DTCM Highlight 12 steps to sustainability

Dubai Sustainable Tourism (DST) an initiative of Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) outlines simple adjustments that residents can make to help keep the city operating as sustainably as possible during the period of lockdown. Building on the UAE’s #StayHome initiative, DTCM laid out 12 steps to sustainability, which are; Responsible consumption: purchase local produce to support local businesses and to minimise on the food miles each item has travelled to be delivered to your door; Meal Planning: Think ahead to avoid over buying or bulk purchases, consider the delivery drivers, remain conscious of food waste and be supportive of the community by only buying what you need.

Maximise Natural Light: Turn the lights off in rooms that aren’t being used and open your curtains and windows for additional daylight and fresh air; 

Energy Conservation: Ensure that air conditioning units are only working in rooms that are being used, try to only run the dishwasher when it is full and only use one glass throughout the day, washing it once you’ve finished with it.

Use water wisely: Support Dubai and educate your family members on conscious water usage; 

Concentration: Avoid distractions, set house rules for your family members to respect working time and don’t have the television on in the background if not being watched.

Health and wellbeing: Remain active, and practice meditation to remain productive and to maintain a positive frame of mind, follow Yoga La Vie for live online sessions. Avoid sitting on the sofa whilst working, sitting upright at a desk will keep you engaged and in ‘work mode’; 

Go paperless: Avoid printing paper and adopt a digital filing and document review system.

Virtual community service and volunteerism: Use your free time to support and give back to the community using your expertise, register for virtual volunteerism opportunities; 

Plant Therapy: Nurture the plants in your home and garden as they produce oxygen and can provide a sense of calm. 

Remain informed: Learn about the UAE’s unique environment and biodiversity by engaging with different virtual local platforms including Emirates Nature WWF.

Credit: tourismbreakingnews.ae

Greece to open Tourism back by July 1st

Greece, which has a population of 10.72 million, has seen 2,632 cases of COVID-19 and 146 deaths from the virus so far in the pandemic.

A woman sits at Peraia beach as Greece begins a gradual easing of the nationwide lockdown due to the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID 19), in Thessaloniki, Greece, on May 5..JPG

• The country went under a lockdown early to help prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, which authorities have credited with keeping cases and deaths of the virus low.

• It's already reopening some businesses and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told CNN he hopes to have the tourism industry back up and running by July.

Greece says it hopes to reopen the country to tourists within weeks thanks to an early lockdown that helped prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus within its borders.

Greece, which has a population of 10.72 million, has seen 2,632 cases of COVID-19, a much lower count than other countries, particularly some in nearby western Europe. The country has had 146 deaths from the virus, making a per capita death rate of 13.61 per million people.

Tourism is 12% of the economy in Greece, according to the Forbes, and hotels plan to reopen on June 1. There are plans in the works to invite tourists to the country in mid-June, and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told CNN that he wants to have everything up and running by July 1.

"Ideally we want more high-end tourists where we can actually respect social distancing,"Mitsotakis told CNN, adding that there would be COVID-19 testing at airports and temperature checks at hotels and local businesses.

Greece was quick to issue closures when the novel coronavirus first started spreading across the world. Mitsotakis canceled carnival festivities on February 27, canceled school, and closed college campuses on March 10, and shuttered restaurants and cafes on March 13, BBC reported.

He issued a lockdown on March 23, during which residents had to register to leave their homes to exercise or go to the pharmacy or supermarket, according to BBC. If residents violated the lockdown, they were fined.

Greece's borders have been closed to non-European Union citizens since March, air travel to several countries hit by COVID-19 has been suspended, and Greece issued a mandatory 14-day self-quarantine for anyone arriving from another country. At Athens International Airport, officials are performing thorough COVID-19 testing.

"We have reached a point where we've almost completely suppressed the epidemic, at least in the first stage and we'll begin to relax. We feel we've dodged the first bullet very clearly," Mitsotakis told CNN. "I think we did it the right way. Of course we didn't get everything completely correct, but if you look at the numbers, you can't argue with what we have achieved."

Nonessential businesses reopened on Monday, many of which are evaluating customers for symptoms before they enter.

Greek tourism minister Harry Theocharis told Reuters last month that travel might look different this year, but the country hopes they can reopen its borders for the economy.

"This season is not going to be a season like the other years, I would be a fool to believe that this could ever be the case, however there is a lot that we can do in order to re-open the touristic economy, the touristic flows, and that way we will able to support a lot of those enterprises the hotels, the travel agents," he said.

