The Maldivian government has decided to temporarily suspend all cruise lines from entering and docking in the Maldives as a precaution against the rapidly spreading coronavirus. The country has also barred individuals that have travelled or transited from Iran, and Daegu and Gyeongbuk in South Korea. In February alone, 15 cruise ships docked in the Maldives, while 19 cruise ships arrived in the island nation in December 2019, based on statistics from Maldives Immigration. According to Mohamed ‘Bunny’ Ali, secretary general of the Maldives Association of Yacht Agents (MAYA), there were 14 foreign cruise lines carrying a combined 20,000 passengers that were scheduled to arrive between March 1 and April 23. The ban, which is the government’s latest move to protect the tourism-reliant country island from the Covid-19 outbreak, coincides with the increase in number of cruise ship arrivals to the Maldives.

Spain’s scorching weather conditions in 2019 revealed an unexpected sight in the Spanish province of Cáceres. As the drought caused the shoreline of the Tagus River to recede, a 4,000- to 7,000-year-old circular monument emerged in the middle of the Valdecañas reservoir. Thought to be more than 4,000 years old, the Dolmen of Guadalperal was ‘invisible’ for almost 60 years – until it unexpectedly reappeared. This ‘Spanish Stonehenge’ megalithic monument consists of more than 100 standing granite stones, some up to 1.8m tall, arranged in a 26m-diameter circle. It was likely used as a temple, a burial site and even as a trading spot due to its strategic original location.

Europe’s largest regional airline, Flybe has gone into administration, sparking chaos for passengers whose flights were cancelled and diverted. The airline collapsed in the early hours of March 5, 2020 after the already-struggling firm was hit by a drop in demand caused by coronavirus. This news comes two months after the government announced rescue operations for it. Before the viral outbreak, Flybe was already struggling with rising fuel costs, soft demand and competition. The airline served 57 airports in Europe. Flybe passengers and staff are being offered free travel by all First Rail train operators, which consist of Great Western Railway, South Western Railway, TransPennine Express and Avanti West Coast. EasyJet has offered rescue fares for passengers and free flights to Flybe staff to get home.

Wendy Wu Tours (WWT) has advised its partners that it expects all its tours in China to operate in full form from the start of April 2020. The Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism is also now reviewing all tourist attractions as they reopen with the expectation that everything will be once again operational from April onwards. WWT is expected to operate in full form from April 1, 2020. Its current policy allowing free cancellations for its trips departing up to March 31, 2020 remains in place. WWT trips to other destinations are also operating as normal and in the event of any changes passengers will be contacted three weeks prior to departure.

S.C. Gupta, Chief Secretary, Sikkim, chaired a meeting at Tashiling Secretariat to review and discuss preparedness and action plan for any possible coronavirus outbreak in the State following reports of confirmed cases of a novel coronavirus in some parts of the country. The meeting has decided to suspend all Inner Line Permits (ILPs) issued to visit Sikkim until further notice. The concerned department has been directed to network the information to all stakeholder organisations and offices. The Tourism Department has been directed to monitor the maintenance of registers by owners of hotels, homestays and lodge for travellers of both Indian and Foreign Nationals with their contact details for surveillance purpose. Likewise, the Education Department has been asked to conduct awareness sessions on coronavirus in every school in the State.

To help tourists from Sri Lanka, the Ministry of Tourism (MOT) has got signages put up in Sanchi in Sinhalese language, which is the native language of the island nation, revealed Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State (I/C), Tourism & Culture. He says, “Majority of Sri Lankan tourists go to Sanchi, and there we have put up signages in Sinhalese language within 7 days. As a result, we got appreciation within the country as well as in Sri Lanka. Those who are less educated and do not know the language other than Sinhalese, got a chance to read things in their language, which made them feel relieved as well as proud. This is an example would only help us in working in the future. Wherever we have one lakh or more tourists coming, who are not comfortable in Hindi and English, we can offer the signages in their languages and make it easy for them.”

