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COVID-19 lockdown: Tourism ministry extends validity of approval, classification of hotels till June end

Due to the postponement of inspection work and application scrutiny during the lockdown period, it has decided to allow six months' relaxation or extension to all categories of tour operators. The tourism ministry on Tuesday said it was extending the validity period of approvals and classification of hotels and other accommodation units till June 30. The ministry classifies hotels under the star rating system to conform to the expected standards for different classes of tourists. The certification is valid for a period of five years. “Considering the current situation when the hospitality industry is going through a very difficult time in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown that has severely impacted the accommodation sector, it has been decided that validity of approval or certifications of hotels and other accommodation units whose project approvals and classification have expired are deemed to be extended till June 30,” the ministry said in a statement. Due to the postponement of inspection work and application scrutiny during the lockdown period, it has decided to allow six months’ relaxation or extension to all categories of tour operators for their approval with the ministry. However, the relaxations are subject to certain conditions that include that the previous approval expires during the lockdown period.

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Dubai Tourism outlines steps for post-pandemic recovery plan

Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) held a virtual meeting with several entities including hospitality and airline partners to discuss the post-Covid-19 recovery strategy for the emirate’s tourism sector. On May 25, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Crown Prince and chairman of the Executive Council, announced a comprehensive plan to resume business activities from May 27 that includes the reopening of cinemas, gyms and several entertainment establishments. Additionally, there would be no restrictions on movement of individuals from 6am-11pm. The Dubai Tourism meeting focused on joint initiatives and responses that would be made as the city gradually resumes its activities including measures undertaken to prevent the spread of the virus as the city gradually opens up once again. The meeting was led by Helal Saeed Almarri, the director general of Dubai Tourism, and was attended by representatives from a broad range of hospitality and aviation partners including Jumeirah, Emaar Hospitality Group, Marriott International, Millennium, Accor, JA Resorts and Hotels, Kerzner International, Al Habtoor Group, Wasl and Rotana, in addition to aviation sector players like Emirates, flydubai and Dubai International Airport, reported Dubai Media Office. “As we look ahead to a gradual reopening of tourism, we will focus on the key elements that have ensured the industry’s success over the past decade – creating unique value and delivering an uncompromised guest experience. To achieve this, we rely on the solidarity of our stakeholders who have always played a pivotal role. We hope they will continue to lead from the front in positioning Dubai as a must-visit destination,” said Almarri. “It must be emphasised that the health and safety of our residents and guests will always remain our top priority as we continue to work with the industry and our government partners not just during this critical period but beyond, to develop innovative approaches, real-time responses, and proactive yet prudent initiatives to ensure that Dubai remains at the forefront of the world’s leading destinations in line with our strategy.” The meeting discussed ongoing marketing and communication campaigns such as the #TillWeMeetAgain digital activation and also steps being taken to reopen hotels and encourage domestic demand. The businesses reiterated their support to Dubai Tourism to kick-start the sector through the collaborative development of promotional programmes and customised packages. “As an international chain that enjoys a longstanding relationship with Dubai, Marriott is committed to supporting the industry’s efforts to regain momentum by rolling out our own initiatives and packages to attract visitors to Dubai when the time is safe for travel,” said Neal Jones, chief sales and marketing officer, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Marriott International. In order to instill confidence among travellers visiting Dubai, the members discussed precautionary measures implemented at a citywide level across specific sectors including tourism which represent critical touchpoints for visitors during their stay. One of the key priorities agreed at the meeting was to emphasise the safety and security that Dubai provides, and the clear stringent health and safety protocols issued by the Dubai Health Authority based on international standards and best practices aimed at containing the contagion. The meeting also discussed the mechanism to ensure adherence to the guidelines, practical solutions to scan and monitor passengers at Dubai International Airport and the effective management of contact tracing in compliance with privacy standards, following the resumption of air travel. “Dubai International Airport is prepared to welcome visitors as soon as airports around the word start reopening and pave the way for a phased resumption of air services. As health and hygiene standards will play an influential role in encouraging people to travel, we have put in place a set of health and safety protocols at our airports including all necessary quarantine arrangements and the implementation of sanitisation and disinfection measures to reassure tourists that Dubai is one of the safest destinations to visit. We will also continue to receive incoming flights from select destinations, operate cargo flights, as well as flights to repatriate expatriates and guests to their home destinations,” said Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports. “Dubai with its wide experience in successfully dealing with challenging situations is capable of restoring tourism momentum and paving the way for the hospitality sector to returns to its previous state. This is also a view shared by our international hospitality partners who have placed great faith in Dubai’s resilience during tough times, as well as in its world-class healthcare system and the range of preventive measures taken across the city such as the effective and regular sanitisation and sterilisation programmes, that will help highlight Dubai as one of the world’s safest destinations,” said Mohammed Al Habtoor, vice chairman and CEO, Al Habtoor Group. The participants at the meeting agreed that the decision to postpone Expo2020 to next year was the right decision in light of the pandemic. “It is imperative in these unexpected times to harness our collective strengths and design effective solutions that ensure Dubai’s prominence on the global tourism industry stage. Together we can redefine the future of travel,” Almarri added. Neighbouring emirate Abu Dhabi’s tourism body – the Department of Culture and Tourism (DCT) – Abu Dhabi – also recently issued a list of guidelines that all hotels in the capital must adhere to before reopening.

