New Google features to know the status of the coronavirus at the destination

Google wants to show the number of cases of coronavirus disease in the destination that the user intends to travel to, along with search results.  Google's goal is to help reduce travel during the coronavirus outbreak.  The update is scheduled to be released next week and will appear in Google search results as well as the Google Trips page

New announcement of Qatar Airlines for passengers from Iran

From August 13, all travelers from Iran must submit a negative PCR test.  Tests must be issued within 72 hours prior to departure from Qatar Airways-approved laboratories and must be paid for by the passenger.  People who do not provide a copy of their medical certificate along with the consent form will not be allowed to fly on Qatar Airways flights. Children under the age of 12 are exempt from the test if they are accompanied by family members whose test are negative.

Top 12 Things That Should Be In Every Hotel Room

⚜️ As someone who spends well over 100 nights a year in hotels, I thought it was high time to put together a post with my thoughts about what every hotel room should offer (and what they definitely should not) in addition to all the basics like free WiFi, good personalized A/C and heating, and, you know, running water. Some of these are obvious – with the proliferation of lightweight laptops, smartphones, tablets and more, every hotel room should have an abundance of power outlets – while others might be more TPG-specific. However, these are things I’d like to see in every hotel room I book in the future, and feel free to share your own wish list below. 1. Power outlets galore . As I mentioned, we all travel with tons of gadgets these days, from computers and tablets to phones, cameras, music players and more, and the one thing they all have in common is that they must be charged. So it’s astonishing to me how many hotels still lack more than one or two outlets for guest use – you know, where lamps, phones and other odds and ends aren’t already plugged in. Not only that, but every hotel room should have bedside outlets. So many people tote their computers to bed to work while on the road for business, and so many use their Smartphones as alarm clocks (probably because hotel alarm clocks can be so byzantine to operate) that it just makes sense to have outlets near the bed that you can access without ripping the mattress away from the wall. Tons of lamps even come with outlets in their bases to make things easier. Hotels, take note, this should be a standard feature in your rooms. 2. A Nespresso machine . Call me a caffeine fiend, but I believe that every hotel room should have some sort of miniature coffee or espresso machine. Oftentimes, that’s all I want in the morning before grabbing something on the go from a lobby shop or a nearby cafe. I just want to be able to enjoy my first cup of the day in my room as I go through emails and my calendar without having to get dressed, leave the hotel and pick up coffee somewhere else. Or tea. Put in an electric kettle and some tea bags for the tea-drinkers out there. Who knows, maybe I’ll be feeling so productive I’ll order room service and up your revenue with a full-on breakfast if I feel like I’m getting a lot done. 3. A shower that doesn’t take advanced calculus to figure out how to work . Hotel showers can be glorious. Indoor showers, outdoor showers, showers with 12 showerheads, steam showers, rainfall showers…they’re all just wonderful. Except for one thing: so many of them are impossible to operate! Personally, I’m an old-fashioned, one knob for cold water and one for hot and you turn them to adjust the pressure and balance of temperature kind of guy. But so many hotel showers these days have temperature controls, pressure controls, controls to determine which showerhead is operating…I often find myself getting blasted with a rocket of cold water from one direction and volley of scalding drops from another these days. I mean, I love options as much as the next person, but can we please make these things easier to operate so I can get in, clean up and get out? And not to be too American about this, but would it be possible to include both Celsius and Fahrenheit temperatures on the knobs? I can do simple arithmetic on the fly with the best of them, but I don’t want to have to panic and try to figure out why 47 degrees is so hot. 4. Toothbrush and toothpaste . Call it a symptom of always being on the road, but I forget a toothbrush and toothpaste a lot when I travel and it would be such a nice surprise to find a mini travel kit in my hotel room when I arrive. If airlines can do it in amenity kits – and I’m not just talking business and first class ones here, but some airlines offer it in economy as well – then hotels can provide a mini oral hygiene set to guests. 5. Free water bottles . It’s midnight. You’re off a really long flight. You’re parched. All the stores are closed. All you want is a bottle of water, especially if you’re in a place where the water might not be potable for you. Any water will do – it doesn’t have to be Evian – but your only choices are in the minibar and they each cost $10. Why is that? Hotels need to start offering guests two free water bottles per day (that’s the other thing – even if you get a couple free bottles, it’s a one-time thing with a lot of hotels – once you drink them that’s it!). We would all appreciate it, and it’s such a simple provision. 6. A room service menu that doesn’t take 20 clicks on the TV screen to navigate and order from . This is another old-fashioned quirk of mine, but as much as I love new technology, sometimes just having a paper menu and calling down to room service is just so much easier than trying to learn to navigate a hotel’s “state of the art” television ordering system. If you’re going to put such a system in place, put an iPad in my room and let me order from there, which is so much easier. To be continue...

