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Goa tourism can’t restart in July, says minister Michael Lobo

Science and technology minister Michael Lobo said it won’t be possible for tourism activities in the state to restart in July, as the Covid-19 situation would first have to improve in India’s major economic centres that send a bulk of domestic tourists to Goa. “If the Covid situation doesn’t improve, we can’t get tourists,” Lobo told TOI. He said most domestic tourists in July come from Delhi and Gurgaon. “Most flights come to Goa from Mumbai and Delhi. Even if the tourists are from elsewhere, their connecting flight to Goa is from Mumbai or Delhi,” he said. Mumbai and Delhi are among the worst-affected cities in the country. “If flights from those cities don’t start, and if people aren’t ready to get out because of Covid-19, we can’t expect business to start,” he said. Tourism is a major revenue earner for the Goa government. From 6.8 lakh domestic tourists in 1985 to over 70 lakh Indians marking their presence in the state in 2019, the arrival of domestic tourists has provided a more than satisfactory safety net for Goa’s tourism industry. He also said people are not in the mood to travel. “If younger people cannot travel, how will couples travel? I cannot expect the tourism industry to start until there is a proper solution, and the only solution I see is a vaccine, which will take time.” Lobo said that initially, he too, like many others, was optimistic about the restart of the hotel industry in July. Last week, chief minister Pramod Sawant had said that the state government would take a decision within a week on whether or not to allow tourism to resume in the state. Sawant said that 230 hotels have registered with the tourism department signalling their readiness to restart operations. Meanwhile, Lobo, who also runs a hotel and represents the coastal belt of Calangute, said the state has started getting bookings for October from tourists from Russia and the UK. “There is Covid-19 there, too, but people want to be in safer places, and Goa is safe for foreigners. We’ve started getting bookings from there. I think they’ll come,” he said. In 2018, 9.3 lakh foreign tourists took to the sunny shores of Goa and Russian tourists formed a major chunk of the chartered tourist arrivals in the state. The minister also said even if restaurants along the coastal belt start functioning, there are no tourists currently. “Until and unless Indian tourists start coming in, restaurants cannot function. A few restaurants have started takeaways, but even at my restaurants, there is no business,” he said.

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Agra tourism industry demands government to reopen the Taj

It’s been quite some time that the popular Indian monuments, including the world-famous Taj Mahal, have stayed shut to tourists given the COVID-19 pandemic. But, after things have started reopening in the country, the tourism industry is now demanding the government to reopen the Taj and other important ASI monuments to tourists. The closure of Taj has been a prime concern for the tourism industry in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, as it has suffered a great financial loss. Thus, the Agra tourism industry has raised concern with the Indian government, wanting to know the reason behind the closure of the Taj Mahal and other monuments while malls and other places are reopening. Rajeev Saxena, vice-president of Agra Tourism Guild said, “By opening the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) monuments, a positive message will go across the globe that the situation in Agra is approaching normalcy.” He said that as the recovery rate of Coronavirus cases has increased, and it is time to reopen the closed monuments. Agra Tourist Welfare Chamber President Prahald Agarwal agreeing to Mr. Saxna said that instead of shutting the monuments, the government should start planning safety guidelines. Tourism industry’s representatives believe that the industry is already facing a difficult time and they are unhappy with the government as they are not being provided any assistance. Last month, they demanded 50 per cent payment of salaries of at least half of the employees who work for hotels, resorts and restaurants so that their jobs could be saved but nothing was done to help them.

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Greece gearing up for final phase of reopening tourism industry on July 1

Greece's tourism industry is entering the final phase of the restarting process on July 1, when the country's regional airports reopen for international travelers, ANA reports. Forecasting models for the expected number of arrivals this year are bedeviled by a number of unknowns, however, with experts noting that the unprecedented situation due to Covid-19 is likely to affect the behavior of potential tourists, making any forecasts unreliable. Signals from TUI, the world's largest travel agency, bode well for tourist flow to Greece. As TUI Hellas Head of Region South & West Greece, Iceland, Lapland Georgios Dimas informed the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA), nearly all source-markets for Greece with very few exceptions will be sending visitors to the country via TUI. Starting on July 1, barring any changes due to measures to curb the spread of Covid-19, flights will resume from Germany, Sweden, Belgium, France, the Netherlands and other markets will gradually open. TUI flights from the United Kingdom to Greece are expected to begin on July 11, while TUI flights from Sweden to Greece commence on July 2. The final number of arrivals, nevertheless, was hard to predict as the situation was extremely volatile, with the facts changing each day, with even flight bookings subject to last-minute cancellations and changes. Dimas said that TUI flights to Greece will initially be fewer and have lower capacity than in 2019 but bookings had started to pick up in the last week. On destinations within the country, he said the smaller islands suffered from the disadvantage that most hotels there had not opened, while he sent a message of support to the hotels that TUI works with, pointing out that "there is room for everyone." Speaking for Greek hoteliers, the president of the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels Alexandros Vasilikos told ANA that the arrival of visitors from abroad "does not mean that hotels will be saved". "The situation is very bad and nothing is comparable to any previous year," he added. The wager, according to Vasilikos, is to preserve the serious image built over the previous period with respect to managing the pandemic, in order to capitalize on this in the future. Addressing the members of the chamber, he repeated the advice "we open and remain careful". He said hotels had made use of a platform outlining the health protocols for hotels and that the sector was geared toward protecting the health of both guests and staff."Each hotelier opens with difficulties and with a higher operational cost but with a sense of their obligation. An entire community revolves around a hotel," Vasilikos noted. The head of the Athens Hoteliers Union Evgenios Vasilikos revealed that occupancy rates after the sector reopened on June 15 remained lower than expected, ranging between 10-20 pct, while advance bookings for July and August presaged a difficult winter ahead. He noted that many hotels were waiting to reopen in September, depending on the support announced by the central government, while especially year-round hotels were calling for additional support measures.