Driving forward the vision of Skilled India, Tourism & Hospitality Skill Council (THSC), one of the sector skill councils approved by National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), has announced its collaboration with Marriott India to promote Apprenticeship in Tourism and Hospitality sector. Marriott will engage 5000 apprentices through its network of 90 properties in the country. The apprentices will be provided with an opportunity to receive hands-on experience at Marriott hotels for developing broader expertise in the sector, preparing them to cater to the demands of the tourism and hospitality sector.

According to India Hospitality Industry Overview 2019 by HVS, 2019 saw a substantial increase of 31% in brand signings by keys and an 11% in brand signings by hotels over 2018, signifying an increase in average keys per hotel. Domestic brands with their aggressive growth strategies have overtaken the international brands in brand signings for 2019. They, however, continue to sign smaller format hotels with average keys for domestic brand signings being almost half of their international peers.

Madhya Pradesh, the Tiger State of India, has reiterated its focus on wild-life tourism and strengthening its ongoing efforts towards combating the threats of climate change by focusing on wildlife conservation and upliftment of forest dwellers. The state will also be focusing on creating favourable conditions for the conservation of tigers especially the endangered Bengal Tiger and the rare White Tiger. Madhya Pradesh ranks first in the country with 526 tigers as per the results of the All India Tiger Assessment declared on July 29, 2019. The state has six tiger reserves (combining parts of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries) namely Kanha, Pench, Satpura, Bandhavgarh, Panna and Sanjay. The state also plans to create around 11 new protected areas within the state from the current numbers of 24 wildlife sanctuaries and 11 national parks. The new areas, covering over 2,100 sq. km, represent perhaps the largest addition of protected areas attempted by any state in the past three decades. According to Faiz Ahmed Kidwai (IAS), Secretary Tourism, Govt of Madhya Pradesh and Managing Director, Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board, “Madhya Pradesh is referred to as wildlife state of India with numerous sanctuaries and reserves. At a time where the numbers of many animal species are declining, Madhya Pradesh has played a pivotal part in India’s wildlife conservation programs. As the World Wildlife Day approaches on 3rd March, we would like to reiterate our commitment to protecting endangered wildlife, specially tigers through a scientific, planned and people-centric approach with strict enforcement guidelines and team support.” “From preserving tiger population, to being the state with the highest leopard, vultures and gharial (an endemic crocodile species) population to having successfully increased the population of …

In 2020 as well, Accor Showcase in New Delhi and Mumbai saw an enormous response from the travel and tourism fraternity. The fourth edition of the Accor Showcase saw participation from more than 50 Accor properties globally. The hotel representatives interacted with more than 1000 tourism leaders at Pullman New Delhi Aerocity (26th February) and Sofitel Mumbai BKC (28th February). Consecutively for four years, Accor Showcase has acted as a catalyst for the growth of both inbound and outbound tourism. Over the years, Accor Showcase has focussed on elevating and promoting MICE through its representatives. This year as well, the roadshow saw positive conversions for many participants and especially for Baku, Turkey and London. Many prominent corporates, travel partners, wedding planners, travel agents, airline partners and others attended the event. Luxury and leisure segment being the key aspect for Accor, created a great buzz at the Showcase. The most awaited brand, Raffles, also attracted conversation amongst the participants. Also, the upcoming Fairmont in Mumbai was discussed amongst the industry peers. The new loyalty programme, ALL- Accor Live Limitless and its offerings was a big conversation point. Speaking on the success of Accor Showcase 2020, Kerrie Hannaford, VP, Commercial, Accor India and South Asia, said “The hospitality industry is geared up for the year ahead and Accor has multiple campaigns and initiatives planned for the upcoming months. With our new loyalty programme ALL and Raffles debut in India, we are certain that Accor will get a lot of traction from the fraternity. Accor Showcase provides a great platform to interact with our partners and portray the great products and services provides by Accor globally.” Rohit Chopra, Regional Director Sales – India, …