Category: Holiday News

by

Matt Turner
May 27, 2020 10:36am

(Greaves Travel LLC)

Rustom S. Cambata, chairman of Greaves Travel LLC and Greaves Tours LLC, passed away May 18 at the age of 96.

For over 40 years, Greaves Tours, a destination management company and luxury tour operator for India and the Indian Subcontinent, has operated as a family-owned and -managed company, with Cambata leading the way. Greaves Tours is an official DMC for Travel Leaders Group and is a member of the Virtuoso network. Rustom served as the chairman of Greaves Travel LLC since it opened in North America in 1989, and as the chairman of Greaves Tours LLC since 2002. He also served as the chairman of Greaves Travel Limited based in the United Kingdom, since 1979.

“It is with heartfelt sadness that I share the news that my father, Rustom Cambata, has passed away,” said Shahrookh Cambata in a statement. “My father overcame many changes and challenges in life, and found travel to be one of the best industries to work in. He t..

by

Matt Turner
Jun 1, 2020 10:14am

Photo by designer491/iStock/Getty Images Plus/Getty Images

Forbes Travel Guide has introduced a new set of “Back-to-Work Best Practices” guideline coupled with a new virtual training program to support luxury hospitality establishments across the world with post-quarantine service changes. Both resources have been created to assist hospitality professionals in updating their luxury service while they adhere to national and local government policies related to the pandemic. The guideline follow Forbes’ recent poll of 1,200 hospitality professionals, where 67 percent said they expected significant changes in service delivery due to the pandemic.

The document aims to provide guest service guidance for hospitality experts as they reopen for business. Forbes Travel Guide has taken a considered approach to address elements of guest service in cleanliness and sanitation, communication, social distancing, food presentation safety, health and hygiene..

by

Matt Turner
Jul 6, 2020 12:51pm

(Overseas Leisure Group)

With international travel remaining on hiatus, premium travel and tour operator Overseas Leisure Group has launched an alternative luxury travel option for the adventurous to explore America while taking responsible health and safety measures to ensure a minimum risk within the remote wilderness: RV excursions.

“Discover America” has been developed in response to the European travel ban and a surge in demand for domestic travel by offering a series of luxury RV excursions that are customized for affluent travelers. Designed to reconnect travels with the natural wonder of the U.S. via a state-of-the-art recreation vehicle, each package is tailored to suit the client’s profile and their required level of on-the-road service or self-sufficiency, while providing authentic experiences along the way. A “Discover America” luxury RV excursion, Overseas Leisure Group says, offers travelers “all the conveniences and comforts of..

by Amanda Klimak
Jul 20, 2020 12:03pm

(Getty Images)
Photo: Getty Images

Amanda Klimak, of Largay Travel, takes us along on her most recent vacation as she and her husband find a new balance in a COVID-19 world.

Who would have imagined arranging RV journeys for clients just six months ago? Certainly not me. However, here we are in a world where social distancing is everything and discovering new ways for our clients to get away is what we are adapting to.

Growing up, my family always took road trips for vacation. From our home in Western Connecticut, we would journey south to the Jersey Shore for our beach vacations, west to Lake George for boating and north to Mount Washington to hike and take the infamous Cog Railway. As a matter of fact, I think most of America drove to get away in the ’70s and it was wonderful. We would pack the car and off we would go for a week of fun and frolic. My dad called them “Captain Bob’s Misguided Tours” as they never went as planned and changed..

by

Matt Turner
Jul 16, 2020 10:48am

(Photo by pinaki1/iStock/Getty Images Plus/Getty Images)
Phuket // Photo by pinaki1/iStock/Getty Images Plus/Getty Images

As the world has seen the almost complete halt of travel due to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, the destination management company (DMC) community in Thailand has been working to create and implement a set of standards that will solidify Thailand and its tourism facilitators as a destination that is safe for travel.

The Thailand Hygiene Plus Initiative (THPI) has been developed by a group of leading DMCs operating in Thailand’s tourism industry. Their aim is to create a safe and healthy environment for travelers and get the message out to tour operators and travel agents. The standards cover six areas: Offices, staff, ground teams, meals, vehicles and transportation, sports equipment and facilities. The standards include, but are not limited to, those to be certified by the “Amazing Thailand Safety and Health Admin..

by

Matt Turner
Jul 27, 2020 10:50am

(The Royal Portfolio)

As South Africa gradually reopens its economy and hotels prepare to welcome guests back in the coming months, The Royal Portfolio is launching The Royal Portfolio Foundation Itinerary, encouraging travelers to “travel to Africa with purpose.”

