In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, online lodging marketplace&nbsp;Airbnb has launched an 'Enhanced Cleaning Initiative' as a way to guaranty customers safety of their travel. It is a&nbsp;certification program for hosts to follow sanitation guidelines and standards listed by the US&nbsp;CDC. The initiative has also been developed along with former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy. In May, the company is launching a new 'Cleaning Protocol' and guests will be able to book accommodation's&nbsp;by hosts who have earned the certification under the new protocol. The protocol includes criteria like the use of masks and gloves by cleaners and disinfectants certified by regulatory authorities.&nbsp;

In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, online lodging marketplace Airbnb has launched an 'Enhanced Cleaning Initiative' as a way to guaranty customers safety of their travel. It is a certification program for hosts to follow sanitation guidelines and standards listed by the US CDC. The initiative has also been developed along with former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy. In May, the company is launching a new 'Cleaning Protocol' and guests will be able to book accommodation's by hosts who have earned the certification under the new protocol. The protocol includes criteria like the use of masks and gloves by cleaners and disinfectants certified by regulatory authorities.

Hotels may not reopen until August end or September, shared the&nbsp;Shimla Hotel Restaurant Association. According to a report in the Hindustan Times, most tourists who visit the hill station come from states worst hit by the Covid-19 pandemic such as Maharashtra, Delhi, Gujarat and Punjab. The president of the association&nbsp;Sanjay Sood said that it will take a couple of months to train employees to take care of guests and themselves while adjusting to the new normal. Hoteliers have requested the chief minister not to start quarantine tourism. They've also asked for Himachal&nbsp;Pradesh to be marketed as a safe destination for wellness, adventure and culinary tourism to boost ailing sectors.&nbsp;

Facing the brunt of the Covid-19 pandemic, almost 350 hotels in Darjeeling, under Darjeeling Hotel Owners Association, have decided to shut down from July. According to a Times of India report, the move may render almost 10,000 workers jobless.&nbsp;General secretary of the association, Vijay Khanna&nbsp;shared that tourism&nbsp;may not pick up this year, spelling uncertainty for the hospitality sector. This means that they may not be able to sustain themselves and the workforce. Tourism usually spikes in the months of April, May and June in the hills and the season is now over, he shared.&nbsp;

The world-famous&nbsp;Uffizi Gallery in Florence opened its doors to visitors,&nbsp;after being locked down for 85 days amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Hundreds of people wearing masks queued up on the first day. The gallery is famous for iconic&nbsp;works by Italian Renaissance masters including&nbsp;Botticelli, Raphael and Leonardo Da Vinci.&nbsp;The museum director shared that during the lockdown, the gallery lost almost one million visitors and 12 million euros in revenue. Stringent measures including thermal&nbsp;scanners, distribution&nbsp;of antibacterial gel, and markings for social distancing have been enforced to contain the spread of&nbsp;&nbsp;Covid-19. Only&nbsp;450 people will be allowed inside&nbsp;the museum during one session.&nbsp;

A top destination for Indian travellers, the island nation of&nbsp;Maldives&nbsp;may reopen to visitors as early as July 1. While the final rules have not been finalised yet, the report says that visitors may need to present a confirmed booking at a tourist facility that possesses a safety license. An earlier report said that guests may be charged an additional fee but the ministry has clarified to CNN that there will be no such fee. A Telegraph report states that visitors may have to&nbsp;submit either a negative antigen test or a positive antibody test a week before their arrival but it is not clear if this mandate will make it to the final rules.&nbsp;

A new expressway connecting Delhi and Amritsar&nbsp;will begin construction soon as Centre has approved a&nbsp;proposal to convert the Punjab stretch of Delhi-Amritsar-Katra expressway to a&nbsp;greenfield project.&nbsp;Union Highways Minister&nbsp;Nitin Gadkari&nbsp;has cleared a sum of Rs. 25,000 crores for the ambitious project that will travel time between Delhi and Amritsar&nbsp;to just four hours from nearly eight hours at present.&nbsp;

