UNWTO has served as tourism’s global voice as the Tourism Ministers of the G20 nations met to devise a way forward for an inclusive, resilient, and sustainable recovery for the sector. Upon assuming Presidency of the G20, Italy has drawn on UNWTO data to highlight the impact the pandemic has had on tourist numbers globally and how this translates into lost jobs and revenues, as well as lost opportunities for social development. Addressing the meeting, UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili, stressed the continued need for coordination at the very highest level, in order to advance “common, harmonized criteria for the easing of travel restrictions, and for increased investment in systems that support safe travel, including testing on departure and on arrival.” With the c...
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Cyprus is offering hassle-free holidays to fully vaccinated individuals from 65 countries from May 10 as it seeks to recoup lost ground from the pandemic. The Mediterranean island, which has fared better than most countries in containing the COVID-19 outbreak, will accept vaccines permitted by the European Medicines Agency and Sputnik V made by Russia - its second largest market. FILE PHOTO: People paddle on a stand-up board during sunrise near a beach in Larnaca, Cyprus. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou "I think it's a fantastic initiative and I think it's very very important for people to know, that irrespective of (country risk) categorisation, if someone is fully vaccinated they no longer require tests to come to Cyprus," Deputy Minister of Tourism Savvas Perdios told Reuters. T...
Read MoreTourism leaders gather for WTTC’s annual Global Summit 2021 at Cancun, Mexico The world’s leading Tourism Ministers joined together to urge the public and private sectors to work together in partnership to save Travel & Tourism at the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC). The plea came at the Global Leaders Dialogue session at WTTC’s annual Global Summit 2021, which is being held in Cancun Mexico this week. The Global Summit is the most important Travel & Tourism event for the private sector and is the world’s first major gathering of world tourism leaders since the outbreak of the pandemic. Hundreds of CEOs, business leaders and tourism ministers gathered in Cancun for the first time in nearly a year – with thousands more participating virtually – in the hybr...
Read MoreA year after one of Southeast Asia's most popular fun-and-sun destinations became an eerily quiet shell of empty resorts, shops and nightclubs, residents of the Thai island of Phuket are hoping to save their economy with an inoculation programme. For now, beach umbrellas rest rolled up on vacant hotel verandas, overlooking empty stretches of sand, while mannequins languish in dust-covered windows of shuttered shops. The entrance of a closed hotel is seen at Kata beach in Karon, Phuket Island, Thailand March 31, 2021. REUTERS/Jorge Silva "We are taking the opportunity to put our system to a test", said vice governor of Phuket province, Piyapong Choowong, adding that more than 70% of Phuket's population of about 650,000 would be vaccinated by July 1, when foreign vaccinated visitor...
Read MoreIsrael’s struggling tourism sector hopes to reap quick benefits when the country reopens next month after a rapid COVID-19 vaccination campaign. Airlines are racing to add flights to Tel Aviv as groups of foreign tourists who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 will be allowed into Israel from May 23. "As we look to the world reopening and travel resuming, the Italies and Frances are a little behind Israel in terms of when we anticipate travel will reopen. And that's due to vaccines," said Brian Znotins, vice president of network and schedule planning at American Airlines, referring to two other tourist destinations. Israel, which has vaccinated more than half its population, sees its main challenge as ensuring its reopening does not allow another increase in COVID-19 infec...
Read MoreGreece, looking to tourist season, makes islands vaccination priority Alekos Sfyriou untangles his fishing line and counts the days until ferries bring visitors back to his sleepy Greek isle. “All the small islands are waiting for tourists,” the 62-year-old fisherman says, slouched beneath a tree on the harbour. “They’ll eat the fish I catch.” There have been no reported cases of COVID-19 on Halki, a tiny island closer to Turkey than Athens, where the only sound piercing a quiet April morning was the crowing of a rooster. Nearly all of its 250 residents have been vaccinated against the virus, local authorities said, anticipating a resurgence of tourism, the economy’s lifeblood. View of the town of Halki, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, on the island of Hal...
Read MoreAustralia-New Zealand travel bubble launches with lopsided demand
A testing and quarantine free travel bubble between Australia and New Zealand launched with lopsided demand, according to airlines and data firms, with an unusually high number of the travellers departing from Australia. The initial results from Asia’s first restriction-free travel bubble since the pandemic hit, which opened on Monday, showed that travel patterns can depart from their norms after such a long closure and may take time to return to normal. FILE PHOTO: A passenger arrives from New Zealand after the Trans-Tasman travel bubble opened overnight, following an extended border closure due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, at Sydney Airport in Sydney, Australia. REUTERS/Loren Elliott “Right now, it’s one-way traffic, with almost three times as much travel goi...
Read MoreDespite the threat looming on the tourism industry because of third wave of COVID infections, Thailand is still keen on going ahead with its Phuket pilot project of reviving the tourism, although with proper safety measures. Following the news that Thailand reported 967 new COVID-19 cases on 11 April 2021; Animesh Kumar, Director of Travel and Tourism Consulting at GlobalData, a leading research and consulting company, said, “The news casts a shadow over Thailand’s plans to reopen tourism and allow quarantine-free visit to the vaccinated international tourists from July 2021 under a pilot in Phuket. It is crucial for the authorities as well as citizens to ensure that the spread of the highly contagious variant is controlled as it threatens not only the health and safety but also the ec...
Read MoreTravel industry has reacted with caution upon a report from the UK Government’s Global Travel Taskforce. The report shows how international travel could resume from 17 May 2021 at the earliest, in an accessible and affordable way. This includes the removal of the permission to travel form - meaning passengers would no longer need to prove they have a valid reason to leave the country. Its recommendations also include the launch of a new traffic light system and 'green watchlist', and the introduction of travel certification. A traffic light system, which will categorise countries based on risk alongside the restrictions required for travel, will be set up to protect the public and the vaccine rollout from international COVID-19 variants. Key factors in the assessment will includ...
Read MoreAs Germans return to Mallorca, Spain hopes tourism rebound is not short-lived
Spain hopes foreign tourism can rebound to half its pre-pandemic levels this year, the government said on Monday, as a wave of German holidaymakers hit Mallorca’s white-sand beaches after Berlin eased restrictions on returnees. Influx of German sunseekers to Spain’s Balearic Islands is providing a welcome boost to the local economy, however businesses and holidaymakers fear the revival could be cut short if Berlin reintroduces quarantine for returning tourists. Christian, Uruguayan waiter and co-owner of the terrace bar "Zu Krone" serves customers in Playa de Palma beach in Palma de Mallorca following Berlin's lifted quarantine requirement for travelers returning from the Balearic Islands, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, Spain March 22, 2021. REUTERS/Enrique Calvo ...
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