UK hoteliers rethink relationships with ‘silent’ OTAs
Hoteliers say one channel has been almost completely absent during the COVID-19 pandemic—online travel agencies.
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Corporate travel firms face ‘challenging’ autumn
The corporate travel sector faces a "challenging" recovery with companies "less eager" to send employees travelling on business than before.
No breakfast buffet and sanitising fog machines: a night in a post-lockdown London hotel
I'm afraid I can't take your bags," says the manager of The Dixon, a boutique hotel just south of Tower Bridge. He greets me in the lobby on reopening day (Saturday 4 July) after the pandemic forced the hotel to close for four months. A smile beams from behind the clear plastic visor that covers his face. "We have a new procedure, you see."
Luxury Paris hotels to stay closed this summer
Most top Paris hotels - classed as "palaces" - are set to stay closed until September 2020, it has emerged, due to lack of bookings following the Covid-19 pandemic.
Timeout's New Normal interview series: Where does hospitality go from here?
The ongoing Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic is changing our world in unprecedented ways. In this series of conversations with movers and shakers from both Japan and elsewhere, we're taking a look at how the pandemic is already transforming city life and what changes are still on the horizon. Hoping to find out what's to come for society, daily life and the environment, and eager to hear how urban space will accommodate and leverage the 'new normal', we've lined up interviews with experts from a wide range of fields. In this instalment we hear from British hotelier Deborah Clark, who specialises in converting historic buildings into stylish, modern spaces.
The Extreme Hotel Hygiene Awaiting Tourists In Spain
It's breakfast time, which means I need to get my temperature checked, put on my face mask, smother my hands in alcohol disinfectant and wear a pair of plastic gloves.
German cafe tells customers to wear pool noodles to enforce social distancing
A cafe in Germany has celebrated its grand reopening to customers after lockdown by handing out pool noodles to maintain social distancing. Last Saturday the owners of the Cafe Rothe in Schwerin -- a town in German Chancellor Angela Merkel's home state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania -- were allowed to reopen their doors to visitors after coronavirus restrictions were lifted.While people enjoyed the company and the weather, the motto at the cafe was: "Keep the social distance."Rather than using floor markings and perspex screens to keep people apart, the owners of the cafe distributed straw hats with two colorful swimming noodles attached to the top.
France Launches $19 Billion Bailout for Ravaged Tourism Sector
France on Thursday announced measures worth 18 billion euros ($19 billion) to support its tourism sector, which has been hammered by the coronavirus crisis and resulting shutdown in beaches, leisure attractions and hotels.
France to Build Online Platform to Rival Airbnb, Booking.com
The French government will join forces with the tourism industry to build an Internet site aimed winning back customers from U.S. online travel giants such as Airbnb Inc. and Booking Holdings Inc.
The Amsterdam Restaurant Using Individual Greenhouses For Social Distancing
With Dutch restaurants, bars and other catering services engulfed in uncertainty over how they might adjust to the 1.5-meter society, one Amsterdam restaurant is set to experiment with a brand new way of condoning off its guests: Using enclosed greenhouses.
Booking.com’s Call for Help Draws Dutch Outcry, Policy Rethink
The Dutch government plans to tighten the rules for businesses claiming coronavirus relief after one of the nation's most successful tech companies was accused of seeking state aid while paying billions of dollars to shareholders.
Booking.com applies for help to pay salaries, is grateful for support
Hotel website Booking.com, until recently one of the most profitable companies in the Netherlands, has asked for government support as the number of bookings plunges to 15% of those of a year ago, according to the Volkskrant and the Financieele Dagblad. The company has asked for help to pay its 5,500 workers in the Netherlands and 48 customer service staff who were still in their probationary period have been let go as the impact of coronavirus on tourism continues to bite, the Volkskrant said. The company is a major employer in Amsterdam with a IT workforce comprising 80 different nationalities. According to the VK, the average salary at the Dutch operation is €47,000 a year.
"We're hoteliers because we naturally have values of welcome, solidarity, conviviality, strong human relations"
Interview between Fabrice Collet, CEO B&B Hotels and Vanguélis Panayotis, CEO MKG Consulting. The time of a confined coffee (Le temps d'un café confiné), return on the Coronavirus crisis and its impact on the B&B Hotels group. Video of the interview in available in French.
UK Airlines Demand Tax Breaks After Government Rules Out Financial Support
A representative body for airlines based in Britain has written to its transport minister seeking industry-specific tax and air traffic fee holidays to help survive a coronavirus pandemic that has brought air travel to a standstill.
Hoteliers accuse OTAs of 'behaving appallingly' over changes to terms and conditions
Hoteliers have accused OTAs of "behaving appallingly" by changing terms and conditions so bookings - including those that were non-refundable - are reimbursed, without cancellation charges.
Spain To Close All Hotels, Help Nursing Homes As Coronavirus Deaths Climb
The Spanish government on Thursday ordered the closure of all the country's hotels and promised to implement special measures in nursing homes after a surge in the country's coronavirus cases and deaths. The government decreed all hotels and other tourist accommodation be shut within seven days to "guarantee the containment of the pandemic," a further hit to the country's already ailing tourism sector.
Coronavirus in the UK: Hospitality industry 'faces thousands of closures'
The hospitality industry has warned the new government restrictions around coronavirus could shut down firms.
"Nothing will be the same": How Italian hoteliers are coping with coronavirus fallout
Life in Italy is largely at a standstill since the country-wide lockdown on March 10, which came as a result of a dramatic increase in the number of infections and deaths from the COVID-19 coronavirus. All but essential travel is banned, and those traveling must prove why it is necessary.Tourism is one of the largest industries in Italy. Phocuswright estimates created before the outbreak put combined online and offline bookings at more than $25 billion for this year.To get a sense of the current situation in Italy, we talked to Florence-based Giancarlo Carniani last week.
Cristiano Ronaldo 'will transform his hotels in Portugal into hospitals' to help fight coronavirus
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread across the world, former Man United star Cristiano Ronaldo has reportedly made a generous move to help in the fight against the disease.
ITB Berlin’s Cancellation Had Only a Mild Impact on Short-Term Rental Owners
You might think that the managers of short-term rental properties in Berlin faced sharp pain when ITB Berlin canceled its early March event, Europe's biggest travel fair.