The new 10-night itinerary will include each of The Royal Portfolio's four properties, while also immersing guests in the Foundation's local community outreach, grassroots education and conservation initiatives. Guests will have the opportunity to visit early learning centers and educational arts projects supported by The Royal Portfolio, including the Lalela Project in Cape Town for at-risk youth (some of whose work hangs in The Silo hotel's art collection); the Masibulele early learning center supported by Birkenhead House in Hermanus (and run by the mother of one of its staff members); the Sigagule and Langetulani Creches near Royal Malewane safari lodge in Greate..

Wizz Air has apologised to passengers who were turned away from an Athens-bound flight for perceived flaws on the Greek “passenger locator form” (PLF).

Twenty-eight passengers were offloaded from the airline’s flight W9 4467 from Luton to Athens on Thursday 6 August.

Some were denied boarding by ground staff because they had not included a middle initial when completing the online form.

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But the instructions for the form, which was introduced by Greece when it reopened borders for the summer, make it clear that the middle initial is optional.

Harry Young and his partner spent over £600 on alternative transportation after being refused boarding at Luton.

Under European air passengers’ rights rules, airlines need not pay compensation or offer refunds if they present themselves with “inadequate travel documentation”.

Initially a spokesperson for Wizz Air told The Independe..

Britons have been told that they must start the paperwork for taking pets abroad on 1 September 2020 at the latest if they plan to travel on 1 January 2021.

During the Brexit transition period, Britons can continue to use the existing Pet Passport system to travel with their pets.

However, new processes could be introduced after the transition period ends on 31 December 2020, which could render the current documents invalid.

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The changes will affect domestic pets as well as service animals.

A statement from the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs said: “The UK government is working with the European Commission to ensure a similar arrangement for pet travel between Great Britain and the EU from 1 January 2021.

“However, if an agreement is not reached there could be new requirements in place for those travelling with a pet from Great Britain to the EU from 1 Jan..

Cruise companies around the world have started cancelling 2021 holidays as a result of coronavirus.

Smaller, charter cruise firms were among the first to start cancelling 2021 sailings last month but now bigger lines have joined their ranks.

Seabourn, the ultra-luxury line owned by the Carnival Corporation has cancelled upcoming sailings on three of its vessels.

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Trips on Seabourn Encore and Seabourn Ovation will be cancelled up to 25 November 2020 and 20 December 2020 respectively. But trips on Seabourn Sojourn, which offers the company's World Cruise experience, will be cancelled until 24 May 2021.

The company said that “the decision to cancel additional voyages is a proactive action to deal with the circumstances continuing to evolve from the global response to the COVID-19 situation”.

Josh Leibowitz, president of Seabourn, said: “We’ve been saying for some time th..

As concern grows about spikes in coronavirus infection rates in some European nations, including France, Malta and the Netherlands, The Independent can reveal places in five EU countries where no new cases have been reported in the past two weeks.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has published a map showing that parts of Greece, Croatia, Hungary, Estonia and Finland offer a worry-free escape.

Greece, which is proving exceptionally popular this summer for British holidaymakers, has seen some surges in coronavirus cases on some islands.

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But the extreme northeast of the mainland, nudging against the Albanian frontier, is graded green (actually a light shade of turquoise), showing no new cases for the past fortnight.

The Epiros region includes the attractive lakeside city of Ionnina, on Lake Pamvotis, and some spectacular mountain scenery. On the co..

Heathrow Airport's passenger numbers fell by 88 per cent in July compared to the same time last year.

Over 860,000 passengers travelled through the London hub last month, which actually reflects an uplift compared to previous months.

This was largely thanks to the introduction of the “travel corridors” on 4 July, according to the airport, which meant that British holidaymakers could travel to selected European destinations without having to quarantine on their return.

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This was demonstrated by the fact that the majority of passengers – over 480,000 – were travelling to destinations within Europe.

However, the airport said 60 per cent of its network remains grounded due to the 14-day quarantine on arrival requirements, which it says is “preventing the UK from travelling to and trading with these countries”.

Heathrow CEO, John Holland-Kaye, said: “Tens of thousands of j..