COVID – आवारा मुसाफिर

Greece to welcome vaccinated and COVID-negative tourists from May

March 9, 20211126 Views

People who are vaccinated against COVID-19, have antibodies or test negative can travel to Greece this summer, Tourism Minister Harry Theocharis said on Tuesday. Tourism is a major income earner for Greece, which has led calls for an EU-wide vaccination certificate to help unlock travel. The industry accounts for about a fifth of the Greek economy and employs one in five workers, but arrivals collapsed last year because of the pandemic. FILE PHOTO: Greek presidential guards, wearing protective face masks, perform their sentry duty in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Athens, Greece, March 3, 2021. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis Greece is aiming to kick off its vital summer season by mid-May, said Theocharis as he addre...

खबरनामाट्रैवल उद्योग

Tightened travel restrictions underline current challenges for tourism

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

March 9, 20211483 Views

One in three destinations worldwide are now completely closed to international tourism. According to the latest data from the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the emergence of new variants of the COVID-19 virus has prompted many governments to reverse efforts to ease restrictions on travel, with total closures to tourists most prevalent in Asia and the Pacific and Europe. The UNWTO Travel Restrictions Report provides a comprehensive overview of the regulations in place in 217 destinations worldwide. While previous editions had shown a movement towards easing or lifting restrictions on travel, the latest report shows that the persistent seriousness of the epidemiological situation has caused governments to adopt a more cautious approach. As of the beginning of February, 32% of...

खबरनामाघटनाएंसिंगापुर

Singapore ‘bubble’ business hotel welcomes first guests

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

March 9, 20211615 Views

Singapore has launched a travel “bubble” business hotel that allows executives to do face-to-face meetings without a risk of exposure to the coronavirus, in one of the world’s first such facilities. The hotel has meeting rooms outfitted with airtight glass panels to reduce the risk of transmission and even has a special compartment with an ultraviolet light to sanitise documents so they can be shared between participants. A view of a meeting room outfitted with airtight glass panels at short-stay facility Connect@Changi, a complex of hotel rooms and meeting halls near the airport which welcomes business "bubble" travellers from March, as part of the city-state's effort to resume international meetings and conferences amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Singapore. RE...

खबरनामाघटनाएंथाईलैंड

Thailand to reduce quarantine period for vaccinated travellers

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

March 8, 20211003 Views

Thailand will from next month reduce its mandatory quarantine from 14 to seven days for foreigners arriving in the country who have been vaccinated against the coronavirus, its Health Minister said on Monday. Vaccinations must be administered within three months of the travel period and visitors will still be required to show negative COVID-19 test results within three days of their departure, Anutin Charnvirankul told a news conference. FILE PHOTO: A staff member sits under the arrivals flight information board at Suvarnabhumi Airport during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Bangkok, Thailand. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun Those not yet inoculated but with coronavirus-free certificates would be quarantined for 10 days, he said. “Foreigners travelling to Thailand with vacc...

खबरनामाघटनाएंसेशेल्स

Seychelles opens up to the world from March 25

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

March 4, 20211360 Views

The Indian Ocean island destination has announced that it will be welcoming visitors from across the globe, irrespective of their vaccination status, as from March 25, 2021. Visitors from South Africa will still not be permitted to enter Seychelles for the time being until further review. The announcement was made by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Tourism, Sylvestre Radegonde in a press briefing this morning, Thursday, March 4, 2021, at the Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) conference room at Botanical House following the Tourism Task Force Committee meeting. Visitors will now only be required to present a negative PCR test taken 72 hours prior to departure. There will be no quarantine requirement nor restriction on movement upon entry into Seychelles. Additionally, the minim...

खबरनामाट्रैवल उद्योग

From Bad to Worse: January passenger demand falls further

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

March 2, 2021862 Views

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced that passenger traffic fell in January 2021, both compared to pre-COVID levels (January 2019) and compared to the immediate month prior (December 2020). Because comparisons between 2021 and 2020 monthly results are distorted by the extraordinary impact of COVID-19, unless otherwise noted all comparisons are to January 2019 which followed a normal demand pattern. FILE PHOTO: A plane prepares to land at the Nantes Atlantique airport in Bouguenais near Nantes. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe Total demand in January 2021 (measured in revenue passenger kilometers or RPKs) was down 72.0% compared to January 2019. That was worse than the 69.7% year-over-year decline recorded in December 2020.Total domestic demand was down 47.4% versus p...

खबरनामाघटनाएंपोलैंड

Poles go underground for COVID treatment in UNESCO-listed salt mine

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

March 1, 2021565 Views

A UNESCO World Heritage site in Poland is being used to help people recover from COVID-19, with patients going deep underground in the Wieliczka salt mine to a therapeutic centre dealing with respiratory illness. Famous for its ornate underground chapels carved from salt, the Wieliczka mine, located just outside the southern city of Krakow, is one of Poland’s biggest tourist attractions, drawing around 1.8 million visitors in 2019. But doctors say the micro-climate in the mine, which stretches as far as 327 metres underground, also helps people with pulmunory problems. Magdalena Kostrzon, a doctor working at the mine, told Reuters that patients with respiratory illnesses have been coming there since the 19th century. “The underground micro-climate is, above all, characteri...

क्रूज

Environmental sustainability must be a key focus area for cruise operators

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

February 24, 2021973 Views

COVID-19 has strengthened a recent shift in consumer sentiment, with the pandemic further increasing concerns around environmental damage caused by the tourism sector. Cruise operators could be at risk of losing custom to other holiday/transport types if they do not act fast and place environmental sustainability at the forefront of new developments, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company. Gus Gardner, Travel and Tourism Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “GlobalData’s Week 11 COVID-19 Recovery Consumer Survey*, reveals that as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, 31% of global respondents have made reducing their environmental footprint slightly/significantly more important than before, with a further 12% making it their top priority. This significant shift in consum...

खबरनामाघटनाएंबेल्जियम

One of the world’s largest church won’t allow more than 15 at a time for mass

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

February 23, 2021853 Views

Brussels’ cavernous basilica is one of the largest churches in the world but COVID-19 rules allow only 15 people at a time to attend mass there, the same limit applied to much smaller religious venues in Belgium. Dozens of worshippers of different religions and clergy demonstrated in the centre of the Belgian capital on Sunday calling for a change to the rules. Parishioners, who can only gather in a group of maximum of 15 people at the same time in the building, attend a mass in the Belgium's national Koekelberg basilica, one of the largest churches in the world, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Brussels, Belgium February 21, 2021. REUTERS/Johnny Cotton “Here, more than in any other building in Belgium, this law is an incredible absurdity,” said the Catholic ba...