UAE&nbsp;flag carrier,&nbsp;Etihad&nbsp;Airways has launched a&nbsp;Etihad Wellness&rsquo; programme to assure travellers of their safety when they fly with the airline again. As part of the programme, stringent measures have been put in place, which will be monitored by a 'wellness ambassador' on board the aircraft. These measures are being taken right from your transfer to the airport to checking-in and landing. These include disinfecting planes at every destination, 24-hour assistance, and hygiene kits for every passenger. Before passengers de-board the plane, they will be well briefed about their destination for their safety.&nbsp;

Keeping up with the new normal amid the&nbsp;Covid-19 pandemic, Bengaluru's&nbsp;Kempegowda International Airport has introduced new features as safety&nbsp;measures. Starting from the pre-entry check to security and boarding, everything is contactless&nbsp;with the&nbsp;aim to minimize all physical contact. The airport has introduced contactless&nbsp;self check-in kiosks, non-intrusive thermal cameras, and self baggage drop facility. Officials will verify the tickets and boarding pass with a magnified glass or an electronic device. The Bangalore International Airport Limited had earlier said that it will ensure that the taxis are sanitised and drivers are screened before every trip to eliminate&nbsp;all chances of infection.
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The Tao Art Gallery in Mumbai&nbsp;is hosting a virtual exhibition, titled &nbsp;&ldquo;Locked down physically, Unbound Visually&rdquo;,&nbsp; till the 15th of June. The exhibition showcases the magnificent beauty of our planet through the lenses of ten Indian photographers including&nbsp;Amrita Diwanji, Monisha Ajgaonkar&nbsp;and&nbsp;Anurag Banerjee. A part of the proceeds from the sale of the photographs will go to&nbsp;Give India Foundation to aid the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

Bondi Icebergs in Australia is known to be the most photographed swimming pool in the world and it's not hard to see why. The stunning pool is located along the Bondi&nbsp;beach. While it has been closed for&nbsp;now due to the&nbsp;Covid-19 pandemic, it is usually open to public all through the year. With magnificent&nbsp;views of the sea and crashing waves, the pool has gained a historical landmark status.&nbsp;You can even grab a meal at the&nbsp;cafe right next to the pool or indulge in a relaxing sauna session.&nbsp;

Exposure scientist&nbsp;Paloma Beamer&nbsp;from the&nbsp;University of Arizona and her colleague&nbsp;Dr. Kacey Ernst share&nbsp;that it is essential to consider a number of factors before you decide to fly again. Start by thinking about the reason for your trip, if it is just a vacation, hold on! Airplanes are not built for social distancing and you might want to consider who is in your 6-feet distance, they said. If you're someone older or with a pre-existing health condition, or going to visit someone belonging to these categories, think extra. They further shared that if there is an alternative to air travel, even if it means taking a day-long road journey, go for it. They suggest&nbsp;you try booking shorter, multiple flights and opt for the window seat.

As domestic and international travel remains suspended in many countries around the world,&nbsp;online aggregator MakeMyTrip is facing the brunt of Covid-19 pandemic. The company is laying off 10% of its workforce, nearly 350 employees due to business slowdown. In a letter to the employees, the founder and CEO&nbsp;Deep Kalra and Rajesh Magow&nbsp;stated that it wasn't clear when the travel industry would return to normalcy. Those impacted by the decision will be offered medi-claim coverage till the end of the year along with gratuity, leave encashment, salary&nbsp;as per notice period and outplacement support.

As a mark of respect,&nbsp;AirAsia India is offering 50,000 seats to&nbsp; doctors fighting the&nbsp;Covid-19 pandemic without charging them the base fare. The initiative called 'RedPass'&nbsp;will apply on flights in the domestic sectors. Other charges like airport fees and statutory taxes will have to be paid by the passenger. To avail the offer, doctors can submit their details and date of travel between the 1st of July and 30th of September on the airline's website.&nbsp;The RedPass will be valid for a one-way flight, the airline shared in its release.&nbsp;Along with base-free tickets, doctors will be given special privileges&nbsp;like priority boarding at the airport.

