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...
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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...
Read MoreThailand 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...
Read MoreCOVID-19 insurance policies are increasingly joining passports and sunscreen as vacation staples, creating opportunities for insurers as more countries require mandatory coverage in case visitors fall ill from the coronavirus. Airline bookings are on the rise in some regions, driving cautious hopes of a revival in summer traffic, but also raising fears among tourist destinations of getting hit with bills should vacationers become stranded by the virus. More than a dozen countries from Aruba to Thailand require COVID-19 coverage for visitors, with Jordan the latest to consider such protections, organizers of an emergency services plan told Reuters. The market for all types of COVID-19 travel coverage is estimated to be between $30 billion to $40 billion a year, according to tr...
Read MoreThe 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...
Read MoreThe 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...
Read MoreTravel and Tourism sector requests EU governments to outline restart plan in time for summer
A European Travel Commission-led task force has been formed with aim to recover the freedom of movement and look into recommendations for the reopening of tourism in Europe. European Tourism Manifesto- an alliance of more than 60 travel and tourism organizations has disclosed this. Central idea for this is to how to bring back to life travel and tourism in Europe in time for summer 2021 by a sequence of mutual recommendations, one of the main being establishing an EU roadmap to recover travelling safely. Task Force would provide help in creating and implementing a roadmap and provide evaluations upon the risk based on scientific data. In such a case, the aim would be to consider the scenarios and conditions within which international travel restrictions could be loosened and eventually...
Read MoreThailand’s prime minister said on Tuesday that he has commissioned a study to look into issuing COVID-19 vaccination certificates for international travellers, as the country seeks to revive a tourism industry battered by coronavirus curbs. Meanwhile, EU is going to propose vaccine certificates in time for summer holidays. The Southeast Asian nation has been mulling the idea of so-called “vaccine passports”, but no target date has been set and tourism operators have complained about lost revenue. A Thai traditional giant statue wears a protective mask, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, Thailand. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun/Files Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said Thailand will proceed with caution, waiting to see how effective vacci...
Read MoreVisitBritain, St Lucia, Fiji and Ethiopia join the growing list of destinations to get global safety and hygiene stamp Following its launch in May last year, the highly popular Safe Travels stamp from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), has now been awarded to a remarkable 250 destinations around the world. WTTC, which has continually been at the forefront in leading the private sector in the efforts to rebuild global consumer confidence and encourage the return of Safe Travels, made history when it launched the world’s first ever global safety and hygiene stamp, just eight months ago. A view of Saint Lucia The stamp, developed to help restore confidence in travellers and aims to revive the global Travel & Tourism sector which has been devastated by the COVID-19...
Read MoreThe shared values and close ties between tourism and culture stakeholders means both sectors can work together to ensure inclusive access to heritage, as countries around the world recover from the pandemic. In recognition of this mutually reinforcing relationship, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and UNESCO have collaborated to produce a set of new guidelines focusing on the responsible restart of cultural tourism. UNWTO invited the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to contribute to the UNWTO Inclusive Recovery Guide, Issue 2: Cultural Tourism. This is the second set of guidelines relating to the socio-cultural impacts of COVID-19 issued by UNWTO and will continue to be revised, as the situation evolves. Make cultural tourism relevant The pu...
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