Category Archives: Trade News

UK considers plans to reopen foreign travel for fully vaccinated passengers

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British officials are considering plans to open up international travel for passengers who have been fully vaccinated, enabling tourism to resume to more than 150 countries and territories including the vital US market and some of the most popular destinations in Europe.

Under the policy, which is still being discussed inside government, people who have received both doses of Covid vaccines would not need to quarantine on returning from medium-risk countries on the so-called amber list.

That would provide a major boost to airlines and tourism businesses who have been hammered since the start of the pandemic forced governments to shut down international travel.

Under current rules, destinations are coded red for the highest coronavirus infection risk, amber for medium risk and green for the lowest risk. Travellers are advised against going to amber or red list countries. People who arrive in England from destinations on the amber list must quarantine at home or in the place where they are staying for 10 days, and take at least two Covid-19 tests during the period.

However, carriers have criticised the policy, especially after Portugal was abruptly taken off the green list earlier this month, dealing a blow to the all-important summer travel season.

Holiday Inn Express & Suites

IHG strengthens footprint in Punjab with a Holiday Inn Express & Suites signing in Jalandhar

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IHG Hotels & Resorts has signed a management agreement with Samplast Resorts to develop Holiday Inn Express & Suites Jalandhar GT Road. The new-build hotel featuring 110 keys is expected to be operational by the first quarter of 2024. With an existing portfolio of hotels from the Holiday Inn brand family across key cities in Punjab, the new development will further strengthen the brand’s presence in the country and the state, in line with market demand.

Strategically located on the Grand Trunk Road, also known as NH1 which connects the country’s capital city of Delhi to Amritsar, the hotel will benefit from the excellent visibility and convenient access. Holiday Inn Express & Suites Jalandhar GT Road will be a short drive from the city’s central business district as well as shopping destinations. Additionally, the hotel will have an adjoining strip mall that will offer multiple dining options for hotel guests.

Holiday Inn Express & Suites Jalandhar GT Road will feature well-equipped modern guest rooms and state-of-the-art facilities. For recreation, the hotel will offer ‘Great Room’, a bar and a lounge. Other facilities will include a fitness room, meeting rooms, 15,000 sq. ft. of banqueting space, as well as signature amenities in line with brand’s promise of offering a comfortable stay to guests.

Commenting on the signing, Sudeep Jain, Managing Director, South West Asia, IHG said, “We are delighted to announce the signing of a new Holiday Inn & Suites hotel and solidifying our presence in the state of Punjab. Punjab is a popular destination with both domestic and international travelers, and Jalandhar, specifically is known to be a hub for the manufacturing industry and is also an important destination for medical tourism. Therefore, in the long-term, there is growing demand for quality branded accommodation in the city and Holiday Inn Express & Suites from our essentials collection fits perfectly well with market needs.”

In a joint statement, Rajinder Kumar and Rajan Kumar, Directors at Samplast Resorts added, “It is our first venture in the hospitality sector and partnering with a global, well-respected brand like IHG gives us trust and confidence in the hotel’s success. With IHG’s credibility, global and local experience, and powerful delivery systems, we are certain that the hotel will emerge as a popular choice amongst the travellers visiting Jalandhar.”

Thailand plans to fully reopen to foreign tourists in 120 days

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           Prayuth Chan-Ocha

Thailand plans to fully reopen to foreign visitors in 120 days and give at least one dose of vaccine to the majority of residents by early October to revive the tourism-reliant nation’s economy, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha said, reports Prim Chuwiruch & Randy Thanthong-Knight in Bloomberg.

Some tourist destinations should be ready for fully vaccinated visitors without any quarantine requirement sooner than the wider reopening, with Phuket as the “pilot,” Prayuth said in a national address on Wednesday. The country aims to vaccinate 10 million people a month from July and has ordered 105.5 million doses of vaccines for this year, more than the country’s target, he said.

“The time has now come for us to look ahead and set a date for when we can fully open our country and start receiving visitors because re-opening the country is one of the important ways to start reducing the enormous suffering of people who have lost their ability to earn an income,” Prayuth said. “I am, therefore, setting a goal for us to be able to declare Thailand fully open within 120 days from today, and for tourism centers that are ready, to do so even faster.”

