A decade after revolutionizing the hospitality industry, Airbnb is now set to design houses from 2019, revealed co-founder Joe Gebbia to Fast Company. Called 'Backyard', the project could involve everything from standalone houses to multi-unit complexes making it both a creator and a marketplace for selling parts of your home. Knowing Airbnb's past work, the space design project could experiment with co-living concepts. 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced Friday that the Hagia Sophia, one of the architectural wonders of the world, would be converted into a mosque. The move has sparked fury in the Christian community. Erdogan's declaration came after a top Turkish court revoked the sixth-century Byzantine monument's status as a museum, clearing the way for it to be turned back into a mosque. The UNESCO World Heritage site in Istanbul was first constructed as a cathedral in the Christian Byzantine Empire but was converted into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453.

The spellbinding group of almost 1,200 islands, Maldives is reopening for international tourists from July 15. Located somewhat isolated in the Indian Ocean, the country of 4 lakh&nbsp;residents will allow visitors only on&nbsp;resort islands and live-aboard boats as of July 15. From August 1, tourists can stay at&nbsp;guest houses and hotels on inhabited islands as well. While the offer is open to everyone, not all can afford to pay for stays at one of Maldives' luxury resorts, which cost upwards of $1,500 a night. But if you can afford it, the journey can be a smooth one as Maldives does not require any special fee or Covid-19 tests for people with no&nbsp;symptoms of the virus.&nbsp;

More than a year after Paris' most iconic cathedral Notre&nbsp;Dame was wrecked by a fire, it seems like the people who were hoping for a modern renovation may be disappointed. In a new statement, France's culture minister has said the monument 'should be rebuilt to look identical' to how it did before the catastrophic fire. This sounds like a shift in perspective from last year when former Prime Minister&nbsp;Edouard Philippe kicked off a competition for alternative designs for the restoration of the 850-year-old&nbsp;structure's roof and spire.&nbsp;

Owned by Brookfield Asset Management,&nbsp;The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts has won the position of the World&rsquo;s Best Hotel Brand by Travel + Leisure, USA World&rsquo;s Best Awards Survey, 2020.&nbsp;The same survey also ranked&nbsp;The Leela Palace Udaipur&nbsp;as the best resort hotel in India, followed by Oberoi&nbsp;Rajvilas and Rambagh&nbsp;Palace, both in Jaipur.&nbsp;In the list of Asia's 15 best city hotels, The Oberoi&nbsp;in Mumbai&nbsp;took the top spot and Leela&nbsp;Palace, New Delhi came second while Delhi's&nbsp;Taj&nbsp;Palace was on the 13th spot.&nbsp;
For the survey, Travel + Leisure readers rate their experiences and evaluate hotels across the world based on rooms, location, service, cuisine and value.

Coronavirus doesn't seem to be stopping Mickey Mouse. In somewhat worrying news, Disney World is set to reopen this weekend despite a coronavirus surge in Florida. The state recorded a record high of 120 Covid-19 deaths on Wednesday and has one of the largest outbreaks in the US. Two of the entertainment giant&rsquo;s Orlando theme parks, Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom, will open their gates on Saturday to guests with pre-booked reservations, with Epcot and Hollywood Studios following suit on 15 July. The four parks, along with the numerous hotels of the Disney World resort, have been closed since mid-March.

Indonesia's popular beach holiday destination Bali reopened from a three-month lockdown&nbsp;on Thursday July&nbsp;9.
Locals and foreign tourists were allowed to resume public activities but with strict rules. The island town will gradually reopen for business and&nbsp;Indonesians will be allowed to visit from July 31. However, foreign arrivals will be allowed only from September&nbsp;11 onwards. Every year, more than&nbsp;5 million foreign tourists visit the island of Bali.&nbsp;
The idyllic town of 4 million residents, Bali has recorded over 1,900 cases of Covid-19, including 25 deaths.&nbsp;

Gardens and parks have reopened in Srinagar amid the Covid-19 pandemic, following the government's order to ease&nbsp;lockdown&nbsp;restrictions. The move was welcomed by many including small businesses like ice cream vendors, photographers and restaurant owners who depend on tourists for their daily income. Authorities urge people to follow social distancing norms while visiting the parks, wear face masks and use hand sanitizers&nbsp;regularly to safeguard against the virus.&nbsp;

Before international travel became riddled with restrictions, the Henley Passport Index released a list of the world's most travel-friendly passports. For 2020, the list is topped by Japan with 191 countries in its kitty followed by Singapore with 190 nations. South Korea and Germany take the next spot with 189 countries each. At the bottom of the list, that is the countries with the worst passport in terms of travel restrictions are Afghanistan with just 26 nations, Iraq, Syria and Pakistan.&nbsp;
The index is based on data provided by the International Air Transport Authority (IATA) and covers 199 passports and 227 travel destinations.&nbsp;&nbsp;

It seems like art and history-craved enthusiasts across are flocking back to museums as they reopen. In France, the Louvre&nbsp;Museum reopened on July 7 after a four-month closure and all&nbsp;7,400 tickets available sold out. However, this is only a fraction of its usual footfall as it invites around 30,000-40,000 visitors daily, most of whom are visiting&nbsp;tourists in Paris.&nbsp;
London's National Gallery is set to reopen on July 8 after a 111-day closure. The tickets, which have now become mandatory to be booked before visit, are already sold out for the first week and tickets for a special exhibit are sold out for a month.&nbsp;
Some museums are even requiring people to buy timed-entry tickets to ensure there is no overcrowding.&nbsp;

The ruins of Hampi reopened for visitors after being closed since March, due to the Covid-19 induced lockdown. The move came after the Archaeological Survey of India permitted all monuments to reopen with restrictions. ASI directed authorities to limit the number of visitors to ruins of Hampi to 2000 a day, from 6 am to 6pm. To ensure safety, e-tickets will have to be purchased and entry will be through scanning a QR code. Other places like Vijayapura, Badami also reopened on Monday with restrcitons.