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Indian Railways’ Tirupati railway station set to be world-class

Indian Railways’ Tirupati railway station set to be world-class! Work on the re-development of Tirupati Railway Station in Andhra Pradesh is about to start! The Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) recently successfully conducted an online pre-bid meeting for the Tirupati Railway Station, which was attended by several prospective developers including GMR, Oberoi and Ambience. The station is estimated to be re-developed at a cost of Rs 510 crore and it would be built through the public-private partnership (PPP) mode on the Design, Build, Finance, Operate, Transfer (Model). The cost of the Tirupati station development portion is Rs 230 crore. According to the proposed plan, the station would have areas like administrative areas, security and station operation staff area and miscellaneous technical area. Indian Railways aims to re-develop the Tirupati station within three years, and the tenders would be opened in mid-June. The re-developed Tirupati Railway Station would also be equipped with amenities like hospitality, executive lounge, food court and dormitories. The Vice-Chairman of RLDA Ved Parkash Dudeja said that with the city’s rich cultural heritage and the numerous educational institutions present, the re-development of the station would facilitate commercial development and boost tourism. Tirupati, called the ‘Best Heritage City’ is known for being a Vaishnavite pilgrimage destination as the shrine of Tirumala Venkatesh Temple welcomes lakhs of visitors every year to the city. Tirupati Railways Station: Salient features 1.The station will be re-developed in an area of 3 acres of vacant land which belongs to the Railways. Built based on an airport model, the station will have separate entry and exit points and also consist of separate departure and arrival halls. There will also be designated drop off and pick up points outside the station. 2. The building will be a green one, with a sustainable and efficient energy design, maximum use of natural light and ventilation. 3. Air space and land parcels would be developed into commercial spaces for retail and revenue generation purposes. 4.The station would be differently abled-friendly, having amenities like access ramps, elevators and tactile flooring. 5. The developer would be bound to operate and maintain the station for a concession period of 60 years before it can be transferred.

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Day 2 of domestic flights: 325 departures till 5 pm

New Delhi: Airports across the country handled 325 departures and 283 arrivals with 41,673 passengers till 5 pm on Tuesday even as flight cancellations continued with passengers facing difficulties. Moreover, domestic operations resumed in Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday, a day after the restart of air travel across India. West Bengal was the only state where no domestic services took place. As major airports like Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad have a severe cap on the number of fights they can handle, cancellations continued on Tuesday. Just like Monday, a section of passengers reached their airports on Tuesday only to be informed that their flights have been cancelled. Many people vented their ire on social media. "Smooth operations of domestic civil aviation operation. Our airports have handled 325 departures & 283 arrivals with 41,673 passengers till 5pm on 26 May 2020, the second day after recommencement of domestic flight," Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Tuesday. "Final report for the day will be prepared after details come in at midnight," he added. Chennai airport was scheduled to handle only 20 arrivals and departures each on Tuesday, said senior government officials, even though Puri on Sunday night said that it can handle up to 25 arrivals per day and has no limit on the number of departures. Even in Andhra Pradesh, where domestic services resumed on Tuesday, Vijayawada and Vizag airports were scheduled to handle just eight flights each during the day, officials said. On Sunday night, the central government had said these two airports can handle up to 20 per cent of the pre-lockdown flights from Tuesday onwards. The Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, which is India's largest, was scheduled to handle around 277 flights on Tuesday, the officials said, adding that around 25 flights were cancelled during the day. On May 23, the government officials had said they expected Delhi airport to handle around 380 flights per day from May 25 onwards. Mumbai airport, India's second busiest airport, handled just 41 flights on Tuesday. On Monday, it had handled 47 flights. On Sunday night, the central government had clarified that Mumbai will handle a maximum of 50 flights per day from Monday. Aarti Chaddha, a member of Aam Aadmi Party's social media team, had booked a seat on Tuesday's Mumbai-Chandigarh flight of IndiGo for her mother who had been stranded in Mumbai for the last two months due to the lockdown. This flight was cancelled and when Chaddha asked IndiGo about it on Twitter, the airline responded the flight has been "impacted" due to the restrictions imposed by the Maharashtra government. She said on Twitter on Tuesday, "Can we get the list of 25 flights listed to take off from Mumbai? Airlines are booking tickets, not sending cancellation messages, cancelling last minute, deducting the money." West Bengal would be resuming domestic flights from Thursday. However, its Kolkata and Bagdogra airports will handle only 20 flights each per day. On Sunday night, the central government had announced that Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal will not handle any domestic flights on Monday and major airports like Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad will see reduced operations from Monday onwards. West Bengal, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu had expressed reluctance in resuming domestic flights from Monday due to rising number of COVID-19 cases. The officials said the first flight on Tuesday to Vijayawada landed from Bengaluru at 6.55 am, carrying 79 passengers. The Spicejet flight returned to Bengaluru with 68 passengers, they added. At the Vizag airport, the first flight landed from Bengaluru at 7 am. "At Vijayawada, four flights are of IndiGo, two each are of SpiceJet and Air India," they added. Visakhapatnam airport is scheduled to handle eight flights on Wednesday, the officials mentioned. After a two-month suspension due to the coronavirus pandemic, domestic flights resumed in India on Monday with 428 flights carrying 30,550 passengers to their destinations. Around 630 flights were cancelled. Thousands of passengers had reached airports early in the morning on Monday only to be told by the staff of airlines that some of their flights have been cancelled causing hardship to them. Gripped by anxiety and uncertainty, some came from faraway towns and were on the road for several hours wanting to catch the first flight to their respective states. The varied COVID-19 quarantine and self-isolation rules in states and also the Union Health Ministry guidelines for arriving travellers also compounded their travel woes. The airlines, which were allowed to operate one-third of their pre-lockdown domestic services from May 25, had to further truncate their flight schedules on Sunday leading to cancellations. All carriers except GoAir operated their flights on Monday and Tuesday.

