EASTER ISLAND Not Reopening Until February

UAE Vice President and Prime Minister, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, has merged the Dubai Economy and Dubai Tourism into one entity under the name ‘Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism’. Helal Al Marri has been appointed as Director General of the newly formed Department.

The move aims to enhance efficiency and resilience in order to keep pace with rapid changes, while ensuring the competitiveness of the business and tourism sectors in Dubai.

The Department is tasked with meeting 7 targets to further strengthen Dubai’s leading position in tourism and economy and make it the world’s best city to live in and work. These include increasing the added value of the industrial sector by 150% in the next 5 years, expanding export markets for local products by 50% and increasing the number of tourists coming to Dubai by 40% to 25 million visitors by 2025.

It is also tasked with making Dubai one of the top 5 global cities in the main economic indicators, attracting 100,000 companies in 3 years as well as 400 global economic events annually by 2025. The new entity is also tasked with encouraging private and family-owned businesses to get listed on Dubai bourse.

The Department of Economy and Tourism will also work to promote Dubai’s competitiveness in attracting foreign investments, increase exports, support SMEs, and develop new plans for Dubai’s new economic sectors.

Easter Island, located 3,700km off the coast of Chile, will not be reopening to tourism until February 2022, making it 2 years without tourists due to the pandemic.

LATAM flights will resume in February, operating between Santiago de Chile and the island. Travellers will have to carry a valid vaccination pass, in addition to undergoing a PCR test, taken at most 48 hours before boarding.

CUBA TOURISM TO REACTIVATE

The Moai, Easter island, Chile

The first tourists have begun to arrive back into Cuba, which relies heavily on tourism for its economy. Infection rates have dropped significantly across the country giving hope for a restart to tourism. Cuba has been closed for almost 2 years and is now keen to get back onto the world tourism stage.

OPEN US BORDER BRINGS HOPE TO EUROPEAN TRAVEL INDUSTRY

With US borders now reopened, the European tourism sector is feeling positive about further recovery following the pandemic. Transatlantic travel is one of the most expensive routes in the world, providing good earning for airlines on the route before the health crisis. Increases in ticket sales have increase hugely now that borders are open but are not close to pre-pandemic levels yet. Passengers entering the US still have to provide evidence of full vaccination.

In short it is a new beginning but tourism industry lost US$6 trillion and that is with the help from support national airlines etc. The sector with UK£45 billion, while UK£3.65 billion from the

not business as usual. The as a result of the pandemic governments to bailout and US supported its aviation Germany’s Tui borrowed government. Other companies were forced to lay off staff; booking platform Expedia let go of 3,000 staff, British Airways cut staff by a third, and the Hilton hotel chain laid off 2,100 people and owed UK£3.3 billion.

Recover is not expected until 2024 if nothing else happens in the meantime. What is more likely is new mergers of airlines and other tourism companies in a bid to remain in business as they ride this continuing wave.

NEW STRICT RULES FOR TRAVEL TO JAPAN

In a bid to contain the new Omicron variant, Japan has tightened border restrictions. A total ban on the entry to Japan of all foreigners, including those with resident status, from Angola, South Africa, Botswana, Swaziland, Lesotho, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Malawi and Zambia, including those with medium or long-term visas in the Asian country.