Holiday company TUI Group expects a strong 2021 summer season and will operate 75% of pre-pandemic capacity, with rising levels of vaccinations set to fuel last-minute bookings, it said on Wednesday. The pandemic has hammered TUI, the world’s biggest holiday group, and while it sunk to a 1.3 billion euro ($1.6 billion) loss for the six months to the end of March, it said that the worst was behind it as European resorts start to reopen. FILE PHOTO: TUI logo is seen at the TUI travel center following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, Britain, July 28, 2020. REUTERS/Carl Recine New bookings have doubled since April, with customers from Germany and Belgium driving demand for holidays after winter lockdowns, and the group expects UK bookings to ca...
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travel articles and news about Europe
Britons rush to book trips to Portugal ahead of up-in-the-air summer season
The mailbox of a well-known hotel in the heart of Lisbon was bombarded with queries as soon as Britain announced it was including the country on its travel “green list” this summer. Manuel Pinto, Mundial Hotel director, is over the moon that British holidaymakers, who are essential to Portugal’s tourism industry, will be able to return after a five-month travel ban, providing a much-needed boost to the struggling sector. A woman takes photos in Cais das Colunas amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Lisbon, Portugal, May 11, 2021. REUTERS/Pedro Nunes “I was delighted, not only on a personal level but for our country,” Pinto said, standing in Mundial’s rooftop bar, adding that British visitors had already booked around 4,000 room nights at the hotel this year. Port...
Read MoreVisitors to Dracula's castle are more likely to find puncture marks in their arms than their necks this month, after medics set up a COVID-19 vaccination centre at the Transylvanian attraction. Doctors and nurses with fang stickers on their scrubs are offering free Pfizer shots to all-comers at 14th century Bran Castle, which is purported to be an inspiration for the vampire's towering home in Bram Stoker’s novel "Dracula". Alexandru Priscu, Bran Castle's marketing director, looks on during interview with Reuters reporter, in Brasov county, Romania, May 8, 2021. Inquam Photos/George Calin via REUTERS Castle staff hope the service will bring more people to the site in Romania's Carpathian mountains, where tourist numbers have plummeted since the start of the pandemic. Anyone ca...
Read MoreBritain will allow international travel to resume from May 17 after months of banning most trips abroad, but nearly all major destinations were left off its list of countries open for quarantine-free holidays. Just 12 countries and territories made the so-called "green list". They include Portugal, Israel, New Zealand, Australia and the tiny Faroe Islands. Passengers wearing protective face masks arrive from Paris at Eurostar terminal at St Pancras station, as Britain imposes a 14-day quarantine on arrival from France from Saturday, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in London, Britain. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls The top four destinations - Spain, France, Italy and the United States - were among those left off, angering stricken airlines and holiday compani...
Read MoreWith widely spaced sun loungers and regular disinfections, Greece reopened its organised beaches on Saturday as the popular Mediterranean holiday destination eases COVID-19 curbs in preparation for the return of foreign visitors next week. Tourism accounts for about a fifth of Greece's economy and jobs, and - after the worst year on record for the industry last year - the country can ill afford another lost summer. A general view of a beach during the official reopening of beaches to the public, following the easing of measures against the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Athens, Greece, May 8, 2021. REUTERS/Costas Baltas "We're pinning our hopes on tourism," said Nikos Venieris, who manages a sandy beach in the seafront suburb of Alimos, just outside the capital,...
Read MorePaços do Concelho in Porto gets illuminated with Tricolour Porto in Northern Portugal hosts the EU-India Leaders’ Hybrid Meeting this 8th May, at Palácio de Cristal (participation of the Prime Minister of the Republic of India by video conference). On this occasion historical building Paços do Concelho at Porto gets illuminated with Indian tricolour flag. Claudia Matias, Director for VisitPortugal in India says: “Portugal expresses its solidarity and a message of hope and strength to all Indians in this challenging time in their fight against the pandemic. We are sending across our deepest fast recovery wishes to India, by illuminating with Indian tricolour flag an iconic landmark in Porto”. Paços do Concelho, is situated at the heart of downtown, with a 70m high tower with a...
Read MoreA young grey whale lost in the Mediterranean, thousands of miles away from its natural habitat in the Pacific ocean, is desperately seeking its way home, but biologists are worried it may not survive. Grey whales normally migrate along the U.S. west coast, but biologists think that with global warming opening northern routes, the whale became lost and swam into the Atlantic ocean via the Arctic. Thierry Auga-Bascou, scientist and member of the French Biodiversity Agency, takes a skin sample of Wally, the 15 month old gray whale, swimming in the Mediterranean Sea past the coast of Argeles-Sur-Mer, France, May 6, 2021. REUTERS/Alexandre Minguez Named Wally by biologists, the whale is around two years old and eight metres (26.25 ft) long, but his rapid weight loss is causing concern...
Read MoreCapri's world has always been blue - the color of the water surrounding the Mediterranean island, many of its fishing boats and, most famously, the light in its Blue Grotto. Now, the glamorous tourist destination with magnificent mansions, classy restaurants and world class shopping is hoping to shake off the pandemic blues after a year of on-and-off closures that have depressed the economy. "I can sense a positive spirit, a spirit of recovery," said Paolo Federico, general manager of the five-star Punta Tragara hotel. "Maybe this anxiety will not be part of our baggage anymore." A deserted bathhouse is seen in the island of Capri, a southern Italian island that relies heavily on foreign tourism, despite the loosening of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions in much of the ...
Read MoreAustralia bans arrivals from India, offenders face jail, fines
France, US detect cases of Indian COVID variant, US bans most travel from India Australian residents and citizens who have been in India within 14 days of the date they plan to return home will be banned from entering Australia as of Monday and those who disobey will face fines and jail, government officials said. The temporary emergency determination, issued late on Friday, is the first time Australia has made it a criminal offence for its citizens to return home. The move is part of strict measures to stop travellers to Australia from the world's second most populous nation as it contends with a surge in COVID-19 cases and deaths. FILE PHOTO: Travelers wearing protective face masks make their way through the arrivals section of the international terminal of Kingsford Smith I...
Read MoreWith dazzling displays of colour including tulips in purple, yellow, and crimson, the Keukenhof flower garden outside The Hague usually rivals Amsterdam's top museums as one of the Netherlands' biggest tourist attractions. This year, for the second year in a row, millions of tulips in the park and nearby fields are blooming and will likely fade largely unseen, as the Keukenhof remains closed to visitors amid the coronavirus pandemic. Tulips are seen at the Keukenhof park in Lisse, Netherlands April 28, 2021. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw "Keukenhof is only open 8 weeks a year, end of March until mid-May," said Managing Director Bart Siemerink. He said that given the country's current lockdown regime, his best guess is that the park will be allowed to open from mid-May. ...
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