Category: News

KT Corp., South Korea’s largest telecommunications company, will develop virtual reality (VR) entertainment service for air passengers jointly with Jin Air and Hanjin Information Systems & Telecommunications (HIST). KT signed an agreement with Jin Air, the only widebody low-cost carrier operation in South Korea, and HIST for the new VR service optimized for air safety, security and other special in-flight needs. The nation’s top telecom company will provide its VR service platform, Super VR, for Jin Air passengers to access to its massive immersive media content. “We can enjoy a new experience of entertainment based on VR contents not just at home or places ... Read more

It’s believed billions of dollars are currently tied up in unused holiday credits and yet-to-be issued refunds, and customers are not happy. The issue has become so heated the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has been forced to develop a series of guidelines for travel agents dealing with coronavirus-related cancellations after record numbers of complaints from holidaymakers. In the six months to the end of June this year, the ACCC received a total of 14,768 complaints related to cancelled travel, a more than five-fold increase on the same time last year, ABC News has reported. Most of the work ... Read more

The Wadia Group-owned GoAir has been put on cash-and-carry (pay as you fly) mode by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) over the pending dues. GoAir is the third such airline to go on this mode, after Air India and SpiceJet. GoAir has said there will be no impact on its flight operations. The Airports Authority of India’s letter dated August 10 stated the authority has put “GoAir on cash-and- carry mode for all AAI airports across the country from Tuesday (00:01hrs of August 11)”. GoAir is engaged in constructive discussions with AAI and would like to assure our customers ... Read more

As many as 25 hotels managed by The Fern Hotels & Resorts, India’s leading environmentally sensitive hotel chain, have received the TripAdvisor Travelers Choice 2020 Badge. Noshir A Marfatia, Senior Vice President – Sales and Marketing, of The Fern Hotels & Resorts said that Amanora The Fern, Pune has received the TripAdvisor Travelers Choice 2020 Best of the Best Award, placing it in the top 1% of the world’s best hotels.  “The greatest part of this achievement is that it is the recognition of our guests on our products, services and standards that have won us this accolade,” he said. “And our hotels across the country ... Read more

Britain’s Heathrow Airport renewed its call for COVID-19 testing at airports on Tuesday as it reported an 88% plunge in July passenger numbers due to ongoing restrictions on travel which it said were strangling the UK economy. Heathrow, which is owned by a group of investors including Spain’s Ferrovial, the Qatar Investment Authority and China Investment Corp, said 60% of Heathrow’s route network remained grounded, requiring passengers to quarantine for 14 days on arrival, says a Reuters report. Despite thousands of Britons holidaying overseas after months of lockdown, the government has already reimposed quarantine on arrivals from Spain, Luxembourg, Belgium, ... Read more

Indian nationals with any type of valid UAE visas can now travel to the country, India’s Ambassador to the UAE has said. Taking to Twitter, Ambassador Pavan Kapoor referred to an Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) notification, “as per which both Indian and UAE airlines” can carry Indian nationals holding any type of visa from India to the UAE, Khaleej Times has reported. Previously, only residency visa holders were allowed to travel to UAE on flights operated under  India’s repatriation mission called Vande Bharat. This development means UAE residents of Indian nationality who were stranded in India can now ... Read more

Abdenabi Nouidi sold his favourite horse for USD 150 to help feed the others on the team that pulls tourists in carriages through the buzzing streets of Marrakech. Still, he’s worried about the future of the rest of the horses. The prospect of starvation looms for carriage horses and other animals normally used in Morocco’s tourist mecca, since visitors have vanished during the coronavirus pandemic, says a report by the Associated Press. The Society for the Protection of Animals Abroad, or SPANA, says hundreds of Morocco’s carriage horses and donkeys are threatened amid the collapsing tourism industry. They are among ... Read more