A dedicated area at the entrance of the Delhi airport has been set up for the sanitisation of cabs coming in to pick up passengers, according to a&nbsp;Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) statement. Area for each cab operator to conduct car sanitisation thoroughly from inside and outside has assigned at the multi-level car park. A fumigation machine will spray disinfectant inside the vehicle as well as special cleaning of touch points like handles, glove box, steering wheel&nbsp;to neutralise any virus.&nbsp;

Srinagar's famous tulip garden was unable to host its tulip show this year for public viewing due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but that hasn't stopped the garden from preparing for a bigger and better show. A cleaning drive at the Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip Garden commenced on the 31st of May and a pre-harvesting operation is underway to gear up for the next season. All social distancing measures are being taken by the workers while working in the garden.&nbsp;

Dubai has announced the reopening of major beaches and parks over the weekend.
Rulers in the United Arab Emirates have begun easing restrictions, announcing the reopening of cinemas, gyms and sporting facilities, after two months of lockdowns and curfews to curb the spread of coronavirus
People flooded public beaches on Saturday, many beachgoers were not wearing face masks or abiding by social distancing rules.

An analysis by the Centre for Science and Environment claims that people will reduce their use of public transport for the next six months as they prioritise&nbsp;health and safety. The surve&nbsp;covered&nbsp;over 400 middle and high-income groups in Delhi and NCR.&nbsp; 'There is positive shift in attitude towards high quality public transport, contact-free walking and cycling and lifestyle adjustment to reduce unnecessary travel trips in the longer term,' the environment policy think tank said. The analysis also found that preference for car or two-wheeler ownership is also set to rise.&nbsp;

Bird lovers, take note! A bird tourism centre is in the pipeline at the Nature Education and Eco Park in Munsyari&nbsp;in&nbsp;Uttarakhand. According to a PTI report, visitors will get a chance to see almost 130 bird species through field guides, spotting scopes and telescopes. People can also enjoy a&nbsp;range of activities like heritage walks, adventure sports and explore wildlife. In addition to two lakes, watch towers will be created to allow people to view the splendid beauty of the&nbsp;Jauhar Valley. Divisional Forest Officer Vinay Bhargava&nbsp;shared that the centre, likely to be completed in 3 years, will help create employment opportunities for the locals.

A team from&nbsp;IIT&nbsp;Madras has helped triple the&nbsp;Irrawaddy dolphin population at the Chilika&nbsp;Lake,&nbsp;Asia's largest brackish water body, in Odisha. The researchers&nbsp;conducted geotechnical, hydraulic and satellite imagery studies and developed a dredging methodology for the project. The project will also be of massive help for 200,000 fishermen living in 132 nearby villages as it resulted in a seven-fold increase of fish. 'The lake was in a degraded condition and included in the threatened list by Ramsar Convention in 1993,' IIT&nbsp;Madras professor said. Thanks to the restoration, the lake is now&nbsp;&nbsp;off the threatened list.&nbsp;

You can soon enjoy your favourite roller coaster rides in amusement parks across Japan but don't be audibly thrilled while on it! The&nbsp;East Japan and West Japan Amusement Park Associations have listed a set of guidelines that visitors will be required to follow once the parks reopen. Since loud noise could lead to droplets emanating from the mouths of entertainers, employees or guests and it may increase the risk of transmission of the Covid-19 virus, visitors are requested not to cheer or shout loudly. Other measures include compulsory masks, temperature checks, limited capacity and social distancing.&nbsp;
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While many countries are gearing up to welcome back tourists, Thailand has no such plans as yet. The governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Yuthasak Supasorn&nbsp;told American news publication&nbsp;CNN&nbsp;that the country is still on high alert and they must also look at the situation in the country of origin of tourists before opening up. According to data from Johns Hopkins University, Thailand has reported over 3,000 cases of Covid-19. However, the country aims to start domestic tourism next month in selected areas. For international tourists, they will wait for clearance from the country&rsquo;s Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration, the report said.&nbsp;

Airbnb launches 'Enhanced Cleaning Initiative'

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Airbnb launches 'Enhanced Cleaning Initiative'

Apr 28, 2020 10:37 IST

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