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Italy beaches getting 'anti-coronavirus' ready in bid to save holiday season from pandemic

Hundreds of millions of tourists flock Italy every year, enjoying the Alps or the country's coastline. However, as summer approaches amid Covid-19 restrictions, it seems unlikely they will be able to enjoy the Bel Paese as they normally would. Italy has already lifted some lockdown measures, and will do so further from May 4. How social-distancing rules will affect the upcoming holiday season however remains unclear. The Covid-19 pandemic has hit the tourism sector very hard. Countries like Croatia, whose economy is hugely reliant on tourism, have recently come up with ingenious ideas to keep tourism flows alive next summer, such as "tourist corridors". Italy's private-beach owners are preparing too, and have started getting "anti-coronavirus-ready" by applying social-distancing measures to their resorts. In Porto Cesareo, a small seaside town nicknamed "the Caribbean" of Italy's southeastern region of Puglia, a private beach is setting up umbrellas and deckchairs with a safety distance of 1.5 metres as well as installing ropes to mark out the space between holidaymakers. "We can come safely to the sea, we have rules imposed on us, and we have imposed them on ourselves. And we can abide by them, which is why we have tested this distance between umbrellas.", Fabrizio Marzano, the owner of seaside resort Bacino Grande, says. "The little ropes we see are simply to give an idea of the space, of what it could be, to respect the safety of all the people who go to the beach, for all the tourists." But social-distancing rules are not just a matter of space. They involve customer service too, as Mr Marzano says. "For example, there can be no queues at the bar, as this would mean that people would be too close to each other. And so we will have to give the customer who wants a sandwich, a pizza, a Coca-Cola, the possibility to bring it to them to their beach umbrella." Last month, Italy's tourism and culture minister Dario Franceschini announced "important" measures to prop up the tourism sector amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Measures include financial support for tourism seasonal workers and tax relief for several business activities (including guided tours, bathhouses, restaurants, theme parks, libraries, fairs, cultural and artistic events and many others), as well as "refund" vouchers for hotels that suffered booking cancellations. Furthermore, the tourism ministry is planning to "revamp" Italy's image in the world with a new marketing campaign.

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Don't reopen tourism too quickly, German foreign minister warns

German Foreign Minister Maas called for the development of common criteria for a return to freedom of travel. His warning followed Austria's announcement that it would open its borders to German and Czech travelers. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has warned against reopening European tourism destinations too quickly, saying that Europe should agree on a shared path back to freedom of travel. "A European race to see who will allow tourism travel first will lead to unacceptable risks," Maas told the weekly Bild am Sonntag newspaper. "We have already experienced what an infection cluster in a popular holiday destination can do to the home countries of the tourists," said Maas, citing the high infection rate at the Austrian ski resort of Ischgl, where hundreds of tourists are believed to have been infected with coronavirus in the early months of the outbreak. Instead, Europe needs a set of common criteria for a way back to freedom of travel, "as quickly as possible, but as responsibly as necessary," Maas said. The foreign minister's warning followed an announcement made by Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz that the country would begin a gradual opening of the border for travelers from the Czech Republic and Germany. Austria also ended coronavirus quarantines this week at three of the country's major ski resorts, lifting the restrictions days before they were due to expire. "We must not let the hard-won successes of the last few weeks be ruined," said Maas. Otherwise, the travel restrictions would have to be extended even longer, he added. Summer vacation — maybe Meanwhile, Federal Agriculture Minister Julia Klöckner is promoting summer vacations in the countryside. There are "many small holiday apartments that can offer farm holidays with your own living space," she told Funke Media Group. "There is also room for sufficient social distancing in many country inns with large outdoor areas." She said she could imagine that these areas could be part of holiday planning, if distance and hygiene rules were strictly observed, she said. However, she added that planning must be done with care. The possibility of vacationing in large hotels, where hundreds of guests meet at the breakfast buffet, is hard to imagine, she said.

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Portugal creates tourism hygiene accreditation to help Covid-19 recovery

Portuguese tourism officials have created a "clean and safe” accreditation for its industry as the country looks ahead to its post-coronavirus tourist recovery. The stamp of approval shows Portugal’s tourism enterprises, entertainment companies and travel agencies are all compliant with hygiene requirements for the prevention and control of Covid-19, as well as other possible diseases. Turismo de Portugal said the move would help “reinforce confidence” in the country’s tourism sector and drive a return to pre-virus visitor activity. Application for the accreditation is free and valid for one year. It requires companies to follow health and safety protocols to the standards of Portugal’s Directorate-General for Health (similar to the Department of Health and Social Care in the UK), ensuring the necessary hygiene measures are in place to avoid risks of Covid-19 contagion during tourist-related operations. The stamp can be downloaded from the tourism board’s website and shown on digital platforms and company premises. Turismo de Portugal said it would be carrying out “random audits” to make sure tourism companies adhere to standards once they have obtained the stamp.

