In accordance with the ordinance of the Federal Minister of Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection about measures concerning the entry from SARS-CoV-2 risk areas, the form issued has to be filled by individuals declaring their health status.

India’s revised travel advisory and visa restrictions related to COVID-19 will not affect the Nepalese movement to India by any means, the Indian mission in Nepal said on Thursday. India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare ‘revised travel advisory’ and ‘visa restrictions related to COVID-19’ announced by India had raised concerns about the movement of Nepali nationals to India as Nepal has been dominantly relying on its southern neighbour for materials of daily consumption as well as employment. In a statement released late on Thursday, the Indian mission in Nepal said, “The current measures are solely for the purposes of managing public health and safety. These measures do not currently have any impact on normal travel of Nepalese nationals to India, either by air or by existing land routes. Existing travel arrangements for Nepalese nationals will, in other words, remain unaffected.” “However, there will be intensified health inspections at all entry points and any traveller, Indian, Nepalese or from third countries presenting COVID-19 symptoms or with recent travel history to one of seven COVID-19 outbreak countries may possibly be subject to quarantine if so required,” the release further said. Keeping in view the ramifications of the current global spread of coronavirus on public health and safety, New Delhi on Wednesday inducted health safety measures for foreign and Indian nationals entering into and exiting from India. The measures included halt in visa issuance for tourists and non-diplomatic staffs as set criteria to mitigate the further spread of coronavirus in the country. ANI

Under the direction of government authorities of the State of Qatar, entry to Qatar is temporarily suspended as of 9 March 2020 for all those travelling from the following countries: Bangladesh, China, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Syria and Thailand. This decision comes as a preventive measure due to the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) worldwide. It affects all individuals intending to enter from these countries, including visas upon arrival, those with a residence or work permit, and temporary visitors. Issue: stopovers The safety, security and good health of our passengers, employees, and the wider community in Qatar is our highest priority. Qatar Airways is working closely with global and national authorities to implement the latest advice and guidance on COVID-19 (Coronavirus) and operate our services accordingly. Due to the rise on Coronavirus cases around the world, we are placing a temporary hold on stopover services in Doha for the purpose of connection, booked through our partner and subsidiary, Discover Qatar, or booked directly through qatarairways.com. Passengers with onward connections will not be permitted to leave Hamad International Airport (HIA). It is with regret that we must inform our valued customers that all current stopover bookings will therefore be cancelled. A full refund will be offered, with support offered to make alternative travel plans with Qatar Airways.  

LOT Polish Airlines has released its updated advisory on 13.3.2020. It reads as below: “With regard to the spread of coronavirus 2019-nCoV, we would like to inform you that LOT has initiated a number of measures to mitigate the negative impact of this situation on the company’s operations. The safety of passengers and employees does remain our utmost priority. While planning our current flight operations, we follow up on Member States’ guidance on country-specific travel regulations. Due to the current situation and lower demand in travelling in certain directions, we have made decisions regarding selected medium and long-haul routes: Flights from Warsaw to Milan and Venice – remain suspended until 3rd April; Flights from Budapest to Seoul – remain suspended until 8th April; Flights from Warsaw to Beijing – remain suspended until 25th April; Single frequencies of flights to Tel Aviv from Warsaw and Polish regional ports – will be limited until 24th April; Flights from Warsaw and Budapest to London-City; from Cracow to Bucharest; and from Warsaw to Zaporozhia – will be suspended in the coming days until 24th April; The launch of the route from Warsaw to Ostrava – will be postponed to 1st September; Additionally: the frequencies of flights on selected medium and long-haul routes will be limited – until 24th April; Flights to the USA: We are monitoring the situation and adapting our route network to the decision of the American authorities to suspend air traffic between Europe and the USA. Our teams are currently working on solutions adapted to the new regulations and our transport capacity. LOT’s passengers and employees are our highest priority. We will keep you posted on the operational decisions taken. Passengers are being informed about all changes in …

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus, Air France and KLM have been doing everything possible to assist their customers and allow them to postpone or cancel trips planned to/from areas with a risk of exposure. The airlines are now going further and extending these measures to their entire network, for reservations to come and bookings already made. Customers can thus book their trip with peace of mind, with the guarantee of being able to modify their booking at no extra cost if they wish to do so. Under these terms, for all Air France or KLM tickets purchased on or before 31 March 2020 for travel between 6 March and 31 May 2020, regardless of original ticket conditions and destination, it will be possible to  postpone tickets at no extra cost until 31 May included, to the same destination and in the same travel class. Passengers who wish to postpone tickets beyond 31 May 2020, change their destination or cancel their journey will be offered a non-refundable voucher valid for one year on all Air France and KLM flights. This measure also applies to all tickets already issued for travel between 6 March and 31 May 2020.   Details of these measures are available at all Air France and KLM points of sale and can be consulted at airfrance.com and klm.com [i] Electronic ticket number beginning with 057 or 071.

