Category: News

Sri Lanka Tourism has prepared guidelines and taken precautionary measures to start welcoming overseas guests from August 1. The country’s major airports, Bandaranaike International Airport, Colombo Ratmalana Airport and Mattala Rajapaksa Hambantota Airport, will be in operation to receive the tourists. All travellers will require a valid visa that will be issued for 30 days and can be extended for up to six months after arrival. Further relaxation for long stay guests is currently under consideration, which will enable tourists to have five-year multiple-entry visas with a maximum of six months stay. Visa fee is USD 100. In order to ... Read more

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has announced steps to ease border restrictions, allowing its citizens to travel, amid the sustained rise in coronavirus cases. During a televised meeting, Mishustin said that an order has been signed to allow Russian nationals to leave the country for work, study or take care of sick relatives. The main agenda of the meeting was to discuss the measures to develop tourism, the opening of the holiday season, and the finalisation of the national plan for economic recovery. Highlighting the impact of coronavirus on the tourism industry, the Russian Prime Minister said that the industry ... Read more

Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has slammed the decision of the UK government to make travellers arriving in the UK, undergo a 14-day quarantine. This will cost millions of tourism jobs, he warned. He said his airline is experiencing a “collapse of inward bookings” for flights this summer, because people are being told to self-isolate for 14 days under government measures that came into effect on Monday. The British government is looking to guard against a second wave of coronavirus. All passengers, bar a handful of exemptions, now have to fill out an online locator form giving their contact and travel ... Read more

Hotels in Uttarakhand will not be allowed to take bookings from customers arriving from “high-load” Covid-19 cities, the state government has announced. While issuing guidelines to reopen restaurants, shopping malls and religious places of worship, chief secretary Utpal Kumar Singh said guests from cities with less number of cases will have to stay for a minimum of seven days. Officials said that if a person is carrying some infection, there are chances of manifestation within seven days. If people keep coming and going, it will become difficult to track the cases, they added. “Initially when we are starting, we want to ... Read more

Karnataka has come out with a set of protocols to ensure safety for tourists. Self-declaration by guests and tour operators about their preparedness for various tourist destinations, safety and hygiene status, social distancing requirements and awareness of the pandemic are all part of the new guidelines. “The Covid-19 pandemic has presented unprecedented challenges for the tourism sector across the world. In this aftermath, health and safety of people is of utmost importance for the government. With the tourism industry expected to resume operations over the coming months, it is necessary to have protocols in place that can ensure hygiene and ... Read more

Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express have so far ferried 66,831 Indians from overseas on 365 flights, as part of its repatriation drive. Another 17,180 passengers have travelled on 369 outbound flights by the national carrier to various foreign countries, civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Monday. Air India opened bookings on Friday, for around 300 flights to various countries like the USA and the UK, under the third phase of its Vande Bharat Mission. The airline faced an overwhelming demand for tickets, which were sold out in no time, forcing it to increase the number ... Read more

Abad Hotels & Resorts will restart its properties across Kerala from today, after the government decided to lift lockdown restrictions to revive the economy. Abad, one of the best-known hospitality groups in Kerala, has properties in Kochi, Munnar, Marari Beach, Wayanad, Kumarakom, Thekkady, Kovalam and Alleppey. “Keeping pace with the present times, we have revised and enhanced our standard operating procedure to provide greater care to guests,” Abad Hotels & Resorts stated in its note, while announcing the reopening of its units. ·     Temperature check on arrival for all residential and non- residential guests. ·     Safe status on Arogya setu app as ... Read more

Sinclairs Hotels on Monday reopened its Siliguri property, a few days after restarting operations at Sinclairs Burdwan. The hotel has been opened in line with protocols laid down by the authorities, the hospitality group stated in a press release. Located at the Pradhannagar area, Sinclairs Siliguri is an expansive property spread over a campus of around 3 acres with a large lawn, a huge terrace and ample open spaces. It has taken extensive steps in sanitizing the entire property and setting up safety protocols to ensure that all norms with regard to touch-free check in and check out as well ... Read more

The Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) has recommended that hotels should appoint a special officer nominated among managers, who will be responsible for Covid-19 response planning and implementation. In its reopening manual, addressed to all registered hotels and resorts in the country, FHRAI said the special officer will be the contact point for Covid-19 emergencies, having decision making powers as required. The officer has to be supported by the operations head, quality control, HR and a medical officer connected with the property. All hotels and resorts have to replace finger touch biometrics with alternatives, sanitise luggage ... Read more

Maldives is looking to open itself to tourists from July 1, with strict safety regulations, as the island country looks to revive its economy. Maldives’ minister of tourism, Ali Waheed, said the country cannot remain closed for long, adding that the industry representatives are working on guidelines to reopen the sector. However, not all countries are welcome. Tourists from Asian countries, including India, China, South Korea and Sri Lanka, and in the Middle East can travel, but guests from 12 other countries including Spain, Italy, the UK and the US will not be allowed in. Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways ... Read more

Singapore Airlines has initiated changes to its on-board meal services, in line with the new pandemic situation. The effort will be to reduce risk of contact for both customers and the crew, to ensure a safe journey. The following are the expected changes: Meal services have been suspended for flights within Southeast Asia and services to mainland China, due to regulatory reasons; snack bags are provided to customers instead In first and business class on long haul flights, a single tray service will be introduced in place of a table layout service In economy class on long haul flights, the ... Read more

Tahiti and its fellow tropical islands will be open to international travel from next month, even as French Polynesia tries to salvage its vital tourism industry. The French overseas territory in the South Pacific had halted all international flights in March in a bid to contain the coronavirus. It has reported just 60 cases of the disease and no deaths among its population of about 280,000. But with no tourists for three months, the economy has been ravaged, and all of its hotels have been shuttered, triggering calls in the industry for an easing of the virus restrictions. “We are ... Read more

Iran’s tourism ministry has said that the country will start hosting foreign travellers by mid-summer, with priority given to guests from neighbouring countries. “Based on our data analysis, Iran will open land borders to neighbours as of July 5 and some of its air borders as of July 22,” Mohammad-Ebrahim Larijani, the director of the ministry’s advertising and marketing office said, according to a report in Tehran Times. The official referred to travel demands from Oman, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Pakistan, Iraq, Turkey, China, and Hong Kong. “Apart from these applicants, we have had requests from European backpackers to travel to Iran.” ... Read more

Flydubai, the Dubai-based low-cost carrier, has said it will start special repatriation flights to multiple cities in 11 countries with immediate effect. With the UAE government easing restrictions on travel movements and airport operations, Flydubai has launched repatriation flights to select destinations. This includes multiple cities in India. UAE residents and stranded citizens of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Bulgaria, Finland, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Romania, Serbia and Ukraine can book their seats on these special repatriation flights on Flydubai website from today. “In light of flight restrictions put in place by countries across the Flydubai network, we are working around-the-clock to help ... 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