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Chardham temples to reopen, no pilgrim to be allowed

''The opening ceremony of the four temples in Uttarakhand is an important annual event attended by thousands of pilgrims but the extended lockdown to halt the spread of coronavirus has cast its shadow on the yatra this year. The Chardham yatra begins with the opening of Gangotri and Yamunotri temples on April 26 this year.'' The Chardham yatra is all set for a low-key opening this year with no pilgrims allowed to visit the Himalayan temples of Gangotri, Yamunotri and Kedarnath when their portals reopen in a few days after the six-month winter closure. ”The opening ceremony of the four temples in Uttarakhand is an important annual event attended by thousands of pilgrims but the extended lockdown to halt the spread of coronavirus has cast its shadow on the yatra this year. The Chardham yatra begins with the opening of Gangotri and Yamunotri temples on April 26 this year.” Kedarnath will open on April 29 while the opening of Badrinath has been put off to May 15.

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Saudi tourism sector could see 35-45% decline this year on coronavirus

Saudi Arabia's tourism sector could see a 35-45 percent decline this year due to measures taken by the government to fight the coronavirus pandemic, the country's minister of tourism said on Friday. The Kingdom, which opened its doors in September to foreign tourists by launching a new visa regime for 49 countries, hopes to diversify its oil-dependent economy through tourism and wants the sector to contribute 10 percent of gross domestic product by 2030. "We believe this year the impact will be in the range of 35-45 percent decline, compared to last year, depending on how fast we will reopen the country and receive visitors," Ahmed al-Khateeb told Reuters. "The sector has been severely impacted. Hotels globally are suffering today from very low occupancy ratios, and it is the case here in Saudi Arabia as well. We hope things get better in the next few weeks and we have a fast recovery," he added. Reopening the economy is on top of the Saudi government agenda, but this will only happen once the pandemic is under control, he said. In late-February the kingdom closed its borders to foreign "umrah" pilgrims and to tourists from at least 25 countries. In March, it barred all travel in and out of the country. Pilgrimage is big business for Saudi Arabia, which hosts Islam's two holiest sites in Mecca and Medina, and is the backbone of plans to expand visitor numbers under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's ambitious economic reform agenda. Some 2.5 million pilgrims usually flock to the kingdom for the week-long haj ritual, expected to take place in July this year. But Saudi Arabia has urged Muslims to wait before making plans to attend until there's more clarity about the deadly coronavirus pandemic. Khateeb said that the country's Ministry of Haj was in contact with all Muslim countries and would make a decision in the near future. "I can tell you that the safety and security of the people comes first, Haj and Umra are the kind of events that bring millions of people together in one location and if there is not enough comfort for the government to go ahead, the risk is very high." Saudi Arabia has so far reported 15,102 cases of COVID-19 and 127 deaths so far.

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Sikkim closes Nathu La trade route with China, suspends Kailash Yatra

The Sikkim government on Thursday announced that it was closing the Nathu La (pass) trade route with China and the Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra through the pass this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The state government is also likely to continue the ban on entry of even domestic tourists till October. “Our government has decided to close the China-India trade route through Nathu La pass. The Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra through Nathu La will remain closed this year, ”B S Panth, Sikkim’s tourism and civil aviation minister, said. Under the Nathu La trade protocol, traders from Sikkim are allowed limited access to the Tibet autonomous region while Chinese traders are allowed a few kilometres into Indian territory. “Very soon we will adopt a proposal and inform the Centre. Since China is the epicentre of the outbreak we will close the Nathu La trade route which is supposed to open on May 1,” the minister said. “The Kailash- Mansarovar Yatra is also not happening this year.” The much-hyped international trade route was reopened on July 6, 2006 after remaining closed since 1962. The Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra, organised annually by the ministry of external affairs from June to September through Nathu La was reopened in June 2015. Another route for the yatra is through Lipulekh pass in Uttarakhand. The international trade through Nathu La continues till end of November. Sikkim has not reported any Covid-19 case so far. The state was among the first to ban the entry of domestic and foreign tourists and migrant labourers. It sealed the international borders with China, Nepal and Bhutan and two of the four border check posts with West Bengal. The Nathu La trade pass and Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra are two major revenue earners for Sikkim. The state drew more than 12 lakh domestic tourists and 1,33,388 foreign visitors in 2019. Panth said Sikkim is unlikely to allow even domestic tourists till October. “If the situation improves we may rethink the issue,” he said. However the minister indicated that the ban on the entry of foreign tourists will continue. The state government gets an annual revenue of around Rs 10 crore from the tourism industry. On June 16, 2015, the then external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj flagged off the first batch of 40 pilgrims from New Delhi who headed for Kailash-Mansarovar thought Nathu La. The announcement from the Chinese side was made by President Xi Jinping during his India visit in September 2014. In 2015, the Sikkim government sponsored two Sikkimese who took part in the yatra. More than 6,000 pilgrims from India take part in the pilgrimage every year. Most of them make their way through the Nepal-China border town of Khasa (Tatopani). Prime Minister Narendra Modi wanted the second route for Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra to be reopened in view of the difficult terrain through Uttarakhand and Nepal.

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