News

Thailand Lifts Alcohol Ban And Prepares To Resume Businesses As COVID-19 Cases Drop

In Thailand, the national liquor ban will lift effectively from May 3 which had been prohibited under the Emergency Decree — according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT). The ban had been in place since April 10 in a bid to discourage social gathering and has been shuttered to stem the transmission rate of the COVID-19 disease among communities. However, the restaurants are prohibited to serve alcohol at the establishments as most public premises and entertainment venues will remain shut, as per local media reports. Deputy Prime Minister, Wissanu Kreangam, told a news agency that the revised guidelines, which take effect on May 3, permitted the sale of alcohol. This implies, one can buy and sell liquor, beer, wine and make purchases at the restaurants, convenience stores, supermarkets, or anywhere across the country. He added that the pubs and bars can be reopened for takeaways, therefore, consumption is strictly confined to home premises. New guidelines roll in just a day after the government's Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration told the daily press briefing that the ban on liquor would be extended until further announcement. Implying, that it could last for until May 31, the end date of the extended emergency decree, as per the reports. Bangkok Metropolitan Authority spokesman Pongsakorn Kwangmuang told the news outlet that a formal detailed announcement regarding the protocols will be made by the government later in the day. The revocation orders of the liquor beverage coincide with prominent public holidays, Labour Day, and the Rama X Coronation anniversary on May 4 celebrated in Thailand. As many as 2,969 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus have been reported in Thailand, with over 54 fatalities. No new deaths have been recorded in the past 24 hours. Prime Minister Prayuth Chanocha's government had imposed sweeping measures across the country to plank the curve of the COVID-19 transmission as the daily-rise jumped to several hundred until the past few weeks, as per local media reports. As of now, the government prepares to reopen the retail shops, wholesalers, markets, floating markets, and flea markets “with strict disease control.”

Read more

Greece is planning to open to tourists this summer

There’s a light at the end of the tunnel — and it’s a sunset in Mykonos. Greece, arguably one of the most popular summer vacation spots in the world, is planning on opening up the country to tourists come July, Reuters reports. For more TPG news delivered each morning to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter. The country has been on lockdown since March 23 and is trying to save what’s left of the summer tourist season. Last year, it drew 34 million visitors who brought in over $19 billion in revenue, Reuters adds. The government will ease lockdown restrictions on May 4, and hotels that operate throughout the year will be able to reopen on June 1. Greece’s tourism minister, Harry Theocharis, told Reuters TV, “This season is not going to be like the other years, I would be a fool to believe that this could ever be the case. However, there is a lot that we can do to reopen the tourist economy, the flows.” In an interview with BBC News, Theocharis added, “Now this cannot be with every source country, with every destination, but we have to try to open up with some countries … Europe is the most developed area in the world with regard to tourism [and] if the tourism sector is not restarted there can be no lasting economic restart.” The country’s aggressive containment measures have paid off so far. There have only been 2,620 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 143 related deaths, according to data from WorldOMeters. It should be noted that a Global Level 4 Health Advisory is still in effect for the U.S., advising U.S. citizens to avoid all international travel due to the global impact of COVID-19. If things change and you do decide to book a trip to Greece this summer, be mindful of both hotel and airline cancellation and rebooking policies. Many airlines have shifted to temporarily allow travelers to book new flights now and cancel for a refund or travel credit later, often with the ability to make changes within the next year and even into 2021. You should also definitely consider protecting your trip with a travel insurance policy that allows you to cancel for any reason.

Read more

3,500 government tourist guides in Agra demand relief package

AGRA: About 3,500 tourist guides having Government of India licence to operate from across the nation have approached Prime Minister Narendra Modi and tourism and culture minister Prahlad Singh Patel, demanding relief package due to the crises being faced by the tourism industry in wake of the unprecedented situation created by Covid-19 pandemic. Talking with TOI, nominated vice-president of the Tourist Guides’ Federation of India (TGFI) Shakeel Chauhan said this uncertainty is expected to continue for at least a year. The recent developments have hit the guide community very hard, with almost all of them likely to lose their entire year's income on account of the prevailing situation. There are only 3,500 regional-level guides in India and among them, 90% of them belong to the middle class. Under the present financial crisis, they do not have funds to survive. “Towards amelioration of the situation, we have requested the office of the Prime Minister and tourism minister to help us,” Chauhan said, adding that countries like the US, UK, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand have already given relief to their guides. President of the Approved Tourists Guides Association (ATGA), Agra, Shamsuddin Khan said the licence to the guides are issued only after they agree with the ministry’s condition of not doing any other job and now, they have no source of income. “We are forced to face starvation and our families are in trouble,” he said. “Like other unorganised sectors, we have also urged the government to help us with financial package during the crises for the survival of our families as we don’t have a regular income, no job security, neither pension nor medical facility,” Khan said, adding that their survival is totally dependent on arrival of tourists from across the globe. But due to pandemic, everything has been shut and no one knows until when they will remain unemployed. Khan told TOI that they received a reply on online portal that the matter is under consideration as the ministry of tourism, Government of India, has already taken up the matter with the appropriate authority to consider the request of the Tourist Guides and Tourist Guide Associations. He added that they are hopeful to get justice by the government. According to regional-level Tourist Guides approved by the ministry of tourism, they have made a similar request to travel agents for clearing pending guide bills, which are to the tune of over Rs 2 lakh, at the earliest.