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Singapore to resume tourism businesses in phased manner from July 1

Singapore, June 28 (ANI): The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) said on Sunday that tourism businesses in Singapore will be permitted to resume operations in a phased manner from July 1, beginning with 13 attractions, Xinhua news agency reported. The authority said this is part of the resumption of activities in Phase 2 after the Circuit Breaker, which was imposed by the Singaporean government from April 7 to June 1 to reduce COVID-19 transmission. The STB asked attractions and tour operators to submit their reopening proposals, including safe management measures that are tailored to reduce the COVID-19 transmission risks of each attraction or tour, to it for assessment. It said operators must demonstrate effective implementation of safe management measures to provide a safe environment for customers and workers, and may resume operations only after receiving approval from the Ministry of Trade and Industry. The STB said that the reopening proposals submitted by the 13 attractions have been carefully assessed by the MTI and the STB. (ANI)

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Allow local tourists to visit Pahalgam: Tourism bodies

Various stake holders related to Pahalgam tourism on Sunday requested the administration to allow the local tourists from other districts to visit Pahalgam so that local businesses could manage their survival due to COVID-19 aftermath. The sentiment was raised in a meeting held by the Tourism Trade fraternity with the local Pahalgam Hoteliers, Tourist Taxi Operators, Adventure Operators, Pony Wallas and other tourism allied service providers of Pahalgam, here at Pahalgma. The tourism trade representatives requested that since there are no tourists coming from outside, it would be good if administration would allow locals to visit Pahalgam so that local tourism stake holders of Pahalgam could manage their survival. The representatives were informed that J&K Tourism department and the stake holders are trying their best to see that tourism returns to Kashmir as early as possible and new SOPs are laid down by the UT administration to facilitate the arrival of the tourists. The Pahalgam Trade representatives were briefed about following all new norms such as physical distancing of six feet, use of sanitisers regularly and sanitising of vehicles and pony saddles on daily basis The meeting was also attended by Bilal Ahmad Mir, AD Tourism Pahalgam and Social environmentalist Mushtaq Pahalgami. Those who briefed the Pahalgam Trade were Mir Anwar, President TASK, Manzoor Pakhtoon, Chairman JKTA, Nasir Shah, Chairman PILTOF &Akram Siah, Chairman TTIG. Others who also attended the briefing were Abdul Wahid Malik, Showkat Pakhtoon, Ali Mohd Shangloo& VP Epoch Marketing Aijaz Wani.

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Hawaii: Tourism To Resume In August With Pre-Arrival COVID-19 Testing Program

Finally, some good news for tourism out of Hawaii. The Governor announced that starting August 1st, travelers arriving in Hawaii with a negative COVID-19 test will be able to avoid the mandatory 14-day quarantine that has brought tourism to a halt in the islands. The decision comes at a time when visitor arrivals are barely a trickle. According to reports, only 300-400 people are arriving in Hawaii each day, compared to the usual 35,000. Here’s what you need to know about the new rules: 1. The Test Must Be Taken No More Than 72 Hours Prior to Arrival Travelers to Hawaii will have to obtain a negative test for coronavirus no more than 72 hours prior to arrival. The program is said to mimic what Alaska is doing, which we covered in detail earlier this month. But unlike Alaska, which provides a testing-on-arrival option, Hawaii will require all arriving passengers to have completed one at their destination of origin. Officials said it “wasn’t practical” for the islands to offer testing on arrival. Details of the exact paperwork you’ll need when landing in Hawaii is forthcoming. 2. Pre-Testing Will Be Combined With Other Measures In addition to requiring a negative COVID-19 test, the State will also use thermal cameras at the airports to detect anyone with a fever, as well as focus on contract tracing should infections occur. Officials were candid about the risks involved, but said these protocols will help protect Hawaii and allow the islands to “live with the virus.” “For the state of Hawaii, we have approximately 240,000 unemployed people,” Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell said. “We’re not going to see a return to a level of employment that we had before unless we open up to visitors.” Concerns and Questions Over Resuming Tourism Remain This news is no doubt welcomed by many in the islands who own businesses that depend on tourism. But, there’s also still concern amongst officials and residents that re-opening tourism to the mainland - which is currently undergoing big spikes of the virus - could end up re-infecting the islands. Another potential problem is that those without a negative test will still be allowed to fly to the island - they would just have to abide by the 14-day quarantine. So, it stands to reason that people who received a negative test 72 hours prior to departure will be flying in the same airplane as those who have not, which obviously presents a risk of infection without knowing. In a worst case scenario, someone could be infected between the time they take the test (whether it’s on the airplane or at the store before they leave) and the time they arrive in Hawaii, and could then be set free without a quarantine period. But, as of now, that mandatory 14-day quarantine period is set to expire at the end of July, so it’s possible Hawaii will only allow passengers who have taken a test, or that they will extend those guidelines. This will all play out in the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned for new stories and updates. If you’re inclined to book a flight, you should feel free to do so. Just be sure the cancellation policy is in your favor, given how quickly things can change

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