News

Chinese tourist sites packed as country comes out of lockdown

Large numbers of people flocked to popular tourists sites and major cities across China over the country's holiday weekend, despite warnings from health authorities that the risk posed by the coronavirus pandemic remains far from over. Images from the Huangshan mountain park in Anhui province on Saturday April 4 showed thousands of people crammed together, many wearing face masks, eager to experience the great outdoors after months of travel restrictions and strict lockdown measures. Such was the rush to get into the popular tourist spot, that at 7.48 a.m., authorities took the unusual step of issuing a notice declaring that the park had reached its 20,000 person daily capacity, and would not be accepting any more visitors, according to state media Global Times. Meanwhile in Shanghai, the famous Bund waterfront was once again packed with shoppers and tourists, after weeks of being near deserted. Many of the city's restaurants that were shuttered only days ago also appeared to be doing a brisk trade, with several requiring reservations to enter. A similar story played out in the capital Beijing, with locals flocking to the city's parks and open spaces. The abrupt return to apparent normality comes more than three months after the virus was first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan. The outbreak, which has since spread around the world infecting more than a million people, saw much of China brought to a near standstill in an effort to contain transmissions. At its peak, thousands of new cases were recorded in China everyday. However, in recent weeks the rate of infection has slowed significantly. On Monday, China reported just 39 new cases, all but one of which were imported. To date, China has recorded 82,641 cases and 3,335 deaths. But while the government is slowly relaxing restrictions, Chinese health experts have urged the public to continue to practice caution. Zeng Guang, chief epidemiologist with the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told the Health Times on Thursday that China had not seen the end of the epidemic. "China is not near the end, but has entered a new stage. With the global epidemic raging, China has not reached the end," he said. With the number of new infections in China reportedly falling, the government has tentatively begun efforts to restart the country's manufacturing and service industries. The collapse in activity affected every sector of the world's second biggest economy, as the epidemic and draconian measures designed to contain it delivered an unprecedented shock that is now being replicated around the world. In recent weeks, however, there have been signs that the government has been wary of opening up too quickly and sparking a second wave of infections in the country. Plans to re-open movie cinemas were canceled in late March, less than two weeks after they had been told to restart, according to state media. While numerous tourist attractions in Shanghai were open for just 10 days before they were shut again on March 31. Concerns around whether China is relaxing its coronavirus restrictions too soon have led Hong Kong experts and authorities to warn of the possibility of a "third wave" of infections in the city. Speaking to local journalists Sunday, Hong Kong epidemiologist Yuen Kwok-yung said that there could be a "new wave" of cases in mainland China, off the back of imported infections from Europe and the US. "So in Hong Kong, we might have a third wave of cases coming from the mainland after a second wave ...The epidemic is still serious in the society. At this stage, it is still not optimistic. What worries me the most is inadequate testing on patients with mild symptoms, which prevents us from cutting off the chain of transmission," he said. The global financial hub is still trying to contain a second wave of imported cases after returning citizens and expatriates from Europe and the United Kingdom led to a new outbreak in late March. In just under two weeks, the number of local infections has risen from 317 to almost 900. The convenor of Hong Kong's Executive Council, Bernard Chan, told public broadcaster RTHK Sunday that the city's government still had stricter measures it could bring in to contain the coronavirus epidemic. Such measures could include restricting restaurants to "take-out only" or even a citywide lockdown. "It could also risk spreading panic but we have to accept that it may be necessary if the alternative is the risk of something worse," he said.

Read more

Tourism body IATO seeks financial relief package for battered sector

New Delhi: The Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) on Sunday urged the government to provide relief to the tourism industry as it has experienced heavy losses due to the coronavirus pandemic and the survival of the sector is at stake. While IATO said it fully supports the lockdown, the tourism industry has suffered heavy losses amid zero cash flow. This has put the survival of entire industry in question, it said in a statement. "To tide over the crisis, IATO is seeking scrapping of GST in entirety for period of one year for all outbound, inbound and domestic bookings," it said. The tourism industry also wants advances paid to hotels, airlines and to state governments for luxury trains, wildlife safaris and road tax to be entirely refunded, IATO said. The industry is also seeking "financial bailout package to defray the salaries of the employees and operational cost of office based on the turnover of the company in last financial year", it added. A 9-to-12 months deferment (without any interest) on all principle and interest payments on bank loans and doubling overdrafts bringing in liquidity for allowing business continuity is also required, IATO said. Further, a 5-year tax holiday for tour operators who are registered under GST/shop and establishment norms prior to March 15, 2020 and employers and employees contribution towards PF payments and TDS for the next 1 year should be subsidised by the government, it added. IATO President Pronab Sarkar said: "This financial assistance is very much needed because of governments directives both by the Centre and state government, not to lay off staff and to pay full salary to all their employees." Under the present situation of zero business, "we are not certain how long this situation shall continue and when are we going to revive our business," he added. IATO also said when the situation improves, free visa for all tourists for 12 months along with free entry to ASI monuments for one year for all foreign tourists should be allowed.

