News

South Africa to reopen to international visitors in October

South Africa is preparing to reopen its borders to international travellers for the first time since March. In an address to the nation earlier, president Cyril Ramaphosa confirmed the process would begin on October 1st. The move comes as the country enters national lockdown alert ‘level one’ from Sunday, following a significant decrease in infections. South Africa is currently recording an average of fewer than 2,000 Covid-19 cases per day. Ramaphosa, however, said travel may be restricted to and from certain countries that are deemed high risk, with a list of these countries set to be announced in the coming days. All international travellers will be required to present a Covid-19 free certificate dated no later than 72 hours within their date of arrival or quarantine on arrival. Three international airports will open – OR Tambo International Airport, Cape Town International Airport and King Shaka International Airport – as well as one port. Kgomotso Ramothea, acting hub head UK & Ireland, South African Tourism, said: “This is an extremely positive step in the right direction for tourism in South Africa. “While there is more detail to come in the next few days, this progress sends a really positive message to the world, that South Africa is on the road to tourism recovery. “The UK is our number one international travel market – many of these are repeat visitors, who have an emotional connection to South Africa and we look forward to welcoming them back to experience our beautiful country once again, as well as first time travellers who have always had South Africa on their bucket list and who we hope will seize the opportunity to visit after a difficult year.” With the announcement, Virgin Atlantic confirmed plans to resume flights to the country from October 18th. The South African reopening is part of a growing trend, with data from the UNWTO this week showing more than half of countries have now loosened restrictions on travel imposed at the height of the outbreak.

Read more

India now has an air bubble arrangement with Japan

India has established an air travel bubble with Japan allowing Indian and Japanese carriers to operate services between the two countries. The arrangement allows stranded nationals and residents of Japan and foreign nationals holding valid Japanese visas to travel from India to Japan, subject to the border measures and travel restrictions imposed by the Japanese government at the time of travel. Also, any Indian national holding any type of valid visa can travel to Japan, subject to the border measures and travel restrictions imposed. Before issuing the tickets or boarding pass, airlines have been asked to ensure that there is no travel restriction for Indian nationals with a particular visa category to enter Japan. The travel from Japan to India is open to stranded Indian nationals, all Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholders holding passports of Japan and foreigners (including diplomats), holding valid visa issued by an Indian Mission in any category covered under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) guidelines dated June 30, 2020 as amended from time to time. Along with Japan, India has also established travel bubbles with Iraq and Afghanistan. With this, India’s air bubble arrangement now extends to 13 countries including USA, UK, France, Germany, Canada, the Maldives, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Nigeria. Last month, Union Civil Aviation Minister, Hardeep Singh Puri had mentioned in a series of tweets that India is now negotiating with 13 other countries to establish air bubbles for international flight operations. He had mentioned, “These countries include Australia, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Nigeria, Bahrain, Israel, Kenya, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea & Thailand. The ongoing negotiations will benefit stranded Indians and nationals of these countries.”

Read more

Agra hotels set to welcome tourists as Taj Mahal reopens from September 21

The famed monuments, which attract people all across the world, were shut in March due to the nationwide lockdown in view of the Covid-19 pandemic. Due to this, the hotel industry was shut for over five months and suffered losses. Hoteliers have started preparation for the tourists after the government decided to reopen the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort for the general public from September 21. The famed monuments, which attract people all across the world, were shut in March due to the nationwide lockdown in view of the Covid-19 pandemic. Due to this, the hotel industry was shut for over five months and suffered losses. Speaking to ANI, Rajkant, a hotel owner said, “We were waiting for the government to reopen Taj Mahal under Unlock 4 guidelines as they were reopening everything in a phased manner.” He said the District Magistrate has recently given orders to reopen the Taj Mahal from September 21 and added that it will also bring the tourism industry back on track. “Businessmen are happy with this decision as we host people from across the world who come here to see Taj Mahal,” Rajkant said. Another hotel owner, Rashmi Singh said, “Our businesses were impacted due to coronavirus. Due to this, we had to ask some of our hotel staff to leave while the remaining worked on deducted salaries.”

Read more

West Bengal: National parks and forests to reopen for tourists from September 23

Forests in West Bengal are all set to reopen for tourists from September 23. The forest department has already initiated the process in this regard. This was recently announced by Forest Minister Rajib Banerjee in Siliguri after a meeting with forest officials. He stated that they are working towards opening up the national parks and forests to tourists before Pujas. This should come as a big relief to wildlife enthusiasts and tourists alike. Referring to this, officials in the know-how stated that every year the forests close down for two months due to monsoon, i.e., from July 15 to September 15. However, this year due to the COVID pandemic, the forests remained out of bounds for tourists since the beginning of March, when the lockdown was announced, the officials added. Due to the prolonged closure of national parks and forests, tourism in the region has been hit hard, the reason why the state government has now decided to open the forests ahead of the festive season. Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Ravikant Sinha informed that the said decision to reopen the forests to tourists was taken at a meeting that was chaired by Forest Minister Rajib Banerjee recently. Ravikant Sinha also added that guidelines regarding this will be issued for the same, and that the details will be decided during a meeting today. As regarding the guidelines, they will be based on the lines of COVID advisory of the Health Department to ensure that the forest staff, tourists, and other stakeholders have minimum risk of getting infected by the virus, informed a senior official from the state Forest department.

Read more

Tourism stakeholders seek reopening of monuments in Aurangabad

Representatives from the tourism industry and a local NGO submitted a memorandum to Desai, seeking the reopening of monuments, which have been shut since the last seven months. Maharashtra's Aurangabad city is home to World Heritage sites of Ajanta and Ellora and monuments such as BibiKa Maqbara and Daulatabad fort among other historic places. Stakeholders from the tourism industry met Aurangabad district’s guardian minister Subhash Desai to demand reopening of monuments, which have remained closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The memorandum stated that as travel restrictions had been eased to a certain extent, monuments can be reopened with measures such as social distancing, limited entry and online ticket booking. Following the meeting, the minister said the issue will be taken up with tourism minister Aaditya Thackeray.

Read more

Thumby Aviation has now started helicopter rides in Bengaluru for INR 3500

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, not only travel plans have disrupted, but also family outings seem to be risky to plan. In such a scenario, Bengaluru seems to have an option to address this concern. Thumby Aviation has now started helicopter rides to offer you and your family a joy ride amid the pandemic. Right now, it might seem to be risky to plan for a spontaneous weekend getaway, but you can sign up for a quick joy ride when in Bengaluru. Reportedly, the said aviation services that offer heli shuttle services between Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) and the Electronic City, is now offering helicopter rides during the weekends for small groups and families comprising five to six people. Referring to this, a senior official from Thumby Aviation stated that although they started shuttle services to cater to those travelling between KIA and Electronic City, they are now offering rides for the public during the weekends as the demand for travel has come down in the wake of COVID pandemic. The official also added that the services offer a 10-min ride over Bengaluru and that the rides are on offer only to one group or families. Share rides are not permitted, keeping in mind the safety and social distancing rules. The helicopter that is used for the joy rides has the capacity to accommodate five to six passengers, whereas the fare for each seat has been capped at INR 3500. As such, if a family wants to book five seats, it will cost them INR 17500. Further, to ensure that social distancing and other safety protocols are in place, the pilot’s and passenger’s cabins will be separated. Also, both the cabins have separate AC vents.

Read more