Category: News

Emirates has announced that it will resume passenger services to Seychelles from August 1, coinciding with the country’s re-opening to international tourists. Operating flights to Seychelles five times a week with a Boeing 777-300ER, Emirates offers travellers convenient access to this popular Indian Ocean holiday destination. The Seychelles is an archipelago of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, off East Africa. Seychelles is home to numerous beaches, coral reefs and nature reserves, as well as rare animals such as giant Aldabra tortoises. Mahé, a hub for visiting the other islands, is home to capital Victoria. It also has the mountain rainforests ... Read more

Marriott International has announced the opening of its 800th property in Asia Pacific, the JW Marriott Nara in Japan. The launch marks the entry of the JW Marriott brand into Japan. The company also expects the EDITION and Aloft brands to debut in Japan before the end of the year. “We remain confident in the resilience of travel, our owners and franchisees, guests and associates as well as the future prospects of lodging in Asia Pacific, our second largest market,” said Craig S. Smith, Group President, Asia Pacific for Marriott International. “We are encouraged by recent trends, especially in China, ... Read more

SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment is offering free admissions for US military veterans and their families to safely visit its SeaWorld Orlando, SeaWorld San Antonio, and Busch Gardens Tampa parks. The US military veterans and retirees can redeem their complimentary single-day ticket(s), valid through November 11, for themselves and up to three friends or family members online at www.WavesofHonor.com. This offer will be valid at SeaWorld San Diego and Busch Gardens Williamsburg upon the parks’ reopening. In addition to enhancing the parks’ already strict health and safety measures, capacity at each park is carefully limited to create even more open space for guests to enjoy ... Read more

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has emphasised that ‘Ease of Living’ is as important as ‘Ease of Business’, adding that the pandemic has reminded us of the importance of resilience of the global economy against external shocks, which can be achieved by stronger domestic economic capacities. Delivering the keynote address at the India Ideas Summit on Wednesday, Modi listed several sectors which offer tremendous opportunities to invest such as infrastructure creation including building  roads, highways and ports and turbocharging civil aviation, wherein top private Indian airlines plan to include over a thousand new aircraft over the coming decade. At the Summit ... Read more

By Anish Kumar – CEO, Travel Planners Countries like Chile, Germany, Italy, Britain and the US are looking at providing immunity passports to people who have recovered from the coronavirus, so that they feel encouraged to travel. Immunity passport is a form of documentation given to those who have recovered from Covid-19. Those who have recovered from the impact of the coronavirus have developed herd immunity, and hence such measures are being considered to revive the travel sector. It is estimated that around 8.33 million people have recovered from Covid-19 worldwide. They have developed antibodies against the disease and are ... Read more

The Ministry of Tourism, as part of its Dekho Apna Desh series conducted a webinar titled, “The Mystical Triangle- Maheshwar, Mandu & Omkareshwar” on July 18. Presented by Ashima Gupta, Commissioner of Income Tax, Indore and Sarita Alurkar, a Singapore based marketing professional, the webinar showcased the richness of the destinations covered under the mystical triangle and acquainted the viewers with these serene, captivating getaways in the state of Madhya Pradesh. The first stop of the mystical triangle was Maheshwar or Mahishmati, one of the most serene and captivating destinations of Madhya Pradesh with historical significance, 90 kms away from ... Read more

Casino Hotel and Brunton Boatyard have become the first hotels in south India to get the Workplace Assessment for Safety and Hygiene (WASH) certification from the Quality Council of India (QCI), CGH Earth has announced. QCI is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry that governs ISO and NABH certifications. “CGH Earth has always consciously tried to create a safe and hygienic environment. We are happy to announce that Brunton Boatyard and Casino Hotel have been certified by WASH. The rest of our hotels and resorts will follow soon,” said Michael Dominic, CEO, CGH Earth. “The well ... Read more

