Category: News

Civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday said that bilateral air bubbles will be the way forward in resuming international travel amid the Covid-19 pandemic. “I think the answer is bilateral air bubbles – which will carry a number of people but under defined conditions – as countries continue to impose entry restrictions including India,” Puri said at a press conference. Puri said Air France will operate 28 flights from Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore to Paris from July 18 till August 1, while United Air will operate 18 flights from Delhi, Mumbai to Newark till July 31. Scheduled international ... Read more

Puducherry chief minister V Narayanasamy has said that the administration is contemplating reopening the Union Territory for tourists from August 1. He said that he would write to the Union Tourism Minister to ease the lockdown and open up tourism, to revive the economy. “The Puducherry administration managed to contain the spread of COIVID 19 due to the coordinated efforts of all sections of people. The COVID-19 recovery rate in the Union Territory is 65% and the death 1.5% of the total number of cases,” he said. The Tourism Ministry should facilitate foreign and domestic tourists to visit Puducherry so ... Read more

Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has conducted India Luxury Virtual Connect (ILVC), India’s first ever virtual roadshow designed exclusively for leading travel partners across key metro cities to touch base with the Thai private sector. The first ever India Luxury Virtual Connect (ILVC) conducted on July 15 -16, witnessed participation from 28 Thai luxury sellers along with 130 travel agents across south-west India and another 130 agents from the north-east. ILVC was conceptualized and executed by BRANDit, the official representative firm of TAT’s Mumbai office. The ILVC interface, developed by Travel Gyan, is a virtual platform for leading travel partners ... Read more

Hawaii has decided to delay reopening its tourism sector for another month. It will now open on September 1. The move comes in the wake of the rising Coronavirus cases in the Aloha State. It was earlier decided to allow tourists into Hawaii from August 1. Hawaii Governor David Ige stated that all travellers who enter the state, even those who have tested negative for coronavirus, will be undergoing a mandatory 14-day quarantine. The previous plan was to allow tourists, who have tested negative for COVID-19 within 72 hours of entering Hawaii, to bypass the mandatory 14-day quarantine starting from ... Read more

Etihad has added more destinations to its hand baggage only ‘Deal Fare’ which allows travellers to purchase lower fares in economy class if no checked baggage is required. Throughout July and August 2020, the Deal Fare will be introduced on routes including Belarus, Greece, India, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Serbia, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Sudan and Turkey. Initially, it was only available on flights between Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and Azerbaijan. Robin Kamark, chief commercial officer, Etihad said, “Following its success within the GCC region, we are excited to include more destinations that ... Read more

Madhya Pradesh’s bio-diversity, tiger reserves and national parks have made it a fascinating travel destination. The Ministry of Tourism presented a webinar on ‘Wild Wonders of Madhya Pradesh’ under Dekho Apna Desh webinar series, providing an immersive virtual safari experience of the state, which is also known as the heart of Incredible India. The webinar was moderated by Rupinder Brar, Additional Director General, Ministry of Tourism and was presented by Suyash Keshari, a young wildlife filmmaker who was born and brought up in Madhya Pradesh and worked extensively on its wildlife. Madhya Pradesh is an amalgamation of natural wildlife, history ... Read more

Many leading companies in the travel and tourism industries were ranked high on the Disability Equality Index’s (DEI) list for their level of disability workplace inclusion. According to the DEI’s ‘Best Places to Work for Disability Inclusion list’, major brands in the aviation, cruise, hotel and theme park industries all scored a perfect 100 in this year’s rankings. Airlines such as American, Delta, Southwest and United all finished at the top of the list, while Royal Caribbean International was the only cruise line to reach a perfect score, Travel Pulse reported. As for the hospitality industry, Choice Hotels International and Marriott International both ... Read more

