Category: News

The Fern Hotels & Resorts, one of India’s leading hotel chains, is looking to partner with standalone hotels and enter into management contracts, Param Kannampilly, the Chairman & Managing Director of the company has said. Explaining the benefits of associating with the company he said, “We have a robust sales and marketing network with a pan-India presence, so the association will help individual hotels grow their corporate, MICE and leisure business in these uncertain times”. “We can look into the possibility of tie-ups under our Fern, Zinc and Beacon brands depending upon the property,” he added. Providing details of the newly announced ... Read more

Two prominent Taj hotels in south Mumbai have received threat calls from Pakistan, with the caller threatening to carry out a terror attack similar to the 26/11 attacks. Security has been heightened at both the hotels following the calls. The Taj Mahal Palace in Colaba and the Taj Lands End in Bandra received calls on their landline phones. The police said they are in the process of identifying the caller. Both the hotels are extremely popular with both domestic and international tourists, but are currently closed due to the coronavirus outbreak. Police said that the first threat call was made ... Read more

The Maharashtra state government has now restricted extensive movement within the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, which has seen an unprecedented spike in COVID-19 cases in the past month. In Mumbai, city police have stopped allowing people to move beyond a 2-km periphery from their homes. On Monday, while extending lockdown restrictions till July 31 under ‘Mission Begins Again’ initiative, the government has asked people in Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai and other cities to use only neighbourhood markets and barred them from travelling long distance for shopping non-essential items. Violations will invite police action. Chief secretary Ajoy Mehta issued an order on ... Read more

The European Union is edging toward finalising a list of countries whose citizens will be allowed to enter Europe again in coming days, with Americans almost certain to be excluded in the short term due to the number of U.S. coronavirus cases. Spain’s foreign minister said that the list could contain 15 countries that are not EU members and whose citizens would be allowed to visit from July 1. EU diplomats confirmed that the list would be made public on Tuesday. The diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity to the news agency Associated Press (AP) because the procedure is ongoing ... Read more

As part of the Dekho Apna Desh webinar series, the Ministry of Tourism introduced a session on  “Unlocking Travel & Tourism Safely & Responsibly during Covid”. The webinar was moderated by  Rupinder Brar, ADG, Ministry Of Tourism and was presented by  Dr Sandeep Bhalla, Director of Public Health Foundation of India, Dr Sanjeev Kumar Singh, Chief Medical Superintendent of Amrita Institute of Medical & Sciences Research Centre at Kochi, Dr Paridhi Mody, Programme Officer of Public Health Foundation of India. As countries around the globe including India are now gradually opening up trade and industries including travel & tourism, bringing ... Read more

Greece will not be accepting direct flights from the UK and Sweden until July 15, it was announced on Monday. The announcement followed a meeting chaired by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, ahead of Greece reopening airports to international flights on Wednesday, July 1. Regarding which non-European Union travellers will be allowed entry as of July 1, Greece intends to follow the list expected to be released soon by European officials, a statement by the PM’s press office said. The list will include the countries whose travellers will be allowed in when the EU’s external borders are reopened on July 1, Greek ... Read more

The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism & Aviation is preparing for the phase-2 of reopening, starting July 1, which allows for the resumption of international travel. All travellers visiting The Bahamas beginning July 1, must: Present a COVID-19 RT-PCR Negative (Swab) Test. Those arriving between July 1-7 must present results less than ten (10) days old. Those arriving after July 7 must present results less than seven (7) days old. Select individuals will not be required to provide a test: Children under two (2) Children between 3-10, if state or county of residence does not administer tests under that age. Parents or guardians must provide proof of testing restriction ... Read more

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has come on board to facilitate the development of a roadmap towards ‘Building a Safer and Resilient Tourism Sector in Sri Lanka: Post COVID-19’, to better assess the rapidly evolving pandemic and its crippling impact on the tourism sector.   This national roadmap is intended to catalyse the development of a framework to support the development of a new Strategic Plan and Vision for tourism 2021-2024. The first in a series of  consultations with development partners convened under the theme; ‘Putting People First: Building a more Resilient Tourism Sector in Sri Lanka’ was held on ... Read more

