MADRID: The top solutions for accelerating the recovery of tourism have been celebrated in the ‘Healing Solutions for Tourism’ Challenge. Launched by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) with the support of the World Health Organization (WHO) and with the aim of identifying start-ups with ready-to-implement ideas for mitigating the impact of COVID-19 on the sector, the initiative attracted more than 1,000 applicants from 100 countries. Tourism has been among the hardest hit of all major economic sectors. To rebuild confidence in travelling and to enhance tourism’s contribution to wider societal recovery, UNWTO called on innovators to share their ideas for…
Author: holidayweekly
BEIJING: In what appears to be the clearest sign yet of the coronavirus outbreak having abated in China, where it first emerged late last year, millions of Chinese are travelling within the country for the May Day holidays. Over 50 million trips were made in the first two days of the five-day holiday, state media reports said, adding that an estimated 90 million trips are expected to be completed by the end of holidays on Tuesday. Of the 50 million trips, nearly 23 million domestic tourist trips were made by Friday, the first day of the holiday, with the domestic…
DUBAI: The Middle East’s biggest airlines, Emirates & Etihad have seen a drastic decline in their flight operations due to the coronavirus. This has exponentially decreased their profits and therefore, their top executives have estimated that the situation would not normalize until 2023. Emirates & Etihad are one of the emerging & top Airlines in the world. Will they be able to sustain during the pandemic? Top executives of Emirates and Etihad, two of the Middle East’s biggest airlines, have said passenger demand may not return to pre-coronavirus crisis levels until 2023. About 85 percent of the world’s airlines could…
WRITTEN BY CH. FAISAL MAHMOOD Readers will recall that throughout the past forty plus years, every week, in this space, on this page, we have proactively drawn attention to the various national institutions in our Tourism Industry and to their work, efforts, achievements and potentials. One such institution, rather the major such institution being PIA, we have often addressed its doings, problems, abilities, efforts and achievements. Putting of PIA under the Essential Services Act 1952 for six months by the government of Pakistan has come under heavy criticism from employees’ unions and so-called pro-labour political parties. For last many years,…
ISLAMABAD: A day after the government announced to repatriate students from the Chinese city of Wuhan, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez on Saturday confirmed that a special flight of the national flag carrier will bring back the stranded nationals on May 18. According to Hafeez, some 250 students will be brought back on the first flight which will land in Islamabad. The schedule for three more flights will be announced next week, he added. The announcement was earlier made by Special Assistant to Prime Minister for Overseas Pakistani Syed Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari on Twitter. “I’m very happy for…
IATA is opposing any regulation that would require airlines to leave empty seats between passengers, arguing that such a measure would severely affect operators’ economic prospects and yet deliver no “significant improvement in safety” for travellers. Keeping middle seats empty on narrow bodies with standard 3-3 cabin layouts will reduce capacity by a third, while the practice will typically lead to a 40% capacity reduction on long-haul jets, said IATA Chief Economist Brian Pearce during a media briefing on 5 May. On regional jets and turboprops, typically featuring 2-2 cabin layouts the measure would halve capacity. Overall, Pearce says, airlines…
ISLAMABAD: A day after the government announced to repatriate students from the Chinese city of Wuhan, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez on Saturday confirmed that a special flight of the national flag carrier will bring back the stranded nationals on May 18. According to Hafeez, some 250 students will be brought back on the first flight which will land in Islamabad. The schedule for three more flights will be announced next week, he added. The announcement was earlier made by Special Assistant to Prime Minister for Overseas Pakistani Syed Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari on Twitter. “I’m very happy for…
AMSTERDAM: Missing restaurants while social distancing? You’re not alone. One restaurant in the Netherlands, though, has found a solution. [huge_it_slider id=”542″] Mediamatic ETEN, a restaurant in Amsterdam, is offering a four-course vegetarian menu for diners, served to guests while they sit in their own personal quarantine greenhouses. Right now, the trial service is only being offered to family and friends of staff, and all upcoming reservations are sold out, according to the restaurant’s website. Still, as many places begin to loosen restrictions on social distancing, this type of greenhouse dining could take off. “It’s super cozy, it’s really cozy, it’s…
During the Labor Day holiday that ran from May 1 to May 5, China recorded 115 million tourist trips domestically, bringing in tourism revenue of 47.56 billion yuan ($6.79 billion), according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. That’s a 59.58% drop from the 117.67 billion yuan recorded for last year’s Labor Day holiday, which was one day shorter, running from May 1 to May 4, according to figures disclosed by the ministry. Last year, the country recorded 195 million visits. Shanghai, Sichuan province’s capital Chengdu and Sanya city on Hainan Island were among the three most popular destinations, according…
AMSTERDAM: Carnival Corp. won’t be bringing any of its cruise ships to Alaska this season. That’s following Wednesday’s announcement that its subsidiaries Princess Cruises and Holland America Line have canceled all remaining Alaska voyages for 2020. Carnival Cruise Line also canceled its brand of cruises earlier this week. The absence of Carnival-owned cruise lines removes the largest industry player from Alaska this year. Nearly 80% of sailings to Alaska for the 2020 season have been called off, according to Tourism Management Best Practices, a Juneau-based trade group. That’s a loss of 955,574 cruise passengers to the state, the group said.…