Category Archives: NTO (National Tourist Offices)

Etihad Airways and TravTalk are all geared up to host an ‘Agent Connect’ webinar, a live journey of flying through COVID, on Thursday, 9th July, 11 am onwards. Agents will get the chance to learn about Etihad Airways and UAE’s capital city – Abu Dhabi. To register, please email to jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or call +91 9650196532.

Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) Tourism Development Authority has confirmed that RAK has become the first city in the world to be certified as a ‘Safe’ destination by Bureau Veritas, the global leader in testing, inspection and certification services, having completed the ‘Safeguard Assurance’ programme. It has also become the first emirate to receive World Travel and Tourism Council’s (WTTC’s) Safe Travels Stamp. Through a strategic partnership with Bureau Veritas, the Authority has led the way in implementing stringent health, safety and hygiene measures across all Ras Al Khaimah hotels to mitigate any possible risk for employees and guests, and provide complete confidence in the destination. Through an ongoing series of independent audits of all its hotels in the Emirate, the partnership was designed to further validate the measures and processes already in place, and takes RAKTDA’s ‘Stay Safe’ Hotel Certification Program to the next level. In addition, the almost-50,000sqft Al Hamra International Exhibition & Conference Center is following the detailed protocols developed by Bureau Veritas’ global health, safety and hygiene specialists, and will become the first certified MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions & events) facility in the region. Adding to the global validation, Ras Al Khaimah is the first Emirate in the UAE to receive the World Travel and Tourism Council’s (WTTC) Safe Travels Stamp, the world’s first ever global safety and hygiene stamp for the travel and tourism industry, designed specifically to address COVID-19 and similar outbreaks. The protocols were developed in collaboration with WTTC members (including RAKTDA), leading industry associations and international organisations, and covers operational and staff preparedness, ensuring a safe experience, re-building trust and confidence and implementing enabling policies. It also follows the current guidelines of the …

Sri Lanka’s Tourism Promotion Bureau plans to launch a long-awaited multi-million-dollar global tourism promotion campaign. The final terms of references of the five-year campaign are being reviewed by a committee. The aim is to finish the procurement process by December and to kick off the campaign by January 2021.

In a Sri Lanka Tourism Virtual Summit, supported by Spiceland Holidays, Kimarli Fernando, Chairperson, Sri Lanka Tourism, said that her government has nominated a COVID-10 Task Force of which she is a part. “We are completely open to domestic tourists and the auditing process to receive international tourists is currently on. Indian travellers to Sri Lanka now need to apply for visas online and visa-on-arrival has been cancelled for now.”

Deep Knowledge Group recently completed a study assessing the Covid-19 condition in 200 countries and has ranked Switzerland as the safest country in the world, with a score of 752 points against all 130 parameters. The country recently announced plans to reopen its borders to all EU/EFTA states and the UK.

The Spanish government, LaLiga and the Confederation of Employers & Industries of Spain have come together to promote Spain as a safe destination for tourism and sport. It’s ‘Safe Sport, Safe Tourism’ campaign will boost Spain’s tourism and sports industries, both so crucial to the economy.

Sri Lanka Tourism is hosting a Virtual Summit today at 3:00pm, where experts will talk about Sri Lanka’s readiness to restart tourism. To register, please email to jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or call +9650196532. Panellists include Arundika Fernando, State Minister of Tourism and Aviation, Sri Lanka and Kimarli Fernando, Chairperson, Sri Lanka Tourism.

Celebrating 20 years of operations, Happy Tours will conduct a live webinar on Slovenia on June 25, 2020 at 3pm (IST).  Happy Tours has offices in Slovenia, Croatia, London and Athens and a dedicated team based in Pune. Happy Tours is a inbound European tour operator for both MICE and leisure groups throughout Europe. It also owns a hotel near Plitvice Lakes – Hotel Lyra www.lyraplitvice.com in Croatia and has its own coaches. To register, contact Jaspreet Kaur on ‪9650196532‬ or jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com.  

Sri Lanka Tourism is hosting a Virtual Summit on Monday, June 22, at 3:00pm, where experts will talk about Sri Lanka’s readiness to restart tourism. To register, please email to jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or call +9650196532. Panellists include Arundika Fernando, State Minister of Tourism and Aviation, Sri Lanka and Kimarli Fernando, Chairperson, Sri Lanka Tourism.

Deep Knowledge Group recently completed a study assessing the Covid-19 condition in 200 countries. Switzerland has been ranked as the safest country in the world, with a total score of 752 points against all 130 parameters under categories of quarantine efficiency, healthcare readiness, risk management among others. Germany emerged as a close second with 749 points. Even though Switzerland was very close to major epicentres of initial COVID-19 spread in Europe, the country has managed to control the virus.  Despite experiencing significant volumes of infection spread and mortality at the early stages of the pandemic, the rates of mortality and new cases now, continue to decline.