Push for global tourism aid to Africa

Iata DG and CEO, Alexandre de Juniac

Five international air transport and tourism bodies have launched an appeal to international financial institutions, country development partners and international donors, to support Africa’s travel and tourism sector – which employs 24.6 million people on the continent.

“Without urgent funding, the COVID-19 crisis could see a collapse of the sector in Africa, taking with it millions of jobs. The sector contributes US$169 billion to Africa’s economy combined, representing 7.1% of the continent’s GDP,” read a joint statement by the respective bodies.

The request was made by Iata, the World Tourism Organization, the World Travel & Tourism Council, the African Airlines Association, and the Airlines Association of Southern Africa.

Some of the measures suggested include:

•US$10 billion in relief to support the industry and help protect the livelihoods of those it supports directly and indirectly;

•Access to as much grant-type financing and cash-flow assistance as possible to inject liquidity and provide targeted support to severely impacted countries;

•Financial measures that can help minimise disruption to much-needed credit and liquidity for businesses. This includes the deferral of existing financial obligations or loan repayments; and,

•Ensuring that all funds flow down immediately to save the businesses that need them urgently, with minimal application processes and without impediment from normal lending considerations such as creditworthiness.

The five bodies highlighted that while some African governments were trying to provide targeted and temporary support for hard-hit sectors such as tourism, many of these countries lacked the necessary resources to help the industry and the livelihoods it supports, through this crisis.

The situation is now critical. Airlines, hotels, guesthouses, lodges, restaurants, meeting venues and related businesses face mounting losses. Typically, tourism comprises 80% of small and medium-sized enterprises. To preserve cash, many have already begun laying off or placing staff on unpaid leave.

“The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is being felt across the whole tourism value chain. The sector and the millions of livelihoods it supports across the world, including vulnerable communities, are particularly exposed. International financial support is key to ensuring that tourism can lead to wider economic and social recovery in these communities,” said UNWTO Secretary-General, Zurab Pololikashvili.

Iata DG and CEO, Alexandre de Juniac, agreed highlighting that without a lifeline of funding to keep the sector alive, the economic devastation of COVID-19 could take Africa’s development back a decade or more.

“Financial relief today is a critical investment in Africa’s post-pandemic future for millions of Africans,” he said.

CEO of the Airlines Association of Southern Africa, Chris Zweigenthal,

further highlighted that the impact of COVID-19 in Africa continued to be brutal.

“Air travel and tourism have essentially shut down. Now, more than ever, international countries need to come together to help those communities that are most vulnerable. The survival of our industry and its allied sectors has serious ramifications for Africa’s entire air transport system.

MOROCCO: TOURIST ARRIVALS UP 6.4% AT THE END OF AUGUST

A total of 9.266 million tourists have visited Morocco at the end of the first eight months of the year, up 6.4% compared to the same period in 2018, with +8.7% for foreign tourists (TES) and +4% for Moroccans living abroad (MRE), according to the Tourism Observatory.

All the main supply markets experienced increases during this period, notably Italy (+10%), the United Kingdom (+8%), France (+8%), Germany (+7%), Spain (+6%), Netherlands (+6%) and Belgium (+6%), says the Observatory in its latest note on the tourism arrivals in Morocco.

The total overnight stays spent in classified tourist accommodation establishments, for their part, increased by 5.3% compared to the same period in 2018 (+3.3% for non-resident tourists and 9.8% for residents), says the same source, adding that two tourist attractions alone, Marrakech and Agadir, generated 57% of the total overnight stays at the end of August 2019.

These two destinations recorded positive results (+8% for Marrakech and +2% for Agadir), continues the Observatory, noting that Tétouan, Tangier and Oujda have also shown good performances (+28%, +10% and +11%, respectively).

In August 2019 alone, the number of tourist arrivals at border crossings during the month of August decreased by 1% compared to 2018 (+11.3% for the TES and -7.6% for the MRE).

The primary supply markets recorded contrasting results.
Belgium, Spain, and Germany recorded decreases of 5%, 4% and 3%, respectively , while the other markets recorded increases; in this case, the United Kingdom (+8%) and the United States (+6%).

At the same time, the number of overnight stays in classified establishments increased by 4% in August 2019 compared to 2018 (-1% for non-resident tourists and +12% for residents).

Geographically, the destinations of Rabat, Tétouan, and Casablanca recorded an increase in overnight stays of +23%, +31% and +14%, respectively, followed by Marrakech (+5%) and Tangier (+6%).

Credit: Tourism Review