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UK to reopen for vaccinated tourists, resume tourism to more than 150 countries

British officials are considering plans to open up international travel for passengers who have been fully vaccinated, enabling tourism to resume to more than 150 countries and territories including the vital US market and some of the most popular destinations in Europe. Under the policy, which is still being discussed inside the government, people who have received both doses of Covid vaccines would not need to quarantine on returning from medium-risk countries on the so-called amber list. That would provide a major boost to airlines and tourism businesses who have been hammered since the start of the pandemic forced governments to shut down international travel. Airline shares surged on the possible adjustment. Court Challenge Under current rules, destinations are coded red for the highest coronavirus infection risk, amber for medium risk and green for the lowest risk. Travellers are advised against going to amber or red list countries. People who arrive in England from destinations on the amber list must quarantine at home or in the place where they are staying for 10 days, and take at least two Covid-19 tests during the period. Carriers have criticised the policy, especially after Portugal was abruptly taken off the green list earlier this month, dealing a blow to the all-important summer travel season. On Thursday, Ryanair Holdings Plc and the owner of Manchester and London Stansted airports plan to challenge the rules in court. They say a lack of transparency on how risk levels are assessed is undermining consumer confidence and hindering a travel-industry recovery from the coronavirus crisis. According to a person familiar with the matter, the quarantine requirement could be lifted for people who have been double vaccinated, but they would still need to take tests. There are currently more than 160 countries and territories on the amber list, including popular European destinations such as Greece, Spain, France and the U.S. The proposals are at an early stage and nothing concrete has been decided, the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the policy has not been announced. The plan was first reported in the Telegraph. Shares of Ryanair jumped as much as 4.3% in Dublin, their biggest intraday gain in almost two months. EasyJet Plc advanced 5% while British Airways owner IAG SA was up as much as 3.9% in London.

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Vaccination key to boost tourism and hospitality sector, say stakeholders

As the country opens up, many are planning vacations to bite into that slice of wanderlust. And to revive the severely impacted industry, those associated with the travel and hospitality sector feel that boosting vaccination drive is the way forward. Kerala Tourism Minister PA Mohammed Riyas recently announced making some travel destinations 100% Covid-vaccinated spots by prioritising vaccination for those working in the industry. To “send out a message that Kashmir is safe for tourists”, Jammu & Kashmir Secretary (Tourism) Sarmad Hafeez also fast-tracked inoculation for travel and tourism stakeholders. Prioritising immunisation of front-desk professionals, displaying the status of vaccinated staff on a public forum and arranging a jab for resort workers in remote areas — industry insiders believe such measures will help regain the confidence of travellers. “We believe a slow unlock will bring back domestic travellers, who’ll be looking for secluded accommodations and safe ways to travel. Vaccine access will help bring back the economic growth that tourism enables,” says Amanpreet Singh Bajaj, general manager - Airbnb India, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan. As far as budget hotels are concerned, OYO Rooms have taken the initiative to display the vaccine status of staff and partner hotels on their portal. Rohit Kapoor, CEO, OYO India and South-East Asia, says, “This will promote the larger cause of vaccination among our customer base, hotel partners and their staff.” Another hospitality brand, Vista Rooms, which provide luxury villa and homestays also plan to follow suit. Ankita Sheth, the co-founder, says, “We will be updating which staff is vaccinated once the vaccines are available in the remote localities where our properties are located.” After being vaccinated, people will look to travel for a break, believes Vikram Lalvani, chief of revenue, sales and destinations, Sterling Holiday Resorts, who are tying up with local administrations to assist in inoculating frontline staff in various remote districts. While travel to hill stations has been majorly hit this summer, professional trek and tour guide, Deepjyoti Biswas from Kasol, Himachal Pradesh, shares, “We are eager to open up, but doing so without being immunised is a risk to our lives and our families. We have to meet travellers, so we want to get vaccinated, but tourists, too, should only travel once they’re vaccinated.” At a recent event, Culture and Tourism Minister Prahlad Patel, also mentioned, “Vaccination is going to drive the tourism sector’s revival and we are working on a uniform policy and setting up protocols for travellers getting vaccinated against Covid-19.” Furthermore, travel writer Shivya Nath says, “[Travel industry employees] don’t have the luxury to work from home. Often, hotels are closed premises where staff is vulnerable. In parts of Europe, the US and the UK, a major chunk of the population is vaccinated and people are resuming normal life. As soon as vaccination happens, we’ll be able to resume travel again.”

