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Tanzania Restarts International Tourism

Earlier last month, Tanzania opened its borders for international tourism. A major portion of the nation’s GDP depends on the tourism and hospitality segment. Tanzania has been one of the destinations to keep the covid-19 numbers in check. Speaking about the development, Devota Mdachi, Managing Director, Tanzania Tourist Board said, “We are one of the first countries in African region to open tourism. The number of covid-19 patients is very low. We are ready to receive tourists from across the globe. The Ministry of Health and Tourism have come up with various precautions and SOPs and guidelines. All major airports have screening machines, mask compulsory, sanitisers available in many points. Hotels and operators have got a mandate to follow SOPs and also come up with their own SOPs. We welcomed the first international airline, Ethiopian Airline after nearly two months, which is a very positive sign. We are very excited and soon when India will be open, Air Tanzania will resume its flights to Mumbai, and we look forward to welcome Indian travellers.” The interaction was organized by Koncept Africa, a totally Africa centric vertical of Pearl Tourism & Leisure Group which is well equipped to help create a suitable package for Tanzania and other major African destinations. Speaking about the destination Jayesh Ashar, Managing Director, Pearl Tourism & Leisure Group said, “Tanzania is a unique destination that offers a huge gamut of attractions, activities, landscapes and choice of accommodation. It’s a dynamic package destination in true sense! The main factors that will influence travel to TZ are; Visa on arrival and e-visa facility available for Indian travellers; Direct flights from India to TZ with convenient timings, only 6 hrs flying time; Strict COVID-19 protocol in place for visitors safety; Medium to high end budget packages available; Easy availability of Indian cuisine including Jain food.” In terms of marketing strategies to instill confidence amongst tourists, Tanzania has come up with a short and a long-term tourism strategy. The destination will also look to organize a roadshow in India end of this year or early next year. “After the outbreak and decision to close the borders, we were impacted. We reached a point where there were zero tourism. Tourism is our number one priority sector. It affected employment and economy of Tanzania. Now that we have opened up, we are looking at best ways to promote so that tourism numbers trickle down to Tanzania. We know that other destinations are also aiming to open. Our short-term plans where we have invested a lot on online marketing, we have done some live streaming to showcase the destination. We worked with the Serengeti live Show company to showcase what’s happening in Serengeti,” she said adding that Tanzania will hold a roadshow in India later this year or early next year to show what Tanzania has got to offer and what the government has put in place for safety and health of the travellers. “For long term plan, we are looking to appoint a representative and PR in India next year. We will also conduct some fam trips for trade and journalists from India market to showcase our uniqueness,” she informed. In 2019, the destination welcomed 49,000 travellers from India. Now, with a direct Air Tanzania connection to Mumbai, the tourism board is anticipating rise in numbers. “We have a large Indian community in Tanzania, and we have people speaking Indian languages and also Indian food is easily available here. With Air Tanzania connection the numbers will surely increase,” she informed. With the new protocols in place social distancing is a major guideline for every business. Tanzania is now promoting newer destinations to divert traffic throughout the nation. She further said, “The safety and health of our guest is our priority. We have put social distancing in practice and for safari vehicle can have maximum 4 guests in a vehicle and vehicles are sanitized in frequent intervals. The best circuit for the first-time traveler is the Northern circuit. Also, most travellers combine Northern circuit along with Zanzibar. Now we are also promoting southern tourism circuit which are unique and unexplored. We are also trying to divert traffic to western part of the nation. Travellers should at least look at a six to seven-night itinerary.”

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Tourism minister confirms Phuket, Phi Phi, Samui to be proposed for ‘Travel Bubbles’

PHUKET: Minister for Tourism and Sport Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn has confirmed that Phuket is to be one of the pilot destinations to be proposed to the Cabinet to be promoted for “travel bubble” tourists. Such tourists will be exempt from 14-day quarantines, but will be restricted to visiting specified areas, Mr Phiphat said yesterday (July 14), reported state news agency National News Bureau of Thailand (NNT). The three pilot areas to be proposed to Cabinet will be all Southern Thailand provinces: Phuket; Krabi, especially Phi Phi island; and Surat Thani, especially Koh Samui and Koh Pha-ngan islands. In order to be permitted to join a ‘Travel Bubble’ tour, foreign tourists must be tested for COVID-19 before coming to Thailand and again when arriving at airports, Mr Phiphat said. Foreign tourists wanting to stay longer than 14 days will be allowed to visit other areas in the country after staying in their initial destination area for 14 days without exhibiting any signs of infection, he added. Mr Phiphat also noted that the national domestic tourism campaign, launched through the ‘We Travel Together’ web portal under the ‘Tiew Pan Suk’ (Travelling Shares Happiness) government initiative, is expected to “take around a half of the B18 billion budget given by the Cabinet, as most people will not book room that charge the full B3,000 a night.” “We will propose that Phase 2 of this project use the rest of the budget,” he added. “The tourism goal for this year is to generate around 6-7% of GDP, or around B1.23 trillion,” Mr Phiphat said. “We expect to generate B700 billion from domestic tourism in the last quarter of this year, and a further B596 billion from foreign tourists,” he added. However, when or whether or not such “travel bubbles” will be permitted was a decision beyond his authority, Mr Phiphat noted. “That depends on whether the Prime Minister and the Minister of Interior choose people’s safety and security or economic recovery,” he said.

