Hotel News Professional and Inclusive Hospitality Group

Former tourism officials have been sued over the Wilmots contract

"Pejmanfar" the chairman of the Article 90 fraction of the Islamic Consultative Assembly announced; I do not say for sure, but one of the reports we received, states that there is a possibility of collusion and should be investigated. Some people had responsibilities in the field of tourism and at some point they went on a trip and had meetings that I will not go into details.

Create: Aug 23, 2020 Edit: Aug 23, 2020 Regional News

Some hotels regret working after a few months and intend to close

"Alireza Raisi", Vice President of the Professional Association of Hotelier of Isfahan Province; The hoteliers community of the province is constantly working and the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage and the governorate of Isfahan have also supported us. No action is taken by the officials of the capital and all the support is in the form of words and meetings. At the provincial level, letters and requests go to Tehran, but no response is received.

Create: Aug 21, 2020 Edit: Aug 21, 2020 Regional News

The Minister of Tourism in Semnan province

Ali Asghar Monsan closely examined the capacities of Semnan province in the fields of culture, history, tourism and handicrafts in a meeting with the governor and a number of provincial officials and members of parliament. Visiting the projects under construction, including the largest tourism complex in Semnan province in the city of "Sorkheh", is another program of the Minister of Tourism during his visit to Semnan province.

Create: Aug 21, 2020 Edit: Aug 21, 2020 Regional News

Continued disagreement among British officials over the issue of forced quarantine of passengers

The British government has told incoming travelers from many countries that they must quarantine for 14 days after entering the UK. On the other hand, managers at London's Heathrow Airport have begun testing for 150 £ each traveler. The move by Heathrow Airport executives is aimed at pressuring the British government to leave the quarantine of the patient with coronavirus.

Create: Aug 20, 2020 Edit: Aug 20, 2020 International News

All cities will have a comprehensive tourism plan by the end of the year

The country's Deputy Minister of Tourism announced; The "Tourist City" project has a scientific dimension and cities are evaluated and ranked from the perspective of city officials, tourists, local communities and managers. The "tourist city" creates competition among city officials for the development of tourism infrastructure, which the provinces should take advantage of. By the end of the year, all 31 provinces of the country must declare their position in terms of tourist city and tourist destination.

Create: Aug 4, 2020 Edit: Aug 4, 2020 Regional News

Capsule hotels have no use in Mashhad

"Ali Aminian Heydari", an activist in the field of tourism and hotel management in Mashhad, raised Capsule hotels are not suitable for us because the type of useage is different from the consumption and needs of travelers. Instead of importing and paying for a new type of accommodation, officials should allocate the budget to boost the industry. Due to the large number of different types of accommodation centers in Mashhad, capsule hotels will not be so much welcomed there. Adding a new type of accommodation not only does not help but also increases negative competition.

Create: Jul 2, 2020 Edit: Jul 2, 2020 Regional News

Attention of tourism officials to the issue of tourism; From words to action

Tourism has no place among the priority projects of the resistance economy in 1399 !!! In a letter to ministers and heads of 19 departments and ministries, vice president announced the 83 priority projects of the resistance economy. None of these projects addresses the issue of tourism or handicrafts. On the other hand, projects that are recognized as a priority by the Resistance Economics Headquarters are supported.

Create: Jun 27, 2020 Edit: Jun 27, 2020 Regional News

Negotiations between Erdogan and Putin to save Turkey's tourism industry begin

Turkish Foreign Ministry diplomats and tourism managers are lobbying and consulting with Russian officials. They hope Putin's government will persuade its citizens to travel abroad so that Turkish hotels are not empty. In recent years, with the expansion of Ankara-Moscow cooperation in the fields of defense, nuclear energy, trade, oil and gas, the number of Russian tourists entering Turkey has also increased significantly. An average of 7 million tourists from Russia travel to Turkey each year, contributing to the development of the tourism industry.

Create: Jun 5, 2020 Edit: Jun 8, 2020 International News

Passengers without masks were not allowed to board on the plane

"Reza Jafarzadeh", the spokesman of the country's aviation organization, announced; According to health officials, all airlines are required to provide passengers with health packages, including masks. All passengers are required to wear a mask as soon as they board the flight. Companies cannot change their catering and other services on the excuse of Coronavirus.

Create: May 7, 2020 Edit: May 7, 2020 Regional News

Australian tourism on the edge of crisis

Australian tourism officials have warned that if hotels guests number continue to shrink due to the spread of the Corona virus, hotels in Australia will have to be closed. Hotels in the cities of Queens and Gold Coast, which have mostly Chinese, Japanese and Korean guests, offer their rooms this week at half the price of previous days.

