The World Health Organization on Thursday urged Europeans to travel responsibly during the summer holiday season and warned the continent was “by no means out of danger” in the battle against COVID-19 despite a steady decline of infection rates in recent weeks. “With increasing social gatherings, greater population mobility, and large festivals and sports tournaments taking place in the coming days and weeks, WHO Europe calls for caution,” the WHO’s European head Hans Kluge told a press briefing. People sunbathe on the Luz beach, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Lagos, Portugal, June 3, 2021. REUTERS/Pedro Nunes “If you choose to travel, do it responsibly. Be conscious of the risks. Apply common sense and don’t jeopardize hard-earned gains,” Kluge said. Ove...
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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...
Read MoreChina will set up "a line of separation" at the summit of Mount Everest to prevent the mingling of climbers from COVID-hit Nepal and those ascending from the Tibetan side as a precautionary measure, Chinese state media reported on Sunday. Everest base camp on the Nepalese side has been hit by coronavirus cases since late April. The Nepalese government, starved of tourism revenue, has yet to cancel the spring climbing season, usually from April to early June before the monsoon rains. FILE PHOTO: Light illuminates Mount Everest, during sunset in Solukhumbu District also known as the Everest region. REUTERS/Navesh Chitrakar It was not immediately clear how the line would be enforced on the summit, a tiny, perilous and inhospitable area the size of a dining table. A small team of ...
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 More"Turkey Unlimited. Now available without Turks," reads a mock tourism advert on social media, poking fun at the sight of foreign tourists roaming quiet streets while most Turks are confined to home by a coronavirus lockdown. The government has exempted foreign holidaymakers from the 2-1/2-week long lockdown in an effort to revitalise tourism, a critical sector of the Turkish economy. Those arriving in Turkey must show proof of negative COVID-19 tests. But Turks on social media have voiced indignation at images of tourists partying on the country's Mediterranean coast or locals slapped with fines for being outdoors while foreign visitors can wander around as they wish. A tourist poses for a souvenir photo outside the historic Suleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey, during a nation...
Read MoreA new report published jointly by WIPO and the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) on the value of intellectual property in boosting tourism shows how the IP system creates a favorable ecosystem for innovation, entrepreneurship and investment in the sector. The publication, entitled “Boosting Tourism Development through Intellectual Property,” highlights good practices, features case studies and recommendations for policymakers and other tourism stakeholders on how to ensure that creativity, innovation, traditions and cultural heritage in tourism are properly protected and commercialized and that the benefits are shared by all. In a joint Foreword, WIPO Director General Daren Tang and UNWTO Secretary General Zurab Pololikashvili, predict that while the tourism sector has taken a ...
Read MorePeople travelling to Poland from Brazil, India and South Africa will have to quarantine, the Polish health minister said on Tuesday, as he announced cases of a COVID-19 variant first detected in India in the Warsaw and Katowice areas. The outbreaks poses a fresh risk to Poland just as it starts to emerge from a highly damaging third wave of the pandemic. "In the case of Brazil, India and South Africa, people travelling from these locations will automatically have to quarantine without the possibility of getting an exception due to a test," Health Minister Adam Niedzielski told a news conference. The number of infections involving the Indian variant in Poland has now reached 16, including two cases in the family of a Polish diplomat who had returned from India, Niedzielski sai...
Read MoreThe 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...
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 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...
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