Thailand’s urgency to reopen stems from its dependence on tourism sector that, pre-pandemic, contributed about one-fifth of the nation’s economic output. Worldwide travel restrictions decimated jobs and businesses in the past year and Thailand’s gross domestic product has contracted for five straight quarters. Policymakers have warned the trend is likely to continue in the absence of billions of dollars earned from foreign tourists.

“We cannot wait for a time when everyone is fully vaccinated with two shots to open the country or for when the world is free of the virus,” the premier said. “We must be ready to live with some risk and just try to keep it at a manageable level, and let people go back to being able to earn a living.”
To get to the target of opening the country in 120 days, government will pilot with Phuket to relax some restrictions and receive visitors using a “sandbox” model.

Prayuth said the decision to set a deadline for reopening is fraught with “some risks,” and “when we open the country, there will be an increase in infections, no matter how good our precautions.” “But, I think, when we take into consideration the economic needs of people, the time has now come for us to take that calculated risk.” (Source: Bloomberg)

 

80% of eligible population in San Francisco receives at least one vaccine dose

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San Francisco Mayor London N. Breed announced that as of today 80% of eligible San Francisco residents have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, with nearly 70% of all San Franciscans fully vaccinated. San Francisco is the first major American city to achieve this milestone, and the City’s vaccination rates are among the highest in the nation and the world. In addition, 90% of all residents 65 and older have received at least one dose.

“From the beginning of this pandemic, San Franciscans have led the way in their efforts to slow the spread of the virus, keep each other safe, and end this pandemic. That has continued through our vaccination efforts, which have focused on ensuring that all our residents have access to vaccines and that they’re convenient,” said Mayor London Breed. “Now, with 80% of our eligible residents vaccinated, our city is healthy, our businesses are reopening, and people are once again enjoying everything that makes San Francisco such a wonderful place to live and visit.”

The effectiveness and availability of COVID-19 vaccines have dramatically driven down case rates, hospitalizations and community spread in San Francisco. As of June 8, the City’s case rate was 1.4 per 100,000, 25% lower than the State and representing a 96% decrease in COVID-19 diagnoses since January. Hospitalizations are at their lowest point since the pandemic began and testing positivity is 0.56 %, down from 5.36% since the last peak in January and 13.46% in April of 2020.

“I would like to thank San Franciscans for doing their part to protect themselves, their families, and their community against COVID-19 by getting vaccinated,” said Dr. Grant Colfax, Director of Public Health. “Safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine, coupled with continued preventive measures, helps us continue to safely reopen our City and get back to doing the things we love. While we celebrate today’s milestone, let’s remember we have more work to do to get as many San Franciscans vaccinated as possible, especially in communities disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 and where we see lower vaccination rates. We are working in partnership with communities throughout the City to offer low-barrier vaccine access.”

The City is increasing efforts to increase vaccine access in neighborhoods with lower rates with a robust vaccination program that includes low barrier drop-in vaccines at our health centers and hospitals, hosting family day events, providing mobile vaccination drives and home visits all in partnership with the community.

“The Covid Command Center team has worked tirelessly with community partners to make vaccine available efficiently and equitably to get us to this important and exciting milestone of 80%. said Mary Ellen Carroll, Executive Director of the Department of Emergency Management. “We continue to work with community partners and healthcare providers who serve communities that have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 to ensure outreach is being done in areas where we have lower vaccination rates, including our residents ages 12 to 15, who most recently became eligible.”

The City has partnered with health providers and community partners to reach this 80 per cent milestone, including Kaiser Permanente, UCSF, Sutter Health, Dignity Health, Chinese Hospital, The San Francisco Community Clinic Consortium, and community based organizations such as the Latino Taskforce and Unidos en Salud, Rafiki Coalition, Glide, Larkin Street Youth, Code Tenderloin, UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, the San Francisco African American Faith-based Coalition, Excelsior Strong, UCSF Black Health Initiative, Hope SF, the San Francisco Marin Food Bank and many more.

The Public Health Department encourages all those eligible to get vaccinated as soon as possible, so that San Francisco and the entire Bay Area can continue to safely reopen.