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Rajasthan further relaxes lockdown restrictions, allows more activities

Shopping malls, gyms, restaurants and sports complexes that were closed amid Covid-induced lockdown in Rajasthan will open from Wednesday for restricted hours. The state government has also allowed monuments, art and culture places, and hotels providing in-house services to open in view of the decreasing number of coronavirus cases. However, cinema halls, theatres and multiplexes will remain closed. The Home Department released a revised set of guidelines on Tuesday, providing further relaxation in the 'three-layer public discipline lockdown 2.0. According to the guidelines, fully air-conditioned shopping complexes or malls can open from Monday to Saturday from 6 am to 4 pm and the facility of dining in all restaurants will be allowed from 9 am to 4 pm with 50 per cent capacity. The facility of home delivery by restaurants will be allowed till 10 pm and take-away from 6 am to 4 pm from Monday to Saturday while the hotel operators will be able to provide service to their in-house guests. Stadiums, gyms and yoga centres will open from Monday to Saturday between 6 am and 4 pm. All permitted markets and commercial establishments, which were allowed from Monday to Friday, will now be allowed to be open from Monday to Saturday. On weekdays, there will be a public discipline curfew from 5 pm to 5 am. The public discipline weekend curfew will continue from 5 pm on Saturday till 5 am on Monday. In all such government and private offices with staffers less than 10, the entire staff will be allowed to function from their workplace. In the case of more than 10 staff members, 50 percent of them will be allowed. The city and mini buses will operate from 5 am to 5 pm in the city. The metro rail will operate from Wednesday as per the guidelines. Passengers will not be allowed to travel standing.

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UAE to allow entry of silver permit holders from India, and its neighbouring countries

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) will now be allowing silver residence permit holders from India and other countries in the sub-continent like Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka to enter the nation. As per the reports, the gulf nation had been till now only allowing gold permit holders to enter the nation from the said countries. However, as per the General Civil Aviation Authority (GACA) of UAE, all travelers who are eligible to travel from these nations will be required to put on “a monitoring and tracking device”. Referring to this, a leading charter operator said that there are no further restrictions. On the contrary, the UAE is now permitting silver visa holders too, apart from golden visa holders, it added. Further, the visitors will be required to wear a bracelet for the 10-day quarantine; then passengers will have to undergo an RT-PCR on the fourth day, and then the eighth day. And if the results are negative, they will be free to go anywhere, and even take off the bracelet. Elaborating more on this, the GCAA quarantine rules for visitors from the Indian subcontinent say that their movement will be limited between the hotel and the airport, without coming into close contact with persons of the community. Further, the UAE for now has extended travel restrictions on those traveling from India till July 6. The travel restriction was brought into place on April 25, when India began registering a rise in COVID cases. Emirates has also suspended passenger flights until July 6, 2021. And those who have transited through India in the last 14 days, will not be accepted to travel from any other point to the UAE.

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Himachal Pradesh issues new Covid rules after tourists rush in

The Himachal Pradesh government has issued a travel advisory for tourists and made Covid e-pass mandatory after thousands of people flocked the state, popular for its scenic mountain towns and resorts, causing massive traffic jams in several areas over the weekend. Himachal Pradesh chief minister Jai Ram Thakur said on Monday said though the government has removed the condition of RT-PCR negative report entering the state they must follow Covid-19 guidelines. While replying to a media query about the heavy rush of tourists seen on the state’s borders, Thakur said nobody will be allowed to flout the government's norms to check the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. Thakur said people visiting the state would be monitored through registration on the Covid e-pass software. He said pass applicants have to enter their particulars in the online system and that details of their arrival were being shared with all the stakeholders concerned.

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Shipping Ministry, MoCA sign pact to develop seaplane services in India

Two ministries of central government have signed a pact to start seaplane services across India. Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Ministry of Civil Aviation for this project in the presence of their respective ministers Mansukh Mandaviya and Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday. This MoU envisages developing non-scheduled and scheduled operation of seaplane services within territorial jurisdiction of India. Under this agreement, seaplane services will be developed as a part of the RCN-UDAN initiative of the Civil Aviation Ministry. Civil Aviation Ministry, Shipping Ministry and Sagarmala Development Company Limited (SDCL) will consider operationalising seaplane operating routes as identified by various agencies. A co-ordination committee comprising officials of Ministry of Civil Aviation, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways and Ministry of Tourism will be set up for timely rollout of seaplane services at various locations, a joint statement by the two ministries said. Shipping Ministry would identify and develop waterfront aerodromes and other required infrastructure, as well as obtain required statutory approvals in coordination with Civil Aviation Ministry, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Airports Authority of India (AAI) by defining the timelines for all activities involved in the development of facilities for starting seaplanes operations. Civil Aviation will select potential airlines operators based on their commercial consideration through bidding process. It will also incorporate the location and routes as identified by Shipping Ministry and routes identified through bidding process in UDAN scheme document. This ministry is also obligated to funds water aerodromes awarded under RCS-UDAN scheme, as well as coordinate with chief secretaries of all states for the seaplanes operations. "This MoU between the two ministries will help in expediting the development of new water aerodromes and also operationalisation of new seaplane routes in India. This will give a big fillip to the provision of a new kind of tourism service in India," said Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri. A total of 28 seaplane routes and 14 water aerodromes in Gujarat, Assam, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar islands and Lakshadweep are in various stages of development at a cost of ₹450 crore, Puri further said. "Signing of the MoU will be a game changer both for Indian maritime and civil aviation sector as it will not only enhance seamless connectivity across the nation by promoting eco-friendly transportation through seaplanes but also give a boost to the tourism industry," said Shipping Minister Mansukh Mandaviya. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on October 31 last year inaugurated SpiceJet's seaplane service between the Statue of Unity near Kevadiya in Gujarat's Narmada district and Sabarmati riverfront in Ahmedabad. However, this seaplane service has not been operational for the last two months due to Covid-19.

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