Read more

Asean puts off visa exemptions amid Covid-19

Asean nations will not discuss further about visa exemptions or visa fee waivers in the near future as they focus on their own recovery plans amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. Thailand's tourism and sports minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said a consensus on this issue was achieved during a Special Meeting of Asean Tourism Ministers on Covid-19 via video conference on Wednesday. He said the tourism ministers of the 10 member nations approved in principle the Joint Statement of Asean Tourism Ministers on Strengthening Cooperation to Revitalise Tourism that touched on reviving travel confidence following the outbreak. According to The Bangkok Post, Phiphat said the regional ministers agreed to commit to a prevention plan, with each country sharing information through the Asean Tourism Crisis Communications Team, as well as seeking cooperation from international organisations together to revive the confidence. "Recovery from the virus is essential before the tourism industry can restart in the region, so members are skipping any discussion of visa policy allowing Asean citizens to travel freely between borders. "The visa facilitation policy will be reconsidered once Asean can contain the spread of the virus and travel restrictions in each country are lifted, allowing tourism activities to resume," said Phiphat. Last year, Thailand granted a fee waiver for visa-on-arrival (VOA) from Oct 31, 2019 until April 30, 2020 in an attempt to promote the country's tourism industry. But the global spread of the coronavirus in March triggered a decision to cancel the VOA for 18 countries, including China and visa exemptions for South Korea, Italy and Hong Kong. In addition, the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand has extended the inbound flight ban until May 31, while Southeast Asian countries, such as Singapore, Vietnam and Indonesia, also extended their suspension of visa exemptions for foreign travellers, including Asean citizens who used to enjoyed such benefits. Phiphat said the VOA for 18 countries was suspended indefinitely amid the uncertainty of the virus outbreak. If a vaccine is not developed this year, all Asean members had agreed to implement shared standards that highlight social distancing practices as well as safety and hygiene in tourism services. Phiphat said countries where economic growth relies heavily on tourism such as Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore were suffering the most, followed by Indonesia and the Philippines. Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia are facing less impact on their tourism industries, he added.

Read more

Nepal-India Tourism To Be Given New Momentum

KATHMANDU:- The officials of tourism fraternities from Nepal and India have upped consultations to enliven the tourism activities in the post-COVID-19 period. Chief executive officer (CEO) of Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) Dr Dhananjaya Regmi held talks with chiefs of different tourism organizations from India in video conference to find new ways for activating the tourism sector, the NTB said in a press statement. Leading tourism personalities and entrepreneurs from India including chair of Indian Travel Agents’ Association Jyoti Mayal, chair of Indian Domestic Tourism Tour Operator Association PP Khanna, chair of Indian Adventure Tour Operator Association Captain Swodesh Kumar, chair of Indian Travel Agents’ Federation Pradeep Lulla and outgoing chair of Indian Outbound Tour Operators Mahendra Vakhariya were present in the consultations, which was coordinated by Buzz Indian Travel’s CEO Sancheet Jain. On the occasion, NTB CEO Dr Regmi familiarized the Indian business persons about the former’s efforts in the time of crisis. He shared the NTB’s plans taken to lure the Indian tourists as well as the development of new touristic destinations. Furthermore, discussions were held on joint efforts for the marketing and promotion of tourism activities by reactivating the members of those Indian organizations. During the meeting, Dr Regmi proposed to form a Nepal-India Tourism Taskforce Committee, according to the NTB’s press release.

Read more

Turkey to outshine EU countries as 2020 vacation spot amid COVID-19 pandemic

Turkey will be favored as the top summer destination for German tourists in 2020, due to the success the country has had in handling the COVID-19 pandemic and its concrete plans to ensure a safe experience for foreign visitors, a program on German TV channel Welt-TV said Thursday. The program, dedicated to noting up and coming popular European tourist hotspots, predicted that Italy, Spain and France would no longer be favored by tourists given the high risk they still face. The program noted that domestic tourism activities might take place in these countries but international travel would be highly unlikely until the end of the year for many countries in Europe. The program noted that Turkey had been taking positive steps in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and had several advantages, including the necessary sanitary certifications and holiday centers that could be carefully monitored in the country’s touristic regions. Turkey is preparing to launch an internationally recognized certification system for “coronavirus-free” touristic areas and facilities in order to help revive the industry, according to the tourism minister, who recently noted that domestic tourism could return to normal by late May. Turkish hotels are also expected to give up their “open buffet” options at all-inclusive holiday resorts and switch to breakfast plates and set menus. Staff working in hotel restaurants will also be periodically tested for communicable diseases and a doctor's presence at all hotels will be crucial, according to Bulut Bağcı, chairman of the World Tourism Forum Institute. The outbreak has put tens of millions of jobs in the global tourism sector at risk. The World Travel and Tourism Council said in March that the pandemic was putting up to 50 million jobs on the line, with travel likely to slump by a quarter this year and Asia being the most affected continent. International travel is expected to fall at least 10.5% this year, the biggest year-on-year drop, the industry consultancy Tourism Economics recently said. Ulrike Demmer, a German government spokeswoman, said Wednesday that the global travel warning for German citizens had been extended until at least June 14 because the pandemic has not yet been brought under control. She underlined that restrictions on international air travel, quarantine regulations and lockdown measures were likely to continue in the coming weeks in many countries. Germany has the sixth-highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the world behind the U.S., Spain, Italy, France and the U.K. The death toll in Germany reached 6,467 on Thursday, while the number of cases rose to 161,539, according to data analysis firm Risklayer and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. Nearly 123,500 patients have recovered from the virus, the Robert Koch Institute reported. Germany began easing restrictions to stem the spread of the coronavirus in the country on April 20, earlier than others. Most shops smaller than 800 square meters (8,611 square feet) were being allowed to open again. The death toll across Europe has passed 132,000 on Thursday. The U.K. has become the second hardest-hit country after Italy, recording 26,097 fatalities Wednesday. Although the U.K. is still struggling with a high number of deaths and infections, many other countries, including Italy, Spain and France, announced a gradual relaxing of their measures to contain the virus. Italy, Germany and Spain are taking gradual steps toward normalization starting May 4.

Read more