Covid 19 impacts on tourism

Rising COVID-19 cases are driving up the use of therapeutics, with Pfizer Inc's oral antiviral treatment Paxlovid seeing a 315% jump over the past four weeks, U.S. health officials said on Tuesday. The increase in U.S. cases and hospitalizations is starting to affect recommendations on behavior, with New York City, the nation's most populous city, advising stricter mask usage but stopping short of new mandates. Apple has scrapped return to office plans. "Increasingly, we'll see this virus hit people who are substantially older, frail, have underlying illnesses, or are distinctly immunocompromised," said Dr. William Schaffner, infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. "But we now have better treatments and many of those people will leave the hospital vertically rather than horizontally." The United States is averaging nearly 97,000 new cases a day, up from about 73,000 a week ago, according to a Reuters tally. Cases have been gradually … [Read more...] about As U.S. COVID-19 cases rise, so does demand for antivirals

An additional 1,831 new Covid-19 infections were confirmed on Wednesday, raising the national tally to over 10.70 million, according to the Ministry of Health. According to the ministry's report, most of the new patients are locally-transmitted cases confirmed in 48 out of 63 localities in the country with some localities seeing the highest numbers including Hanoi (403), Vinh Phuc (139), Phu Tho (125), Bac Ninh (80), and Nghe An (80). As of Wednesday evening, the number of Covid-19 patients in Vietnam has increased to over 10.70 million. The country now stands 12th among 227 countries and territories worldwide in the number of infections. On May 18, an additional 8,437 more patients recovered from the disease, raising the number of recoveries in the country to over 9.37 million. On Wednesday evening, one death related to Covid-19 was announced, total fatalities stayed at 43,072. By May 17, the country had injected more than 217 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines, including … [Read more...] about Additional 1,831 Covid-19 infections confirmed on Wednesday

The conference, held by the national carrier Vietnam Airlines and two travel groups – Saigon Tourists and Thien Minh Group – to boost the cooperation between enterprises of the two countries and to introduce Vietnam to U.S. friends and partners. Addressing the event, PM Chinh highlighted the development of the Vietnam - U.S. ties, benefiting both countries and contributing to peace, cooperation and development in the world. The Government leader affirmed that economic, investment, trade and science-education cooperation is an important pillar in the bilateral relationship. In the very challenging year of 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, two-way trade still reached 112 billion USD, accounting for nearly one-third of the total U.S. - ASEAN trade turnover. The U.S. is Vietnam’s second largest trade partner while Vietnam is the U.S.’ 9th largest, he noted, adding that trade between the two countries has contributed to making Vietnam one of the 20 largest import-export countries … [Read more...] about PM urged U.S. businesses to invest in tourism and trade in Vietnam

National Assembly Chairman Vương Đình Huệ and his Singaporean counterpart Tan Chuan-Jin held talks in Hà Nội on Wednesday. — VNA/VNS Photo Doãn Tấn HÀ NỘI — Speaker of Singaporean Parliament Tan Chuan-jin and Chairman of Vietnamese National Assembly have agreed that successful economic cooperation will elevate bilateral relations during the official talks on Wednesday in Hà Nội. The Singaporean parliament leader is in the capital for a three-day visit on the invitation of his Vietnamese counterpart. NA Chair Huệ said the ‘miraculous development’ of Singapore with the wise vision of the leadership and the aspirations of the people are always a source of inspiration to Vietnamese leadership and people. Amid complicated regional and global geopolitical, economic developments, the two countries should tighten relations, including between the legislations to contribute to the advancement of the Strategic Partnership. Speaker Chuan-jin said his visit to Việt Nam is a chance for … [Read more...] about Việt Nam, Singapore to expand cooperation in digital transformation, green economy: Legislative leaders

Because of strict visa policies, promotions to attract international tourists have not been as effective as expected, according to many businesses. Enterprises have made huge investments to welcome back tourists, but such illogical visa policies may slow down the tourism recovery pace. Being confused and facing difficulties Many travel companies in Da Nang City told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that visa policies for foreign tourists were still their biggest concern. Before the COVID-19 outbreak, Vietnam offered the visa waiver policy for citizens of many countries and the normal visa approval period was three to five days (visas which were valid for 30 days). However, the list of countries whose citizens are entitled to Vietnam’s visa waiver policy has been shortened and the visa processing period has been lengthened, putting enterprises at a disadvantage. Cao Tri Dung, chairman of the Da Nang Tourism Association, said that after the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of … [Read more...] about Strict visa policies hinder international guests from visiting Vietnam

The Emirates Group has released its 2021-22 Annual Report, which shows a strong recovery across its businesses.— Photo courtesy of Emirates The Emirates Group has released its 2021-22 Annual Report, which shows a strong recovery across its businesses. dnata returned to profitability, and significant revenue improvements were reported across Emirates and dnata as the group rebuilt its air transport and travel-related operations, which were previously cut back or curtailed by the pandemic. For the financial year ended 31 March 2022, the Emirates Group posted a loss of AED 3.8 billion (US$ 1.0 billion) compared with an AED 22.1 billion (US$ 6.0 billion) loss for last year. The group’s revenue was AED 66.2 billion (US$ 18.1 billion), an increase of 86 per cent over last year’s results. The group’s cash balance was AED 25.8 billion (US$ 7.0 billion), up 30 per cent from last year, mainly due to strong demand across its core business divisions and markets, triggered by the easing … [Read more...] about Emirates Group reports strong recovery in 2021-22