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Indian Railways reveals post-Corona coach

f you have been wondering what the world of travelling would be like once COVID-19 ends or regular travel operations resume, this is something for you. The Indian Railways has unveiled a prototype of its railway coach, labelling it as Post Covid Coach. The design is new and hints at safer travel in the future, reducing chances of infection. The design for this post-COVID coach by the Indian Railways was revealed by Minister of Railways Piyush Goel, as he took to social media to announce the same. The design plan has new features, including handsfree water dispensers, soap dispensers, washroom facilities, toilet gates that require no hand touch and more. The coach design also has copper coated handles in place, which is believed to reduce the risk of infection. The seating material used in this post-Covid coach will come coated with titanium di-oxide, and the coaches would be fitted with plasma air-purifiers. t is reported that the coaches would be both AC and non-AC and the production for the same has already started at the Kapurthala Rail Coach Factory. The new design is aimed to instil a sense of security in the passengers. It has to be noted that the country boasts of a mammoth rail network, and Indian Railways is the fourth largest railway network in the world. It spans a length of 68,155 km as of March 2019, and is the lifeline of common passenger movement in the country. COVID outbreak led to a break on all passenger operations, halting the massive transport facility.

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Govt looks to attract tourists by pitching India as land of Buddha

NEW DELHI: As more states open up to tourists with a string of safeguards in place, the tourism ministry is lending a helping hand with its "Dekho Apna Desh" campaign and pitching India as the land of Buddha. With an eye on China and Buddhist countries in the neighbourhood, tourism minister Prahlad Patel emphasised the need to bring more Buddhist tourists to India, asking tour operators last week why India receives only a fraction of them. The development of Buddhist tourism, done with an eye on China, which has also invested heavily in infrastructure projects to cultivate Buddhist leaders, has been part of India’s bid to leverage its soft power in the neighbourhood. Earlier this month, PM Narendra Modi had pitched for encouraging Buddhist tourism, emphasising the centrality of India to the Buddhist world and highlighting the need for better connectivity of India’s Buddhist sites. He had also said his government had approved the upgrade of Kushinagar airport as an international one to allow more pilgrims and tourists to visit India. Tourism and culture minister Prahlad Patel, who had presented five volumes of the "Mongolian Kanjur", a Buddhist canonical text in 108 volumes, regarded as the most important religious text in Mongolia, to President Ram Nath Kovind and the Mongolian ambassador, has since doubled down on India’s bid to print all volumes of the Buddhist canon and provide copies to all monasteries across Mongolia. The tourism ministry has also started promotional activities related to Buddhist sites, including highlighting that the government has installed foreign language signage, including in Chinese, at crucial Buddhist sites like Shravasti, Sarnath, Kushinagar and Sanchi, where a large number of Buddhist tourists come. Though the coronavirus curve is still rising in the country and caution is key, promoting economic activity — of which tourism is a crucial sector — is also critical. In Uttarakhand, tourists need to register and have a certificate confirming a negative test for coronavirus for permission to travel. Armed with this certificate, tourists will not be quarantined. Hotels will administer the RT-PCR test on guests who have not been tested and people can only leave their hotels after seven days of arrival. Destination weddings have also been permitted, but guests are only allowed to visit the place of the wedding. The UN World Travel Organisation’s "Responsible Tourism" mantra is reflected in India’s approach too. Last week, J&K opened up to tourists arriving by air and mandated RT-PCR tests at the airport. The UT also said travellers will have to show prior taxi and hotel bookings and will be allowed to proceed from their hotels only after they test negative for the coronavirus. While further relaxations may be in order in the coming weeks, for now, J&K has advised travellers above 65 to desist from visiting. Goa, which restarted tourism earlier in July, has announced a fresh lockdown after a spike in cases. For now, uncertainty prevails over future lockdowns and hotels were compelled to cancel bookings over the weekend. Rajasthan, which gets a substantial revenue from tourism, has seen a slow but steady resumption of tourist activities. Though key heritage monuments have opened and are seeing a trickle of tourists, with restricted train and air travel still, numbers have been far below normal.