Read more

Online Conference to address tourism challenges through coronavirus pandemic

A free online conference is set to bring together industry leaders to discuss the unprecedented economic circumstances caused by the Covid-19 outbreak, and what can be done collectively to rebuild confidence. Created by Bench Events and titled Hospitality Tomorrow, the virtual conference will take place on 7th April from 8pm to midnight (AEST) and registration is free of charge for all participants. An optional donation will be requested to selected charities helping out those in the hospitality industry, suffering from the worst effects of the coronavirus. Speakers for the event include US Travel Association Chief Executive. Roger Dow; resilience consultant Paul Stoltz; Capital Economics founder and Chairman Roger Bootle; and Kenyan politician Najib Balala. The conference agenda will cover the economics of coronavirus, how to survive the greatest adversity of our time, the nine essential leadership behaviours needed in a crisis, the outlook to recovery, how to capitalise on the upturn when it comes, and the new post-Covid-19 reality. The plenary debates will be complemented by more focused roundtables, drilling into the detail of specific subjects. People joining remotely will be able to ask questions and post comments in real time using a live chat facility. Other activities popular at Bench Events’ regular conferences will also be replicated online, including speed networking, which will give participants a series of three-minute one-on-one video calls with other delegates. There will also be an online exhibition for attendees to browse through virtual exhibition booths and engage in a live video conversation with a representative of the exhibitor. Introducing the conference, Jonathan Worsley, founder and Chairman of Bench Events, stated “devastating is the word most governments are using to describe the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on society and the economy. “The sector that stands to suffer the most is travel and hospitality. “Today, nothing is certain, except that our world will never be the same again. We need business leaders to come together to discuss the best strategies to cope with the immediate crisis and to plan how to capitalise on the recovery when it comes. That is what Hospitality Tomorrow will do.”

Read more

Indian Railways preparing action plan to resume train services at the end of lockdown

On Saturday, an official of the Indian Railways said in statement that no confirmed decision has been made about the re-starting of train services, but soon the authorities will come up with an action plan. Meanwhile, the railway zones are getting the action plans ready for restoring railway services from April 15. All passenger train services in India have remained stalled ever since the announcement for total lockdown for 21-days was made by PM Narendra Modi in order to control the outbreak of Coronavirus. Reportedly, train services will be restarted after the Railway Board grants specific approval for every passenger train. The Railway Board has to be given suggestions for phase-wise planning. The decision regarding the matter of resuming train services was taken in a video conference meeting held recently, chaired by Railway Minister, Piyush Goyal with the Chairman of Railway Board. However, train services will only be resumed after the Central government and the Group of Ministers (GoM) formed to handle this issue, grant their consent. News has it that all the 17 zones of the railways are making plans to identify trains and restart services considering the availability of rakes. According to the latest reports, railways may also perform thermal screening on all passengers and abide by the rules prescribed by the government. On the other hand, senior railway officials have been quoted stating that no fresh orders from the government have been received for resuming railway services from April 15 as the trains were cancelled only till April 14. A solid action plan will only be sent to all the railway zones at the end of this week. For the first time in its history, the Indian Railways had stalled 13523 trains for 21 days post the announcement of nation0wide lockdown on March 24, Tuesday. Only goods trains were permitted to run for carrying essential goods from one destination to another.

