Christina Kelly did not picture marrying her American sweetheart in the Peace Arch Park - a 42-acre (17-hectare) stretch of manicured lawns and neatly trimmed garden beds at an otherwise unremarkable border crossing in the Pacific Northwest. Kelly, a 28-year-old Canadian legal assistant from Vancouver, had been crossing back and forth between British Columbia and Washington state to see her boyfriend without a hitch for two years. The start of the coronavirus pandemic, and the closure of the Canada-U.S. border in March 2020, forced a change of plans. Where many couples have reluctantly put off weddings, Kelly and her now-husband, who is in the U.S. Navy, decided to proceed anyway and tied the knot two months ago in the one place where they have been able to see each other during ...
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travelogues, travel articles and news from around the world
Holidays abroad are “extremely unlikely” for most Britons this summer due to the risk of importing new variants of COVID-19, a scientist who advises the government said on Saturday, leaving airlines and travel companies bracing for a second lost peak season. Britain has banned travel for most people during the current lockdown and has said overseas holidays will not be allowed until May 17 at the earliest. FILE PHOTO: Two tourists walk near Puerto Rico beach, amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Gran Canaria, Spain, March 16, 2021. REUTERS/Borja Suarez But Mike Tildesley, a scientist on a government advisory body, said the risk of importing vaccine-resistant variants back into the UK would likely scupper the nation’s annual getaway. “I think international ...
Read MoreEurope’s airlines and travel sector are bracing for a second lost summer, with rebound hopes increasingly challenged by a hobbled COVID-19 vaccine rollout, resurgent infections and new lockdowns. Airline and travel stocks fell on Friday after Paris and much of northern France shut down for a month, days after Italy introduced stiff business and movement curbs for most of the country including Rome and Milan. The setbacks hit recovery prospects for the crucial peak season, whose profits typically tide airlines through winter, when most carriers lose money even in good times. “If there’s no confidence there, demand just doesn’t come back,” said Dublin-based Alton Aviation consultant Leah Ryan, who expects the bad news on vaccines and lockdowns to hurt already weak bookings. FILE PHOTO...
Read MoreTens of thousands of Germans are planning last-minute Easter getaways to Spain’s sun-kissed islands, leaving many Spaniards, who are not allowed to do the same because of a travel ban, upset. “It makes absolutely no sense that in Spain we can’t move between regions but any foreigner can come in ... and spread infection,” said Emilio Rivas, 23, who lives in Madrid. The young tax assessor wanted to get out of town for the holidays but must instead stay home because Spain banned travel between regions over Easter to avoid a repeat of a spike in contagion seen after an easing in restrictions over Christmas. FILE PHOTO: People sunbathe and swim on El Arenal beach, amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. REUTERS/Enrique Calvo But tourist...
Read MoreIn the border district of Xishuangbanna in southwest China’s Yunnan province, the global pandemic has put residents of the small ethnic minority village of Mandian under pressure to change old habits. Behind a traditional homestead with a small garden of medicinal herbs and a veranda lined with beehives, a sign posted on the edge of the forest says, “Do not enter the protected zone without authorisation.” “Because of environmental protection, we aren’t allowed to go in anymore,” said local resident Yu Yao. She said inspectors come and visit every month to ensure the new restrictions are being enforced, adding that permission is needed even to fell a tree. Residents sit by a house at Mandian village in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan province. REUTERS/David Stan...
Read MoreIceland will this week open its borders to all visitors who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 without mandatory testing or quarantine, as it seeks to attract more tourists to help revive its coronavirus-hit economy. The North Atlantic country, which will become one of the first to open its borders since the beginning of the pandemic, saw tourist numbers plummet by 75% last year to just under half a million, causing its economy to contract by 6.6%. FILE PHOTO: People walk past artwork on the side of a shop as the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues in Reykjavik, Iceland. REUTERS/John Sibley “The world has been through a lot in the past twelve months, and we are all hoping for a slow and safe return to normalcy,” Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir said in a...
Read MoreThe European Union is going to unveil the plans to reopen summer travel with a new coronavirus pass intended to help revive the bloc’s multi-billion tourism and leisure industries that have been pulverised by the pandemic. The proposed, EU-wide “green digital certificate” would collate information on vaccinations, tests and COVID recovery to let travellers cross borders freely again after a year of curbs that have left beaches and famous landmarks deserted. FILE PHOTO: Two empty beach chairs are photographed at San Agustin Beach amid the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Gran Canaria, Spain. REUTERS/Borja Suarez The 27-member EU’s executive will also put forward an option to allow in outsiders with proof of vaccination, including those inoculated with Russian, Chinese o...
Read MoreBritain is reviewing the idea of vaccine certificates to allow access to travel, hospitality and entertainment and discussing the best way to proceed in terms of fairness, said business minister Kwarsi Kwarteng. P&O Cruises said on Tuesday that it would only accept as passengers those who have had both doses of the vaccine for its trips around the UK this summer, sparking a fresh debate on the issue. FILE PHOTO: People on the beach as the P&O "Spirit of France" ferry is seen docked in the port of Dover, Britain. REUTERS/Paul Childs When asked about the fairness of companies requiring proof of vaccination to grant entry and what the government’s stance was on the matter, Kwarteng said it was under review. “We are discussing what the best way to proceed is,” Kwarteng tol...
Read MoreThe city of Amsterdam will allow residents of its historic centre to offer their homes to tourists again, after a court ordered it to scrap a ban on vacation rentals. Amsterdam’s left-wing city council last year issued an outright ban on rentals through Airbnb and other platforms in three areas that make up its central canal ring, in an effort to curb what it described as the nuisance caused by tourists in the old city centre. FILE PHOTO: People ice skate during a cold snap across the country at the Prinsengracht in Amsterdam, Netherlands February 14, 2021. REUTERS/Eva Plevier But in a case brought on by an association of property owners, a local court last Friday ordered it to lift this ban immediately as it had no legal basis. In a response, the city said that as of Tuesday ...
Read MoreDressed all in purple, bent-over women held long rakes aloft as they walked in a line to a lavender field to carry out some pruning on an island in southwest South Korea. Inspired by their native balloon flower, residents of the Banwol and Bakji Islands, known as the ‘Purple Islands’, have painted their houses, roads and bridges in shades of the hue, and planted purple flowers such as lavender and asters to transform their town into a tourist attraction. A general view of the Purple Island in Shinan, South Korea, March 9, 2021. Picture taken March 9, 2021. REUTERS/Daewoung Kim “Old people like us have a secluded life here, since all the young people left the town,” said villager Shin Deok-im, 79, who has lived on Bakji island for more than 60 years. “I’m glad to see young peo...
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