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Disneyland in Paris has finally opened its doors for travellers

Disneyland Paris is probably one of the most-frequented attractions in the world and the COVID-19 pandemic was really tough on all these places. Now, Disneyland has opened its gates for visitors after more than four months. The theme-park was shuttered in March when the Coronavirus outbreak gripped the city and world. The two theme parks, Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park along with Disney Village, and Disney’s Newport Bay Club Hotel were reopened for tourists on July 15, 2020. Things were opened with the latest Coronavirus health and safety measures, which include face masks and social distancing. On the day of reopening, the theme park saw a steady stream of visitors pouring in from across the city in the morning hours. As reported by the local media, a group was pictured by the Mickey Mouse ears. People were seen dancing with happiness as they entered their famous Disneyworld. Among the new regulations, Disneyland Paris has limited visitors capacity to ensure physical distancing. Masks and advance booking are mandatory, so guests need to register online to visit the parks on a particular date. People are asked to keep a metre away from fellow visitors. Also, hundreds of hand-washing stations and sanitizers have been placed all around the park. According to the Disneyland Paris website, character meet and greets will change to accommodate social distancing while playgrounds, makeover experiences, remain shut for now. Ticket counters remained closed along with playgrounds and make-up workshops. On Saturday, Walt Disney World reopened its famous parks in Orlando, despite the fact that the place has seen a jump in new cases. Though hugging Mickey or your favourite character won’t be possible now, it’s still good to be back inside the park. Happy images of people enjoying inside the park on social media, maintaining social distanc, are spreading positivity and making people hopeful of good days. In 2019, Disneyland Park in Paris has welcomed around 9.7 million visitors!

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TAT Organises India Luxury Virtual Connect

Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) conducted India Luxury Virtual Connect (ILVC), which was designed exclusively for leading travel partners across key metro cities in India to touch base with the Thai private sector while maintaining social distance from their respective homes. The first ever India Luxury Virtual Connect (ILVC) was conducted on July 15 -16, 2020, witnessed participation from around 28 Thai luxury sellers along with close to 130 travel agents across South West India and 130 agents from North East cities of India ILVC was conceptualized and executed by BRANDit, the official representative firm of TAT’s Mumbai office, led by Lubaina Sheerazi. The objective of ILVC was to introduce brand new products to cater to the luxury segment in India and further to share situation update in Thailand for the Indian buyers to understand the changing landscape of tourism. Basis industry predictions, TAT is presently concentrating its outreach measures on the luxury segment as the Indian elites are expected to make the first travel movements post complete unlocking of restrictions in India. ILVC followed round-robin setup wherein the buyers and sellers followed a pre-fixed meeting schedule and interacted and shared information relevant to the product. They also got a chance to download brochures, fact sheets and exchange business cards from the virtual resources centre. The daylong event ‘ILVC’ marked as the commencement of a new remarkable era in the travel trade industry through which the world of travel can be connected by only few clicks. Cholada Siddhivarn, Director, TAT Mumbai, said, “This year has been extremely challenging for all of us in the travel industry and at TAT, we are working each day to come up with creative solutions for our business requirements. We are extremely delighted to have introduced a platform like ILVC to the Indian market and help the Thai private sector and reach out to buyers across the country and discuss the future of travel in the post unlocking period. We are certain that this networking will help us drive arrivals to Thailand as soon as international travel is permitted.” Vachriachai Sirisumpan, Director, TAT New Delhi, added, “Through it is still not clear when the international tourists from India will be able to travel to Thailand but it is important for us to stay connected with our partners. TAT India Offices would like to connect our Thai hospitality and travel businesses with travel agents in India and use this platform to update the products and services as well as all safety and health measures be taken in order to ensure and boost confidence of tourists. Luxury travel segment is a very important market for Post-Covid travel period which Thailand can ensure to meet the wish list of all travellers for luxury experiences and accommodation also gastronomy, arts and crafts, nature and beaches.” Thailand was ranked second best in the world for ongoing COVID-19 recovery owing to which it has led to the resumption of the country’s daily activities, including domestic tourism. The Royal Thai Government has declared the relaxation of public places such as malls, restaurants and attractions with heightened safety measures and health regulations. Additionally, domestic flights are functional and leading hospitality brands are introducing safer precautions for the health and safety of each guest as well as employee. Owing to all of these developments, TAT is certain that soon international borders will be reopened to welcome visitors across the world and tourism will emerge again with the guidelines of ‘new normal’

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