Nepal’s Tourism Ministry has said that it would let all tourism related activities including mountain climbing during autumn. The Nepal government has already announced that it will resume all domestic and international flights from August 17. With the latest announcement, the tourism fraternity believes that the industry which incurred a loss of over 10 billion rupees a month during the COVID-induced nationwide lockdown would gradually return to a new normal, Himalayan Times said in a report. “The ministry plans to resume all tourism related activities by following health and safety protocols from August 17,” the Ministry’s secretary Kedar Bahadur Adhikari ... Read more

The Australian Federation of Travel Agents (AFTA) has welcomed the news that payments under the government’s JobKeeper scheme will be extended for millions of stood-down workers, a report by CMW says. The government has extended the scheme beyond September for an additional six months at a new rate of A$1,200 (US$846.87) a fortnight. The wage subsidy had been A$1,500 a fortnight. AFTA CEO Darren Rudd said the decision was a victory for the travel and tourism industry which had lobbied the government for the six-month extension. “Covid-19 hit travel and tourism operators will continue to feel the impact, so ongoing support is ... Read more

Eli Rozenberg, the 30-year-old scion of a New York family in the nursing home business, made his offer on Monday for control of El Al Airlines, Israel’s flag carrier. He said that he and his family were prepared to pay $75 million for an allocation of shares that would give him a 44.99% stake. According to a report by Haaretz, the stake is the maximum he can offer to achieve control of Israel’s flag carrier without having to make a general offer for all the shares, under Israeli regulations. The offer, which was presented to the Israel Companies Authority and the ... Read more

While tourism businesses have called for more government help, Tourism New Zealand is counting on Kiwis spending more on their domestic travels to help the sector recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. New research commissioned by the tourism board found that cost was one of a number of potential barriers to travel, with more than a quarter (28%) of survey respondents saying they believe holidays in New Zealand are too expensive and lack value for money, according to a report by Stuff. “When people travel overseas they tend to spend more because they try new things,” Tourism New Zealand general manager ... Read more

A Travel, Hospitality and F&B collective of the Entrepreneur’s Organisation (EO) has requested the government to provide goods and services tax (GST) waivers among other demands to revive tourism in India. In a nine-point demand letter, the body said it requests the government for immediate survival measures to prevent mass bankruptcy and crores of unprecedented layoffs in the hospitality and travel sector that normally contributes to almost 10% national GDP, due to the crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Drafted in consultation with top industry leaders, the letter requests an immediate rebate to save the tourism sector and crores of jobs associated ... Read more

Sajan Joseph, co-founder and CEO of Breakout Hotels, feels trade bodies must be in continuous touch with the government to make a difference in policy making. The associations tend to be in contact with political authorities only during conclaves and when a crisis erupts. He says trade bodies should include people with a wider exposure, not just tourism, to have more impact. Excerpts from an interview: Q: As a hotelier you must be wondering what wrong has the hospitality industry done to deserve the ignominy of getting ignored repeatedly by the State and Central governments. Your thoughts please. Well, the ... Read more

Sri Lanka’s small hotels which have developed from serving tourists through global booking engines will be given provisional licenses to get Covind-19 health certification to operate when the country opens for tourists in the future, the country’s tourism promotion agency said. The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) said about 60% of the industry is estimated to be in the small and medium sector and there were about 50,000 businesses providing rooms through booking agencies like Agoda.com, Booking.com and Airbnb.com, Economy Next reports. “After a series of consultations with the SME sector and to support them during this pandemic and ... Read more

Fiji has announced a range of incentives in its annual budget of 2020-21 to promote tourism, including tax cuts, pricing reductions across the hospitality sector and a move to drop quarantine requirements for tourists from New Zealand. Minister for Economy Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum while presenting the budget said several measures have been taken including tax reductions to stimulate the tourism sector, its biggest income earner. Hotel accommodation, food and beverages prices have been reduced, and the first 150,000 visitors to its shores will get $400 each towards packages including flights, accommodation and food and beverages, according to a report by Stuff. Sayed-Khaiyum said market surveys had ... Read more