Emirates has announced that it will restart passenger flights to Cairo and Tunis from July 1, Glasgow (from July 15) and Malé (from July 16). This will bring Emirates’ network to 52 destinations in July, offering travellers convenient connections between the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe and the Americas through its Dubai hub, while ensuring the health and safety of customers and employees on the ground and in the air. Customers from Emirates’ network can also travel to Dubai following the announcement last week that the city will be open to business and leisure visitors from July 7, with new air ... Read more

Exactly a month ago, the Indian government had shelved the Sree Narayana Guru Spiritual Circuit project, in a major reversal for Kerala. No reason was provided for such a step at that time. Kerala could not accept this move and decided to pursue the matter with the Central government. Finally, on Monday, the Centre decided to retain the spiritual circuit, drawing curtains on a controversy which had the potential to snowball into a larger political crisis. But there is still a hitch. While the Centre has informed that the Rs 69.47-crore Sree Narayana Guru spiritual circuit project would be retained ... Read more

Pride Group of Hotels has announced its first-ever ‘Holiday Bond’ to welcome patrons back, in the new normal. The campaign offers an exclusive voucher for the forthcoming travel of its guests. The holiday bond – which includes an exclusive voucher for the imminent travel of the guests – can be bought for one of their seven participating properties at Rs 10,000 (plus taxes) and can be redeemed for services worth Rs 13,000. The bond is valid until November 14, 2020.  Satyen Jain, CEO, Pride Group of Hotels says, “We believe that when people travel, they shouldn’t have to compromise on ... Read more

Thomas Cook (India), an integrated travel services company, has introduced Staycations — an array of mini-vacations for Indians increasingly seeking quick, stress-free getaways close to home. With stays at handpicked hotels, either within one’s city of residence or at a short driveable distance, Staycations come attractively priced. According to Thomas Cook India’s “Holiday Readiness Report – Future of Travel post Covid-19”, 64% respondents were keen on a domestic holiday. However, most ranked health & safety as a primary concern. To ensure a perfect blend, Thomas Cook’s Staycations are designed to allow Indians to unwind at hotels in their home city or ... Read more

Air India will fly 114 flights while IndiGo and GoAir will operate 457 and 41 flights respectively between July 3 and July 15 under the fourth phase of the Vande Bharat Mission, news agency PTI has reported. The government started the mega mission to evacuate stranded Indians from abroad on May 6. Scheduled international passenger flights have been suspended in India since March 23 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Under the fourth phase of the mission, Air India will operate 114 flights to India from 17 countries. Canada, the US, the UK, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Kyrgyzstan, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, ... Read more

Various stakeholders representing Pahalgam tourism on Sunday requested the administration to allow tourists from other districts to visit Pahalgam so that local businesses can survive the COVID-19 aftermath. The point was raised at a meeting organised by the Pahalgam hoteliers, tourist taxi operators, adventure operators, pony wallas and other tourism allied service providers. The meeting was presided by Faheem Behaqi, sub-divisional magistrate of Pahalgam. The tourism trade representatives requested that since there are no tourists coming from outside, it would be good if administration would allow locals to visit Pahalgam. The representatives were informed that the Jammu & Kashmir tourism ... Read more

The Hotel and Restaurant Association of Odisha (HRAO) has urged the Indian government for long term measures to save the hotel industry from sinking further, due to the pandemic. In a letter to Union Tourism Minister Prahlad Singh Patel, HRAO chairman JK Mohanty said although hotels have been allowed to run with 30% capacity, there is no occupancy as people are scared to travel by trains and flights. The hoteliers said they have not yet received any relief either from the Centre or the State Government despite the repeated appeals explaining the miserable condition.      Meanwhile, the Odisha Cultural Circle ... Read more