Modi Ji… have you really understood the problems of our travel industry? Time to dive into the problems and turbulences industry has faced in the last 15 Years. There is no doubt that this government is proactive and quick at decision making, Trying to bring in a positive change but things have certainly gone wrong somewhere for our already suffering travel industry especially for offline players. Perhaps this government hasn’t done deep research on this industry and taken one-sided decisions and damaged it more. You would ask How? Let’s look back and evaluate a bit. Abolishment of IATA commissions by most of the Airlines (2001Onwards) Travel agents were paid 9% commission till 2000. From 2001 the commission was reduced to 7%. In May 2005, the commission was reduced to 5%. In November same year, 16 airlines cut the commission to zero, a move followed by others. In December 2008, the commission was rolled back to 3% by Indian carriers Air India, Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines, which is now defunct. Subsequently, others followed suit, and now airlines have again reduced it to 1%.  This was probably the first a big blow to our tourism industry as these commissions were a major source of their incomes. Information Source: Economic Times http://bit.ly/39ELDtF OTA & Other Intermediaries predatory pricing, w major disruptor (2006 Onwards) Biggest change, biggest disruption. The Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) have been one major disruptor to online distribution but other intermediaries have also come along and have further impacted the industry, such as Google, Facebook, Trip Advisor, metasearch sites and Airbnb. Tourism business which was synonyms to service-oriented experience has now become a commodity. Even the hoteliers are presented with …

IMEX Frankfurt, one of the largest annual trade exhibitions for the meetings, conventions, events and incentive travel industry, has been cancelled, due to the coronavirus outbreak. The event was scheduled to take place May 12-14 in Frankfurt, Germany. The announcement comes soon after IMEX Group Chairman Ray Bloom and CEO Carina Bauer said they were confident the show would go on. The statement reads, “It is with deep sadness and heavy hearts that we announce the cancellation of this year’s IMEX in Frankfurt (due to take place 12-14 May). We know that this will come as an enormous disappointment, not only to the exhibitors, buyers and industry professionals who were due to attend the show, but also to the global business events community. This is not a decision we have taken lightly and there are two overriding concerns that have caused us to make this decision at this time. First is the uncertainty caused by the fact that the German health minister has recently called for the ban on events with over 1,000 people which some German states have already endorsed, including the state of Hesse where Frankfurt is located. This announcement makes the probability of factors outside our control forcing us to cancel the show at the last minute much higher. Second, our primary concern is always the responsibility we feel towards our exhibitors and partners, who fund the show – not only by purchasing stand space but also in the considerable additional investment they make in everything from the build of stunning stands to the hosting of buyer events. Whilst only a short time ago we felt optimistic that May was far enough away to confidently proceed with our …

The Indian government has decided not to let any cruise ship from any foreign destination dock at any of its port. The measure has been taken keeping in mind the growing threat of COVID-19. Any international cruise ship or any member of its crew or passenger having a travel history of visiting any of the COVID-19 affected countries since 1st February 2020; will not be permitted to enter any Indian port till 31st March 2020. 25 cruise liners were scheduled to arrive in Indian ports till April-end. “Only those international cruise ships which had planned and intimated their call to an Indian Port not later than 1st January 2020 will be allowed to call on such port,” the Ministry of Shipping said. The government said international cruise ships will be allowed only at ports having thermal screening facilities for passengers and crew members. If any passenger/crew member of cruise ships show symptoms of coronavirus, disembarking will not be permitted, it added.

According to HVS India Hospitality Overview 2019, Chandigarh recorded the highest growth in RevPAR (12.3%) in 2019. However, Mumbai continued to record the highest RevPAR of ₹6,464 in 2019. The report also states that Goa and Bengaluru remain the top markets for brand signings. However, increasing supply poses a concern for the Goa hotel market performance in the near future.

Tourism New Zealand welcomes Indians with its new campaign creative and announces the expansion of tourism industry partnership for quicker visitor visa application processing. Inspired by the fact that New Zealand is one of the first places to see the sunlight of a new day, Tourism New Zealand, as part of its 100% Pure Welcome – 100% Pure New Zealand, has released a content series with ‘Good Morning World’ messages shared by locals welcoming visitors from their favourite spots across the country. The campaign showcases what makes New Zealand unique as a holiday destination – the warm and friendly people, stunning landscapes and variety of things to do. In order to support this, a trade webinar is being hosted on Tuesday, March 17, 2020 at 1430hrs to help increase the travel agents’ destination knowledge of New Zealand.