Read more

Bookings closed for domestic, international travel till Apr 30: Air India

National carrier Air India on Friday stopped advance bookings for all flights till April 30 even as the lockdown is in effect till April 14. “Air India bookings are now closed till April 30. We are awaiting a decision post April 14, “ an Air India official said. To be sure, bookings for both domestic and international flights of only Air India have been stopped while private airlines continue to take advance bookings from April 15 onward. “Air India is a commercial organisation and needs to consider scenarios in case of advance books and cancellations in case the lockdown is extended. We don’t even know right now if the lockdown will be lifted phase wise or not. For now we are going to wait till April 14 and in case the lockdown is not extended bookings can begin the same day,” a senior government official said requesting anonymity. All modes of conveyance, including rail traffic, road and air transport, have been suspended after the lockdown came into effect. Initially, international flights were suspended for a week from March 22 but later extended until April 15 coinciding with the lockdown. Domestic flights were suspended from the day the lockdown started on March 25. Centre had dismissed the reports that claimed that the lockdown will be extended. This also comes a day after union civil aviation minister Hardeep Puri had said India will consider resuming international flight operations on a case-by-case basis from April 15. Airlines are open to start advance bookings as per their own discretion and contingency plan, the minister had said. “The ministry is proceeding on the understanding that the lockdown is in place till April 15. There is no directive from the ministry about the contingency planning of airlines. But, as an eternal optimist, I am hoping that on April 15, flights can at least start, if not all, then in a calibrated manner. But that is a decision that we still need to take,” Puri had said Thursday. At present advance booking for trains from April 15 onward are also open. “Certain media reports have claimed that Railways has started reservation for post-lockdown period. It is to clarify that reservation for journeys post April 14 was never stopped and is not related to any new announcement,” the ministry of railways said in a statement.

Read more

Indian Railways, Airlines And Hotel Chains Change Their Refund Policies

Airlines refund and cancellation policies: Indigo has introduced a “Plan B” to provide relief to its customers. According to Indigo, “With Plan B, you can change the time and/or date of your flight or cancel your booking and quickly process refunds at no additional costs.” SpiceJet through its website informed all the passengers about their air travel policies amidst coronavirus scare. For customers having a flight from 25th March, 2020 till 14th March, 2020 their bookings will be automatically cancelled with zero cancellation fee and a credit shell will be created for the the same. The credit shell can be used to make another booking for the same passenger(s) for travel on or before 28th February, 2021 on their website www.spicejet.com. GoAir suspended its international travel operations and opened the offer for its passengers to reschedule their flight without an extra fee. The offer applies to all those who planned a travel between March 8 and April 30 and want to reschedule 14 days prior to their flight departure. Air India has stopped booking till the end of April.This can be an indicator to the fact that the PM and his Council of Ministers plan to extend the national lockdown. However, private airlines will continue providing air services, starting from April 15. Indian Railways decided to cancel all train services in the wake of COVID-19. To avoid crowding of stations, Indian railways relaxed its ticket refund policy. Passengers cancelling their ticket scheduled between March 21 to April 15 can file for a refund up to 30 days from the date of journey. If a ticket scheduled between March 21 to April 15 is cancelled by Indian Railways, passengers can claim for a refund across counters up to 45 days from the date of journey. In addition to this, Indian Railways made an effort to start Special parcel trains to ensure uninterrupted flow of essential items like food and medicines. It would help e-commerce companies to transport its items as well. Indian railways has also converted its coaches into isolation wards for COVID-19 patients. The first sample ward is ready and many more such isolation wards would be added soon. This will reduce the pressure on hospitals to accommodate COVID patients if the number of people infected explodes. Hilton Hotels made some changes in their existing modification and cancellation policies to navigate their guests through this situation. They are providing maximum flexibility due to travel ban. All individual reservations – even those described as “non-cancellable or non-refundable”- that are scheduled for arrival on or before June 30, 2020 can be changed or cancelled at no charge, up to 24 hours before your scheduled arrival. Marriott Hotels through their official website explained how well being of their guests is of paramount importance. For all Marriott hotels, they are applying the following policies: For guests with existing reservations for any future arrival date, including reservations with pre-paid rates that are typically more restrictive, they will allow full changes or cancellation without a charge up to 24 hours prior to arrival, as long as the change or cancellation is made by April 30, 2020. Please note that any changes to existing reservations will be subject to availability and any rate differences. For guests making new reservations for any future arrival date, including reservations with pre-paid rates, between today and April 30, 2020, they will allow the reservation to be changed or cancelled at no charge up to 24 hours before your scheduled arrival date. Please note that changes to the reservation will be subject to availability and any rate differences.

Read more