The Maharashtra government on Monday decided to allow hotels along with lodges and guest houses outside containment zones from July 8 at 33% of their capacity. The permission has been granted on the condition that these entities adhere to social distancing norms and other protocols. The Arogya Setu app will be compulsory and the order has asked guests to minimise use of housekeeping services. Contactless payment methods like QR codes, e-wallets have been encouraged for both check-ins and check-outs, while number of guests in elevators have been restricted. The government has asked restaurants to provide e-menus to guests and use disposable paper napkins. Room services and takeaways have been encouraged, instead of dine-ins.

Qutub Minar, Humayun's Tomb and a host of other centrally-protected monuments in Delhi were reopened for visitors after being shut for over three months due to the Covid-19 crisis. All guidelines, including social distancing and sanitisation measures, will be followed at these heritage sites. Wearing of masks will be mandatory and no one will be allowed to enter without it.
&nbsp;

The Louvre&nbsp;museum in Paris is bustling&nbsp;back with activity after a 16-week shutdown amid the&nbsp;Covid-19 pandemic. The museum, which houses some of&nbsp;the world's most famous artworks, has made it mandatory for visitors to wear face masks. Almost a third of its galleries, where social distancing is difficult, still remain shut.&nbsp;To avoid bottlenecks, arrows will guide visitors through the labyrinth of galleries. According to reports, the museum has lost more than 40 million euros and almost 80% of its visitors.&nbsp;
&nbsp;

As monuments under the Archaeological Survey of India gear up to reopen on Monday, the Taj Mahal&nbsp;will not reopen for tourists owing to a spike in Covid-19 cases in Agra. Agra district magistrate&nbsp;stated that all monuments, including Agra Fort and Akbar tomb, will be closed in the city until further notice. The decision was taken in a meeting between a district level Covid-19 team and ASI members on Sunday evening, who stated that the reopening of the monuments will allow tourists in and foster crowds increasing Covid&nbsp;risk. Agra currently has 71 containment zones and saw 55 new Covid-19 cases in the past 4 days. In other sites,&nbsp;practices, like sanitisation, social distancing&nbsp;and wearing masks will have to be followed, in line with new Covid-19 rules.

As part of a multi-billion dollar investment towards become a global tourism destination, Saudi Arabia unveiled plans for a new ultra-luxury airport. The airport's design has been inspired by the illusion of a desert mirage and is set to be completed by 2023.&nbsp;
The airport will service guests of the&nbsp;kingdom's new super luxury resort AMAALA&nbsp;when it opens. Designed to accommodate&nbsp;one million annual visitors, the airport will offer an 'exclusive private club experience' with dedicated&nbsp;hangars for private jets and commercial planes.&nbsp;

After more than three months of banning visitors, Himachal&nbsp;Pradesh&nbsp;has reopened for tourists with some conditions. Tourists will need to make a prior hotel booking of at least five days and submit a test report showing negative for Covid-19 from an ICMR-approved laboratory no older than 72 hours at the time of entry.&nbsp;
The state government has relaxed the ban as part of Unlock II measures.&nbsp;The order, however, does not mention the exact date from which tourists may visit the state and inter-state bus service will remain suspended till further orders.

The United Kingdom's Duke of Cambridge visited a pub on July 3rd, a day ahead of the reopening of bars, cafes and restaurants in England and Northern Ireland.&nbsp;Prince William was served a pint and chips at the Rose and Crown pub in Norfolk, where he spoke about the reopening under new health guidelines. Pubs in England have been closed since March 20, under restrictions to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

A favourite of writers and creatives, the iconic Indian Coffee House in Kolkata's&nbsp;College Street reopened on Thursday, 103 days after shutting down due to the Covid-19 pandemic.&nbsp;The eatery will be open from 11 am to 6 pm every day excepting Sundays. In the pre-COVID era, the Coffee House usually operated between 9 am and 9 pm.
To ensure social distancing, fewer than normal customers will be allowed on the two floors of the heritage eatery, which has been frequented by renowned poets, intellectuals and artists including the likes of Satyajit Ray and Amartya Sen&nbsp;among others.&nbsp;

Japan has launched a new bullet train that isn't just faster but can also function safely during an earthquake.&nbsp;
Called N700S, where the 'S' stands for Supreme, the train&nbsp;can run up to 360 kilometres per hour, which was a record set by the train in 2019. The train has now been launched for public use from July 1 and connects the Tokyo Station and Shin-Osaka Station in Osaka.&nbsp;
In a first, the train is fitted with a lithium-ion battery self-propulsion system, that allows it to operate on its own for a short distance in case of a power outage. This will let the train transport its passengers to a safe location in case of an earthquake.&nbsp;

The Indian Railways has shared that it achieved 100% punctuality on the 1st of July, for the first time in history since the services began.&nbsp;No trains were delayed among the 201 that ran on that day. The previous best was 99.54% on the 23rd of June with one train getting delayed. Indian Railways is running on a limited capacity with all regular passenger trains cancelled, and only&nbsp;special trains to ferry passengers stranded or those travelling out of necessity. Specific routes across the country have been devised to help movement amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Move over rentals, Airbnb will now design its own houses

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