Create: Mar 7, 2020 Edit: Mar 7, 2020 International News

Now is the time to prepare for the post-virus wave of Chinese tourists

On February 15th, 2003, the first group of 67 Chinese officially travelling for leisure arrived in Germany, based on the ADS Approved Destination System agreement China and Germany signed the year before, second in Europe only to the island state of Malta, while for the rest of the Schengen Area the ADS agreement came only into force in September 2004. Your humble editor had stopped a few years earlier to be an inbound tour operator for Chinese delegations and had just finished the first semester as a tenured university professor. Witnessing the high expectations of my former colleagues, all buying coaches, employing additional staff and moving into bigger offices, I wondered if I had taken the wrong decision to opt out of the business just before the biggest bonanza ever for the German China inbound tour operators, looking forward to enjoying a year without competition in Europe. Unknown at the time, in November 2002 SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) started in Guangzhou and spread to many countries in the world. On March 15th, 2003, the WHO issued a global alert about a new infectious disease, advising against any unnecessary travel to and from East Asia. On April 2nd, Chinese officials finally began reporting the severity and extent of the SARS outbreak. As a result the second quarter of 2003 saw almost no Mainland Chinese citizen arriving in Germany, pushing several inbound tour operators close to bankruptcy. For the whole year, the number of arrivals however reached the level of 2002, and 2004 saw an increase of almost 40%, as many of the trips to Germany influenced by the SARS crisis were only postponed, not cancelled. Globally the same happened: From 16.6 million in 2002 the number of outbound trips jumped to 20.9 million in 2004 despite the three-month hiatus. With the yet not fully named 2019-nCoV, things could turn out in a similar way, based on what is known until now. On the one hand the disease is spreading much faster, given the much improved domestic and international transport infrastructure available in comparison to 2003, on the other hand the Chinese government reacts in a much different way to the crisis. Among many others, starting from the 27th of January, all group travel from China has to cease. Individual travellers however will have a bigger incentive than before to go abroad. The biggest difference is clearly the fact that in 2003 outbound tourism was the least concern except for those few directly involved during the SARS crisis. In 2020 there are already articles published discussing the fate of the tourism industry of Thailand, Japan and other countries if the main source market China implodes. Via an open letter of the CATS China Association of Travel Services published on the 26th, the international partners have been asked to “introduce relative refund and changes policies to minimize Chinese tourists financial loss”. How much this will remain a wish or will become a demand, is one of the many unknown factors in the 2019-nCoV development. The main concern remains of course to minimize the loss of life in China. In all previous cases, being it SARS, MERS or the Lehman Brothers global economical crisis, demand bounced back stronger than before after two or three months. So it will be a good idea to use the time of the slowdown to train everybody involved in servicing Chinese customers, using the brand new CTT China Tourism Training. Let’s hope that the Year of the Rat will have a better ending than this dire beginning and that all our readers, their colleagues, family and customers will stay healthy.

Create: Jan 31, 2020 Edit: Jan 31, 2020 International News

IHG intensifies effort to fight human trafficking

January is recognized as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month in the US and IHG® has intensified its ongoing effort to fight human trafficking. The company has introduced new programs, tools and resources for colleagues to increase awareness and aid prevention of human trafficking, including a free training available to all IHG-branded hotels worldwide, including more than 4,200 properties in the Americas. Human trafficking, a form of modern slavery, is a $150 billion criminal enterprise that brings suffering and injustice to an estimated 40 million men, women and children across the globe, according to the International Labor Organization. It is a domestic and international issue that is present in communities of all sizes with individuals of all ages and backgrounds trafficked and exploited for purposes including sexual abuse and forced labor. Elie Maalouf, Chief Executive Officer, Americas, IHG, said: “At IHG, we condemn human trafficking in all forms, and we are taking a strong stance in partnership with our owners, elected officials and others in the industry. We are committed to protecting our guests, communities and owners from the impact of human trafficking as well as maintaining the integrity of IHG’s brands. We will not tolerate it, or those who would enable it, in the IHG system of hotels, and we are empowering all of our colleagues with the tools, resources and support they need to combat this crime on every level.” Most recently, in December, IHG hosted dozens of colleagues from local Georgia hotels for a group training and discussion at the Crowne Plaza® Atlanta Perimeter at Ravinia, located near the company’s Americas headquarters in Atlanta. During the event, attendees learned about the work to fight human trafficking in Georgia from First Lady Marty Kemp, as well as support and assistance programs available for survivors from Mary Frances Bowley, founder and executive director of non-profit Wellspring Living. “Our partnership with the hotel and lodging industry is forged by a common goal: ending human trafficking in Georgia,” said First Lady Kemp. “I applaud IHG’s efforts to train employees on identifying the warning signs of trafficking and supporting survivors. Education and awareness are key in this critical fight, and this training equips staff with the potential to save lives.” IHG has released a new video featuring a one-on-one conversation with First Lady Kemp and Colleen Keating, Chief Operating Officer, Americas, IHG, where the two leaders discuss the importance of public-private partnership in the fight against human trafficking and progress in the state of Georgia. Since its launch in summer 2019, colleagues in more than 2,300 hotels across the U.S., Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean have completed IHG’s online anti-human trafficking training. The company expects colleagues in all IHG-branded hotels in the region to have completed the training by March 2020. Additionally, IHG continues to work closely with a variety of organizations such as the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA), Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA) and Georgia Hotel & Lodging Association (GHLA) to share best practices, coordinate efforts and attack the issue on all levels. The company has also engaged in additional collaborative efforts, such as commitments to ECPAT and the criteria of The Code, as well as the AHLA 5-Star Promise. IHG also actively supports non-profit organizations that provide essential goods and services to support the recovery of human trafficking survivors, and coordinates regular volunteer opportunities for colleagues. IHG is a global company with a presence in more than 100 countries. The company considers addressing human trafficking a key component of its larger commitment to responsible business and at the core of how it operates. Read more about the company’s position and its consistent standard across every market in its global Human Rights Policy.

Create: Jan 11, 2020 Edit: Jan 11, 2020 International News