Maldives’ five eco-tourism zones, to be built with grant assistance from India, have been launched. The contract award ceremony was held on Monday as part of Delhi’s neighbourhood first policy. As the implementing agency for these projects, Addu City Council (Maldives), is responsible for steering the entire project cycle including tendering, tender-evaluation, award of contracts, monitoring and execution of the projects. Addu is a city in Maldives that consists of the inhabited islands of the southernmost atoll of the archipelago. It is the second largest urban area in Maldives. The five eco-tourism zones, under this project, will come up in ... Read more

The Eastern Caribbean island of Dominica is now open for tourism. The “Nature Island” officially reopened its borders to international travellers (including those from the United States) on August 7, Caribbean Journal has reported.   All travellers to Dominica must show proof of a negative COVID-19 test result taken within 72 hours prior to the day of their arrival. They must complete Dominica’s COVID-19 travel screening questionnaire, at least 24 hours prior to travel. Discover Dominica Authority CEO Colin Piper told Caribbean Journal that all travellers will be tested via Rapid Diagnostic Test upon arrival.  Those who are tested will be subject to mandatory quarantine ... Read more

Indians are the most confident in the world about resuming international travel once they are allowed to do so, according a travel survey. They also top the list of people most eager to travel internationally in the next 12 months with 77% saying they are keen to travel, followed by Thais at 70% and Indonesians at 60%, said news agency ANI, quoting the new survey. Singapore is the most favoured destination for people living in India, Indonesia, Thailand, Hong Kong and the Philippines when it comes to post-lockdown travel, said the newly released study conducted jointly by social research agency ... Read more

Dubai’s tourism and hospitality sectors are seeing a “rapid rebound” after the July 7 reopening, in a positive turn of events which has surprised the travel industry. Bookings by Emirates Airline and flydubai are also on the upswing, with the former now confirming 70 destinations, while flydubai will cover 66 destinations over summer, says a Gulf News report. “Since then (July 7), we have been greatly encouraged by the market’s response in the second phase of our recovery strategy, which was activated along with the gradual resumption of economic sectors, as well as the staggered and tentative restart of travel ... Read more

Equitable Tourism Options (EQUATIONS), a research and advocacy NGO working on environmental impact of tourism on local communities in India, has urged the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, to withdraw the draft Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) notification 2020. Instead, it should conduct a detailed and broad public consultation involving all stakeholders and the public in order to draft a strong and robust Act. “The proposed draft EIA Notification falls short in many ways, particularly with respect to tourism. It fails to take into account that tourism requires a robust environmental scrutiny,” the NGO has said. “The COVID-19 crisis ... Read more

Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta has expressed satisfaction with the measures being taken by stakeholders in the hospitality sector to protect tourists from the coronavirus pandemic. He said Kenya is ready to receive tourists and encouraged local and foreign travellers to take advantage of the prevailing low rates to visit the country’s famous tourist sites, says a report by CGTN Africa. “I want to take this opportunity to encourage every single Kenyan to take advantage and to travel…You can travel, you can move,” the President said. “And now as you know, we have also opened up our skies and flights are ... Read more

SpiceJet flew its first flight to Canada this week, carrying 352 passengers from New Delhi to Toronto. This marks the low-cost carrier’s second long-haul flight, after its recent Amsterdam flight. SpiceJet is pushing to break into the long-haul market, using wet leased A330neos, and now has permission to fly to the US and UK. SpiceJet’s flight to Canada is its first outbound repatriation flight, carrying Canadian citizens and residents to Toronto. The previous flight, from Amsterdam to Bangalore, and onward to Hyderabad, on August 1, was the carrier’s first long haul flight.  The flights are a part of India’s Vande Bharat Mission, which ... Read more

Millions of Americans consider Ireland a home away from home. But as the number of coronavirus cases in the United States surges, many Irish businesses say they have been forced to turn away some of their most lucrative customers – vacationing Americans – according to a report by NBC News. Most visitors to Ireland, including those from the US, have to fill out a COVID-19 Passenger Locator Form that includes their contact details while in the country and where they will be staying. They also are required to self-quarantine for 14 days, staying indoors and avoiding contact with other people as much as ... Read more