Qatar Airways, on Wednesday, became the first airline to resume operations to Velana International Airport (VIA) after Maldives reopened borders. According to the airline, the scheduled flights will connect via Hamad International Airport located in Doha, Qatar, with European and American destinations including London, Copenhagen, Stockholm and New York. Daily flights from Doha to Male’ will depart at 0205hrs and arrive at 0905hrs, while flights from Male’ to Doha will take off at 2000hrs and land at 2245hrs. “We are excited to resume scheduled flights to the very popular tourist destination of Malé, Maldives. We are even more delighted to ... Read more

Air India has decided to allow its Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) to recommend that a non-performing staff member be compulsorily sent on leave without pay for a period of up to five years. Employees will be assessed by a board in the following categories: Suitability, efficiency, competence, quality of performance, health of the employee, instance of non-availability of the employee for duty in the past as a result of ill health or otherwise and redundancy. Air India CMD Rajiv Bansal can now send employees on leave without pay “for six months or for a period of two years extendable ... Read more

With many tourists putting a halt on travelling, the economy in the state of Nebraska has been affected. During crane season, boardwalks and pathways surrounding Rowe Sanctuary are normally packed, but due to COVID-19 this year, they haven’t seen the number of visitors they normally would, Nebraska TV reports. “Well during crane season, you’d normally see 25 to 30 thousand through the door in six weeks,” said the Director for the Audubon Center at Rowe Sanctuary Bill Taddicken. As COVID-19 swept the nation, Taddicken said they were barely open for one week before having to shut down. “It’s been a ... Read more

Emirates feels it’s time to get the big birds back up in the skies, resuming services to London and Paris on Wednesday. The A380s, also known as Superjumbos, have been grounded since March. The Dubai based carrier will deploy its A380 on its daily Amsterdam service, and add a second daily A380 service to London Heathrow starting from August 1. This announcement follows the Emirates A380’s return to the skies on Wednesday with EK001 to London Heathrow, which took off from Dubai International airport at 0745hrs and EK073 at 0820hrs to Paris. The airline said Emirates flight EK073 received a ... Read more

More than one lakh employees in Kerala’s travel and tourism sector have lost their jobs during this pandemic, says Sheik Ismail, vice-president of Concord Exotic Voyages. Many of them have turned to selling fish and vegetables to survive. He says though the industry has many associations and leaders, they have failed to raise funds for their needy colleagues. Some of them are selfish and request things for their own benefit and not for the entire industry, he says. Excerpts from an interview: Q: Kerala’s travel and tourism sector has been ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic. The state is hugely dependent ... Read more

Hungary will introduce international travel restrictions and tighten its border controls from today, as an effort to prevent a new wave of the Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), the head of the Prime Minister’s Office, Gergely Gulyás has announced. Gulyás has stressed that Hungary must prevent the virus from being imported from abroad, clarifying that there will not be any additional restrictive rules within the country, reports SchengenVisaInfo.com. “Hungary is today among the safest countries in Europe. But given new outbreaks around the world, the government is putting the health and safety of Hungarians foremost and is doing everything possible to prevent the ... Read more

Sri Lanka’s Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) is gearing up to set up branches across the island that will improve the services extended.  Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) Chairperson Kimarli Fernando said that plans are afoot to have SLTDA branches in each of the provinces so that the needs and requirements of tourists are well looked after, Mirror Business has reported. “In the past, provinces worked separately, but now we are looking at an ‘all of the country’ approach for tourism. For this we are working closely with the provinces and the relevant authorities.  So far, the support extended for ... Read more

As Michigan hits its peak tourism months, owners of resorts and restaurants are saying a quiet prayer. They have immense concerns on what lies ahead and many say they have one goal for 2020: survival. According to a report by CBS News, many tourism entrepreneurs are still optimistic about the summer, although business was down in June compared to last year. A few of them are finding it difficult to budget their business without knowing what’s ahead. “Everybody knows this will not be a year to thrive, it’ll be a year simply to survive as a business,” said Dave Lorenz, ... Read more