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630 flights cancelled on first day

New Delhi, May 25 The first day of the resumption of domestic commercial flights in the country had its fare share of challenges, leading to chaos at almost all major airports as nearly 630 flights were cancelled due to states’ restrictions and airline operational issues. The confusion was further compounded by a variety of quarantine protocols by state governments, leaving several flyers high and dry. The government had on May 21 announced the resumption of domestic flights from May 25 after a gap of nearly two months in the wake of the Covid-induced nationwide lockdown. The two busiest airports Delhi and Mumbai witnessed cancellation of nearly 80 and 20 flights, respectively. Officials at Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi, said the cancellations were mostly on account of some states, including West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh, refusing to allow flight operations and also because of some operational issues like low load factor faced by airline operators. “Around 80 flights to and from Delhi have been cancelled. The IGI airport was scheduled to handle a total of 125 departures and 118 arrivals today,” an official said. The Mumbai airport, the country’s second busiest airport after Delhi, was supposed to initially handle 175 flights daily. It curtailed them to 50 yesterday, and today further cancelled 20 flights. Andhra Pradesh did not allow flight operations today; it will begin services from tomorrow while West Bengal will resume them from May 28. The two states have two airports each. Smaller airports too had their share of cancellations, and had passengers complaining that they were not informed until they arrived at airports. Air India, in particular, has received criticism on social media for lack of communication with its passengers. The airline, however, maintained that it could not disclose cancellations until two hours before the flight departure. But with the new SOPs dictating that passengers should arrive at least two hours before their flight, this means many turned up at the airport only to find out that there would be no flight. Meanwhile, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri hailed the resumption of air travel by tweeting a live image of air traffic in the skies. “Indians soar in the skies again! A beautiful live capture from #flightradar24 shows how our skies look busy again as domestic civil aviation recommences in India from today,” he said.

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Spain to reopen to foreign tourists from July

Spain will reopen its borders to foreign tourists from July, the country’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced on Saturday. “As you know, Spain receives more than 80 million visitors a year. I am announcing that from July, Spain will reopen for foreign tourism in conditions of safety,” Sanchez said, pledging the safety of both locals and visitors amid the Coronavirus pandemic. He added that the country “needs tourism, and tourism needs safety in both origin and destination,” as well as that the government had been planing the reopening for weeks. Although the country is among the European nations worst-hit by the pandemic, the Spanish PM called on the citizens to begin planning domestic holidays, and the businesses to prepare for the reopening. Sanchez’ move came amid protests by the country’s far-right Vox party, which accused the government of imposing “draconian measures” to contain the pandemic that led to unemployment and “misery”. The country has been under strict lockdown since March 14, and as of publication, it has recorded more than 282,000 confirmed Covid-19 cases and over 28,000 deaths. On Monday, lockdown measures in Barcelona and Madrid, the two cities worst-hit by the pandemic, were eased, and the Spanish Tourism Minister Reyes Maroto confirmed that foreign tourists would be allowed to book vacations in the country as of July. In an interview with local radio station Onda Cero, Maroto said that the government expects the two-week quarantine measure imposed on overseas travellers “will be suspended by that time”.

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