Corona is a reality but it cannot stop traveling, tourism minister says

“Corona is a fact, but can the virus stop tourism? Certainly not. For us, the coronavirus is a new experience in dealing with crises that teaches tourism experts around the world how to deal with such a disaster, and thankfully governments are turning this into an opportunity for better planning,” Ali-Asghar Mounesan said, ISNA reported. He made the remarks in a video showcased on Tuesday evening during a prize-giving ceremony in which a select of tourism businesses, tour operators, investors, and hoteliers were honored. “Tourism experts will certainly find a way to deal with this great crisis. As if the measures so far been taken in Iran and all over the world show that we will surely succeed [to make a big rebound] through proper smart planning.” Addressing the attendees to the ceremony, the minister explained; “Investments and the launch of new projects in the tourism sector have been increased dramatically underway across the country. Of these, about 600 are hotel-related projects that show a very promising future, conveying a message that investors see profitable prospects for Iran’s tourism.” Elsewhere in remarks, the official said “We are not saying that tourism should [merely] replace oil [revenues], but tourism can become first [sector of] economy in the country replacing revenues [currently being come from [the export of] mineral and raw resources.” “Tourism can create an easy way to earn and create employment by tapping into the existing historical and natural capacities of the country.” Mounesan has long been attaching importance to tourism as a source of revenue, which could substitute petro-dollars. Back in 2017, he said: “Every single foreign tourist visiting Iran spends an average of $1,200, bringing in income as much as exporting 30 barrels of oil.” Referring to the pandemic and its impacts on the traveling sector, he said: “All the economists in the world have predicted [dramatic] changes and developments for many once-prosperous sectors….. However, the technology is advancing, and smart solutions… will certainly bring changes in the world's economic sectors.” In June, the United Nations World Tourism Organization praised efforts made by Iran’s tourism ministry to manage the travel industry during the coronavirus pandemic. UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said in a letter to Mounesan that the country's measures have truly earned plaudits to mitigate the impact on tourism. “A series of measures that the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts of Iran has taken, in accordance with the guidelines and recommendations of UNWTO, has truly earned plaudits as an effective practice to mitigate the impact on tourism,” the letter reads. Some experts believe that the coronavirus pandemic may turn tours and travels into luxury items as observing health protocols will raise the cost of travel in the country. Mohammad Ali Vaqefi, the vice president of the Iranian Tour Operators Association, warned earlier in June that with the continuation of the coronavirus outbreak, tourists may prefer individual travel rather than tours, adding that they may also choose to go on a trip by their vehicles and stay in tents or in the nature instead of hotels. In the global scene, part of the new travel puzzle is the jet-set mindset focusing on tough hygiene care and social distancing as cardinal guidelines for slowing the spread of the virus. So the average expenditure will be raised for a typical traveler particularly inbound passengers so lesser ones can afford to buy privacy and space and safer travel amenities. Meanwhile, deputy tourism minister Vali Teymouri, has said the tourism industry of Iran will get back on the right track sooner than expected thanks to measures taken to tackle the spread of coronavirus. “I believe that tourism industry of the country will get back on the right track far sooner than generally expected thanks to the measures taken to deal with the spread of coronavirus in tourist destinations, hotels, stopovers, and all the centers which are affiliated with the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts,” Teymouri said. Iran expects to reap a bonanza from its numerous tourist spots such as bazaars, museums, mosques, bridges, bathhouses, madrasas, mausoleums, churches, towers, and mansions, of which 24 being inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list. Under the 2025 Tourism Vision Plan, it aims to increase the number of tourist arrivals from 4.8 million in 2014 to 20 million in 2025. The latest available data show eight million tourists visited the Islamic Republic during the first ten months of the past Iranian calendar year (started March 21, 2019).

86.6% increase in the value of world tourism transactions

Travel Daily News described global data transactions based on information from the World Bank;  Total investment in tourism and leisure in the second half of 2020 reached $ 1.09 billion worldwide.  The value increased 86.6 percent from the previous three months, with North America leading the way.  The top countries in terms of number of transactions were the United States with 19 transactions, India with 9 transactions and China with 8 transactions.

The renovation project of Qazvin Hotel Grand enters a new phase

Esfandiar Heidaripour, CEO of Iran Cultural Heritage and Tourism Investment Company (SEMGA);  The reinforcement operation and the implementation of the initial restoration measures were completed last month. Additional renovation measures, including strengthening the roof covering, will be carried out, and finally, with the end of the structural operations this year, decorating project  will begin.

New Fit to Fly system installed at Abu Dhabi Airport Help to Identify Covid-19 Passenger - Etihad

Tourism crisis in Spain due to travel restrictions Following concerns about the spread of the coronavirus

Tourism crisis in Spain due to travel restrictions Following concerns about the spread of the coronavirus, Britain and several other European countries have imposed new travel restrictions on Spain.  The British government announced two days ago that from now on all travelers returning to the UK from Spain must remain in quarantine for 14 days.  The governments of France, Germany, Ireland, Norway, the Netherlands and Poland have each imposed restrictions on their citizens' travel to Spain and are currently refraining from traveling to this country.

Underwater hotel in a zoo in Belgium

The newly opened zoo is equipped with accommodations that allow guests to have a close and intimate encounter with the animals. Guests can enjoy and greet the underwater creatures while accommodatiing in a luxurious suite. The zoo also has rooms overlooking the places of bears, wolves, polar bears, penguins and tigers. 

Development of new job standards in the field of hospitality and tourism

The instructors of the General Department of Technical and Vocational Education of Mazandaran have developed three new job standards in the field of hotel and tourism.  These standards have been prepared under the headings of sales, services in hotel management, professional ethics in the tourism industry, and eloquence in tourism tours.  These standards have been sent to the Research, Design and Curriculum Planning Office of the Technical and Vocational Education Organization for approva

Extension of the exemption for issuing hotel and guest house construction licenses for a period of 3 years

Approved in a public meeting of Isfahan City Council;  Extension of the exemption for issuing hotel and guest house construction licenses for a period of 3 years  The bill was approved by the city council in 2014 and has been extended twice in recent years. The main purpose of approving and extending this bill is to increase and complete the infrastructure of the tourism industry in the city of Isfahan.  During the last year, permits have been issued for the construction of 18 new hotels in the city of Isfahan.

Europe opened its borders, but there was no news of foreign tourists

Despite the start of tourism in some southern European countries, the number of tourists in Spain, Italy and Greece has been much lower than expected.  Hotel bookings in Italy are very low despite government incentives, there are no large numbers of tourists in the Spanish Canary Islands, and the Greek islands comparing to half of their regular tourist capacity. According to statistics, tourists and citizens of European countries prefer to travel in their own country to foreign trips.