 

Vistara to have flights with fully vaccinated crew

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According to a FE report, in a recent announcement made by air passenger carrier Vistara, the company has been vaccinating its pilots, crew members. On Wednesday, Vistara operated a special flight from Delhi to Mumbai where all the cabin crew as well as the pilot on board were vaccinated with both the doses of the novel Coronavirus vaccine. This was the first time the crew members of the airlines were completely vaccinated and they will also be operating the return flight. According to a press note released by Vistara, there will be more flights in operation where the staff on board will be vaccinated. The company added that the number of people being fully vaccinated and operating the flight will increase in the coming days.

Vistara, which is a joint venture of Tata group and Singapore Airlines, is trying to make sure that the highest standards of safety are being taken care of on board. Commenting on the recent vaccination move, Vinod Kannan, Chief Commercial Officer, Vistara, said that vaccination is the best defence people have right now against the Covid-19 pandemic and will allow people around the world to get back to some normalcy. This will also aid in the recovery of the aviation industry. He added that Vistara is trying to make sure that all of the members associated with the company are vaccinated so their safety can be ensured along with their families and customers they serve.

Mark Lewis-Brown, CEO & President, Vertical Booking USA

Mythbusters: Recovery Edition – Part I

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By Mark Lewis-Brown, CEO & President, Vertical Booking USA

There are lots of messages out there, in the hospitality industry now, about what hotels need to do, or what technology they need to buy, to reach recovery more quickly. Some of these messages are accurate and others… questionable.

But don’t you worry… I’ve got you covered. Get ready for a thorough debunking of three common “myths” related to COVID recovery strategies.

MYTH #1: Business and/or city-center hotels are dead

Truth: There is no type of hotel that can’t reach profitability, even if corporate travel and MICE business doesn’t pick back up again for years. Full stop.

The road to success will be different for these hotels, but still fully attainable; the key to success for city-center and corporate hotels is to make their properties relevant in other ways to the types of consumers that are looking for new, exciting travel experiences. Think about out-of-the box experiential activities that leisure travelers will love – and that will inspire them to choose to book with your property to experience it.

It’s also important to look for opportunities for other revenue streams for your property. Here’s a fantastic idea that The Jupiter Hotel in Portland implemented to boost their appeal to leisure travelers – and create a new revenue stream: they partnered with local restaurants and chefs to create pop-up restaurants, featuring different types of cuisine or well-known chefs. The food was delivered to each guest in their room, giving them a private chef’s table experience to remember!

Here’s why this idea is so genius: by partnering with restauranteurs, they are doing good for the community, while attracting a new demographic to their property: followers of the restaurant or chef. Today, chefs have become the new rock stars, and consumers will follow them around the world to taste their food. By bringing those well-known chefs to your property, you’ll be creating a new revenue stream and securing bookings with lots of new, very excited leisure guests.

MYTH #2: Less is more, when it comes to OTAs & other online booking channels

This is a very prevalent belief, especially in the US, for hoteliers. Don’t get me wrong, I completely understand why hoteliers are frustrated and want to drive more direct bookings; that being said, today, hotels need to accept all the bookings that they can – no matter where they come from.

Remember that you only pay the OTAs when you get a booking, so why limit yourself to just listing your property on a few OTAs?! Your property should be listed on as many OTAs and other online booking channels as possible right now, even if it’s just for the free advertising!

As well as the big-name OTAs, hotels should also be listing their property on regional booking sites used by travelers who are interested in traveling to their destination; for example, if you know that there is demand in your destination from European travelers, you should be listing your rooms on their preferred booking sites to capture some of that pre-existing demand.

Another good reason that you should be on as many OTAs as possible: The Billboard Effect. Often, consumers use the OTAs to identify what properties are available in a destination and then will click through to the property’s website to book direct. It’s been proven in countless studies over the years; being listed on as many online booking channels as possible brings in bookings through the sites AND increases direct bookings.

Total win/win, right?!

MYTH #3: “There is no demand on the GDS, so I don’t need to be listed on it”

Don’t disregard the importance of the GDS. Even though there may be fewer bookings coming through the GDS, stats have shown that many travelers, post-COVID, will be preferring to book through travel agents; in fact, a recent study showed that “44% of travelers are more likely to use travel advisors after the pandemic.”

In addition to the leisure travelers who will be using travel agents, post-COVID, there will still be corporate bookings coming through, albeit less. Either way, having a presence on the GDS is another way to expand your reach – again, giving your property the opportunity to secure as many bookings as possible and reach recovery, more quickly.