3.72%), Malaysia (3.36%), Canada (3.35%), Germany (3.19%), China (2.67%), Australia (2.62%), France (2.58%), Japan (2.11%), Thailand (2.00%), Singapore (1.64%) and Afghanistan (1.60%). Meanwhile, ... Read more

The American National Travel and Tourism office announced that they will not discharge the data regarding international arrivals to the country. According to a statement issued by the department of tourism, the matter has been raised as part of a technical glitch. Meanwhile, the US Customs and Border Protection has also raised similar statement, as they won’t release new records until the records in question are properly counted, identified and categorized. The citizens of US weren’t counted correctly, while transiting through the checkpoints. “Therefore, those travellers were removed from the visitor count of overseas travellers arriving into the United States, ... Read more