The European Union’s executive has recommended easing COVID-19 travel restrictions next month to let foreign travellers from more countries enter the bloc, hoping to boost the stricken tourism industry this summer. Under current restrictions, people from only seven countries, including Australia and Singapore, can enter the EU on holiday, regardless of whether they have been vaccinated but subject to tests or quarantine. New proposals from the European Commission on Monday, but still requiring approval by the EU’s 27 member states, would allow in fully vaccinated foreign citizens and those from countries with a “good epidemiological situation”. FILE PHOTO: Federal police officers check air passengers arriving from Britain at Frankfurt Airport, as the spread of the coronavirus dis...
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Rhino poaching is on the rise again in South Africa since the government loosened coronavirus restrictions, following a year-long lull due to the pandemic, wildlife parks say. The strict limits on travel, including international travel, imposed in March last year had the happy side effect of keeping poachers at bay. In 2020, 394 rhinos were poached, 30% fewer than the year before and the lowest yearly tally since 2011. But then South Africa began easing international travel restrictions in November. Veterinarians attend to a tranquillised rhino before it is dehorned, amid mounting fears of a rebound in rhino poaching, as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) travel restrictions ease, at the Balule Nature Reserve in Hoedspruit, Limpopo province, South Africa April 26, 2021. REUTERS/S...
Read MoreMorocco has detected its first two cases of the Indian variant of the coronavirus whose contacts have been isolated to avoid contagion, the health ministry said on Monday. Morocco has banned flights with most countries and kept a night curfew in place to counter the spread of new variants. FILE PHOTO: Passengers arrive at Toronto's Pearson airport after mandatory coronavirus disease (COVID-19) testing took effect for international arrivals in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio The North African kingdom has confirmed 511,912 cases of COVID-19 and registered nearly 9,032 deaths. It has rolled out vaccinations more rapidly than its neighbours, inoculating 5.1 million people to date. The variant, B.1.617, has reached at least 17 countries, from Britain and Iran...
Read MoreAs they have done for hundreds of years on the Orthodox Easter weekend, priests wrapped in traditional white robes read the Bible by candlelight on Saturday evening in the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela in northern Ethiopia. The ancient ritual has been a tourist draw in recent years. Tens of thousands of visitors from around Ethiopia and abroad usually come to Lalibela, home to a UNESCO World Heritage site of 12th and 13th century monolithic churches, to celebrate and witness the most important holiday in the Orthodox calendar. Ethiopian Orthodox pilgrims attend the Easter Eve celebration at the St. Mary Rock-Hewn church in Lalibela, Ethiopia, May 1, 2021. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri But they were missing this year. Even many local worshippers stayed home, reflecting the impact of th...
Read MoreTourist hotspots like Calangute and Candolim in North Goa will continue to be under lockdown, even as the government has lifted the lockdown in other parts of the state, Ports Minister Michael Lobo said on Monday. Goa, a popular tourism destination, reported an extremely high COVID-19 test positivity rate of over 50 per cent last Thursday, following which the state government imposed the lockdown from April 29. The lockdown was lifted at 6 am on Monday. However, Lobo said that the lockdown will continue in the tourism belt of North Goa district to break the chain of the viral infection. "We are going to continue a strict lockdown in the villages of Calangute, Candolim and Arpora-Nagoa," Lobo said. !function(e,t,c,a){if(!e.fwn&&(a="fwn_script",n=e.fwn=function(){ ...
Read MoreMalaysia has detected its first case of a highly infectious coronavirus variant first identified in India, Health Minister Adham Baba said on Sunday, days after imposing a ban on flights from India. The variant, named B.1.617, was detected in an Indian national screened at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, he said. FILE PHOTO: Medical workers collect swab samples from people at a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) testing centre in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia. REUTERS/Lim Huey Teng The World Health Organisation has described it as a “variant of interest”, suggesting it may have mutations that would make the virus more transmissible, cause more severe disease or evade vaccine immunity. Malaysia, which is facing a surge in COVID-19 cases, on Wednesday banned flights to and from In...
Read MoreOrthodox Christians flocked to Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Saturday to celebrate the Holy Fire ceremony, gathering in far greater numbers than last year because coronavirus restrictions have eased. This season’s religious holidays in the Holy Land, home to religious sites sacred to Christians, Jews and Muslims, have been overshadowed by tragedy, as Israel mourns the death of 45 Jewish worshippers killed in a stampede overnight between Thursday and Friday at a religious festival in the north of the country. Children were among the casualties. Orthodox Christian worshippers attend the Holy Fire ceremony amid eased coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City, May 1, 2021. REUTERS/Ammar Awad “I listened to th...
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. ...
Read MorePrice-conscious travelers may be lured by the reboot of loyalty programs across the tourism sector. Various travel companies are now repositioning loyalty programs as value-orientated, rather than solely price focused in post-pandemic travel as they seek to tap into individuals’ desires for budget experiences, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company. GlobalData’s survey found that the main obstacles facing travel’s recovery are quarantine requirements (57%), travel restrictions (55%) and fear of contracting COVID-19 (51%). The fourth barrier was financial concerns (29%) and GlobalData’s Q1 2021 consumer survey found that 32% of global respondents were ‘extremely’ concerned about their personal financial situation. This suggests that economic constraints are going to be a ...
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