GENEVA: Covid-19 vaccine inequity will have a lasting and profound impact on socio-economic recovery in low- and lower-middle income countries without urgent action to boost supply and assure equitable access for every country, including through dose sharing, a report said. An acceleration in scaling up manufacturing and sharing enough vaccine doses with low-income countries could have added $38 billion to their GDP forecast for 2021 if they had similar vaccination rates as high income countries, according to the Global Dashboard on Covid-19 Vaccine Equity released today by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the…
Author: holidayweekly
The Canadian federal government announced today the cruise ship ban will end on November 1, 2021, which was previously slated to continue through February 28, 2022. But cruise ship operators are required to fully comply with public health requirements. “As Canadians have done their part to reduce the spread of COVID-19, our government continues to work hard to safely restart our economy and build back better,” said Omar Alghabra, Canada’s federal Minister of Transport, in a statement. “We will welcome cruise ships, an important part of our tourism sector back in Canadian waters for the 2022 season.” Cruise ships have…
The United Nations culture agency, which was considering declaring Venice an imperilled world heritage site, has hailed Italy’s ban on big cruise ships in the heart of the lagoon city. Unesco Director-General Audrey Azoulay tweeted that the Italian government’s Tuesday decision to deny access to the mammoth liners as of August 1 is “very good news and an important step that significantly contributes to the safeguarding of this unique heritage site”. Starting next month, ships over a certain size or weight or surpassing specific pollution levels can no longer ply the Giudecca Canal, a major sea artery in Venice, or…
ISLAMABAD: The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) director general informed the Senate’s Aviation Committee on Thursday that a plan to introduce helicopter service for tourists is on the anvil. PPP Senator Sherry Rehman, a member of the committee, asked him why a helicopter facility was not being introduced to promote tourism, to which the latter replied that a plan in this regard is in the pipeline. CAA DG Khaqan Murtaza informed that flights to Swat’s Saidu Sharif airport were suspended due to lack of the required number of passengers. He said a mere six passengers traveled on a flight to Swat,…
DOHA: Qatar is adding 105 new hotels and hotel apartments to its already extensive portfolio of properties, as the country gears up to host the Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022. The new properties will broaden Qatar’s appeal to a range of travelers and enhance the visitor experience, as Qatar Tourism continues its mission to turn the country into a world-leading destination. One recent hotel opening is the Banyan Tree Doha, a five-star luxury property, elegantly designed by renowned interior designer Jacques Garcia. Hotel openings on this year’s horizon include, for example, the Pullman Doha West Bay, a five-star Accor property;…
HYDERABAD: The federal government has completely overlooked Sindh for conserving around 3,200 heritage sites in the province, complained Sindh Provincial Minister for Culture, Tourism and Antiquities Syed Sardar Ali Shah. He was speaking to media after inaugurating the Mukhi House Museum after its renovation in the city on Tuesday, July 13. “I will not beg for alms from the federal heritage ministry. It has just ignored Sindh in conservation of heritage” said Sardar Shah. He said heritage conservation needed huge resources and the federal heritage ministry should release funds for their preservation in Sindh. He also said that those funds…
MIAMI: A just-released survey of subscribers to Private Jet Card Comparisons shows the demand surge for private aviation will continue for the foreseeable future. Some 69% of current private aviation users expect to fly more post-Covid than before the pandemic, with 28% saying they expect to fly privately at similar levels. Only 3% said they would be making fewer private flights in a post-Covid world. Half of the current private aviation users said they had started or re-started private flying due to Covid, and 100% of these new private flyers say they plan to continue after the pandemic. More than…
SINGAPORE: Singapore will present on the global stage its vision of a sustainable, liveable, and resilient city of the future at the upcoming Expo 2020 Dubai, highlighting the city’s innovative urban solutions and culture. Situated within the Sustainability District of the Expo 2020 Dubai, the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia region the Singapore Pavilion will present a microcosm of the nation’s transformed landscape. Underscoring Singapore’s vision of shaping itself into a liveable, sustainable, and resilient city of the future through the smart integration of design, technology, and nature, the pavilion will…
MANAMA: Gulf Air, the national carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain, has recently signed up as a member of the International Pet and Animal Transportation Association (IPATA) to expand its specialized cargo services in the field of transporting pets and animals throughout its global network. The membership will allow Gulf Air to tap into a wider market of pet owners with requirements to transport their pets and animals when spending vacations or relocating from a city to another. IPATA is the worldwide non-profit association dedicated to the care and welfare of pets and animals during transport with the role to…
JAKARTA: Foreign visitors who have not been vaccinated against Covid-19 will be barred from entering Indonesia from Tuesday (July 6), as authorities battle to contain an outbreak of the highly-infectious Delta variant. In an announcement on Sunday, the government said that foreign nationals entering Indonesia will need to show a vaccination certificate and a negative PCR test result. Unvaccinated foreign nationals barred from entering Indonesia from July 6; a passenger wearing a mask at the Soekarno-Hatta Airport in Tangerang, Indonesia pictured A vaccination certificate is also required for air travel within the country, both for international and domestic travellers. The…