Covid-19

Six months. It took six months for China to partially lift the ban on foreign travellers entering the country, with all the restrictions lifted for the type of traveller. So, for the past week, it has once again been possible to travel directly to Beijing. A real event,...

The European Commission wishes to ensure that all measures taken by Member States that restrict free movement as a result of the coronavirus pandemic are coordinated and clearly communicated at EU level. This proposal for a Council Recommendation is a first step towards greater cooperation and coordination between the 27 Member States....

The travel experience on high-speed trains between Europe and the UK is now back to normal. Since 7 September, passengers have been able to enjoy a full range of catering services on board Eurostar trains. Limited for a time due to the pandemic, this development comes on top of the reopening of the lounges...

-6.1% in Western Europe, -12.3% for Central and Eastern Europe: the figures compiled by the consultant OAG are indisputable. Airline capacity around the world is falling, and Europe is particularly hard hit. According to OAG, while airlines were planning a total of 59 million seats for the week of...

Rydoo is adding a very contemporary feature to its business travel and expense management solution: a "Clean & Safe" tag informing users about hotels that have been reopened and their compliance with safety regulations. As part of their search, travellers will be able to find...

From annual growth of close to 5 % in recent years, the Asian exhibition industry is set to fall by 75 % in 2020. According to a study conducted by Business Strategies Group (BSG) on behalf of UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, net floor space sold is set to fall from 24.5 million m2 in 2019...

Paris's top-of-the-range hotels are back in business after months of closure. While some hotels took the gamble of reopening their doors at the start of the summer, such as the Hôtel Fauchon on 1 July and the Hilton Opéra on 10 July, most of the four and five-star establishments kept their doors open...

At a time when the events sector is awaiting a recovery, one of France's leading venues for professional events, the Palais des festivals et des congrès de Cannes, has announced that it has been awarded health and safety accreditation. The venue has undergone a "Covid 19 Business Ready" audit carried out by the Socotec group, one of France's leading...

With the resurgence of infections linked to the covid-19 pandemic throughout the world, and particularly in Europe, travel conditions are once again becoming stricter for potential travellers. In less than two weeks, for example, the United Kingdom has decided to re-impose a quarantine on travellers from Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

With the uncertainty in Europe heightened by the mandatory quarantine or ban on travel to certain regions, airlines are once again suspending their flights, while travellers are cancelling their trips. Against this backdrop, the Lufthansa group - which includes the German airline as well as SWISS, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines - has decided to suspend its flights...

Has the travel agency model been weakened by the past few months? Julien Kauffmann - On the contrary, I'd say that the current crisis has put the agency back centre stage. Its role has been reaffirmed, in particular through its ability to reassure travellers, to give them precise information on the conditions of their...

The uncertainty surrounding the resumption of air traffic due to the persistence of the Covid-19 pandemic is forcing Finnair to suspend a number of its international routes. However, the airline has set a deadline for these suspensions: March 31, the date on which the summer timetable officially begins...

As part of its multi-channel strategy, American Express Global Business Travel (GBT) is enhancing both its instant messaging service and its Amex GBT Mobile application. Messaging on the Amex GBT mobile application, which enables travellers to chat with a travel adviser, has now gone live in more than 24 countries....

It's now official: Eurostar will be operating a direct service between the Netherlands and the UK from 26 October 2020. Its debut was originally scheduled for 30 April this year, but Covid has postponed it until a better time. Making the journey in a single stretch, with no passport control in Brussels, the trains will...

The debate raged a few months ago at the start of the pandemic. Should the middle seat in economy class cabins be blocked in order to maintain sufficient sanitary standards? The International Air Transport Association (IATA) raised the issue in April, but changed its mind in May. At a briefing,...

The United Kingdom's sudden decision to re-introduce compulsory quarantine for travellers to several European Union countries within a matter of hours has further dampened hopes of a return to normal traffic flows. The decision was justified by the upsurge in cases of coronavirus in certain parts of these countries. The UK's Department for...

Over the past month, France has seen a steady rise in the number of cases of covid-19 on its territory. A situation that has the authorities worried. As early as July, an upsurge in contamination due to the arrival of tourists led to the compulsory wearing of masks in the open air in seaside resorts such as Argeles, Biscarosse, Cancale, Honfleur,...

"The shock to our industry is unprecedented and unprecedentedly violent". Sébastien Bazin, CEO of Accor, can't help but notice the impact of the pandemic on tourism in general, and on his hotel group in particular. Indeed, for the first half of the year, revenue per room (RevPAR) fell by...

COVID-19 weighed heavily on the Air France-KLM group's results in the first half of 2020. The number of passengers carried collapsed (-62% in the first half of 2020) while capacity fell by 53% for the group (including -89% in the second quarter alone). [link-block prefix="See also:" post="90597"] The losses are therefore...

Barely open, already closed. A few months after its inauguration in June 2019, the InterContinental Lyon - Hôtel-Dieu was forced to suspend its activities due to a pandemic. We were going at 500 an hour and had to come to an abrupt halt," says Madelijn Vervoord, the hotel's general manager. The evening we were told we had to close...