It was as Abdullah threw both us and his Toyota Land Cruiser around, revving and sliding over the 100-metre high wind-scultped dunes of the Wahiba Sands, that I jinxed it by saying: Great driving!

Mrs Os knuckles grew ever whiter beside me. You just have to know the route, Abdullah said confidently.

Two minutes later, his brow furrowing, we stopped. He got out, climbed to the top of a dune, looked around, then walked back to the car looking a lot less confident. He started the engine, dropped us down into a dune gully, took a left into another, and slowly came to an unintended stop, revving hard in the soft sand now flying up from the wheels. The car sank, as did our hearts.

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After several minutes of making matters worse, Abdullah said hed have to go and get help. I took his mobile number and watched him clamber off and away, over the red-hot sand, under the midday sun, towards what he thought may be the nearest Bedouin encampment.

Now weve all, at some point, been left unexpectedly alone in the middle of the desert in the heat of the day, so we all know how these things work. We discover things about ourselves in those moments. I discovered that Mrs O gets very sleepy when genuinely worried.

Time ticked. And ticked. And ticked. Finally, Abdullah called hed got help and was on his way, assuming he could find us again. It was no little relief when he appeared in the passenger seat of another Land Cruiser on the horizon.

When your Land Cruiser gets stuck in the Omani desert in the heat of the day and another has to pull it free

The day-long excursion, which incorporated a visit to a Bedouin house and a swim in the natural mountain spring waters of the beautiful Wadi Bani Khalid, had been described in the brochures as a Desert Adventure, and it certainly was.

Abdullah, now with burnt feet, had been heroic, a status he later cemented by stopping to help a female driver with children who had broken down by the side of an isolated mountain road.

Abdullah teaches Mrs O how to write in Arabic

Hed been our guide a day earlier too, when we visited Jabal Akhdar (Green Mountain) and Nizwa, Omans old capital, to see its famed silverware and the lively livestock market on Friday morning, where farmers and traders come from hundreds of miles away to sell and buy animals.

Armed with her new camera, Mrs O was off and away the second we walked through the arch and into the square, in hot pursuit of an Omani infant who was in turn pursuing a goat.

Lively Friday morning livestock markets in Oman are as much a social as a business gathering. Picture credit: Mrs O

Our base for these exploits was the Chedi in Muscat, a GHM hotel whose Balinese and Swiss offerings have long had the worlds travel press swooning. Its Omani venture is no less spectacular. Journalists who get hosted stays can sometimes feel duty-bound to preen lyrical about their host venue, even if it isnt all that. This hotel is all that and then some. It is, for many, the best hotel in Arabia.

Neither a look online nor a mid-article rundown of its attributes will do justice to this hotel, located alongside the Sea of Oman, 15 minutes from a new world-class airport and the factory that makes the worlds most expensive perfume, Amouage.

One of the pools at the Chedi Muscat, where life is as good as good gets

Run by an Englishman, it has three pools, including one measuring 103 metres. If you reach the end, where the yoga master takes early evening classes, you can watch the sun go down. Few things in life beat an Arabian sunset.

In seven years of travel reviews, staying at some of the worlds very best hotels, Ive only ever given four 10/10 scores, those going to The Grove in Hertfordshite, Belmonds Villa SantAndrea in Sicily, the Chedi in Bali and the Constance Prince Maurice. The Chedi in Muscat makes it five.

Ex-Omani soldiers practice their drills in the former capital Nizwa

Upon my return, colleagues in the editorial office had a thousand questions about the Oman trip, a first (we think) for any Jewish newspaper in the UK.

Yes, Id got in fine, despite having an Israeli stamp in my passport, and yes, theyre absolutely fine with Jews. They like them, in fact. We tend to forget that until the formation of the State of Israel, Jews and Arabs lived alongside one another in the southern Arabian Peninsula, particularly in Yemen next door. Old Omanis still recall with fondness their old Jewish neighbours and friends, who they genuinely miss. Its touching.

A cooling dip in a mountain wadi, just one of many reasons to visit Oman

And yes, both Mrs O and I would go back to the Sultanate in a heart-beat. They say the region of Dhofar, and especially Salalah near the coast, is stunning when the rains travel up from India in the summer, dropping the average temperature to the mid-20s. But we may give the dune-bashing a miss next time.

Go here to see the original:

Pursuing goats and getting stuck in the Arabian desert - Jewish News

It has endured Europes longest lockdown, but when Italy enters its much-anticipated phase two tomorrow, few will find reason to celebrate.

Last week, after Italys prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, outlined plans to slowly ease the countrys quarantine, millions of people were overcome with feelings of anger and disappointment as their hopes were dashed by what many described as a false reopening.

Italians will now be able to travel within regions to visit relatives, provided they wear masks, but schools, hairdressers, gyms and many other commercial activities will stay closed; cafes and restaurants will offer takeaways only; and all travel between regions will be banned except for work, health or emergency situations. Restrictions on funerals have been relaxed, with a maximum of 15 mourners allowed to attend, but masses and weddings will have to wait.

For this reason, last Friday, Pietro Demita, a stylist in Lecce whose company is a leading wedding dress designer, set fire to his entire collection in protest against the lockdown, which has brought the wedding industry to near-collapse.

I set my creations alight, the fruits of my talent and my artistry, to send a strong message, Demita told the Observer. Because, even if I hadnt, the economic and political decisions imposed during the coronavirus crisis would have sent them up in smoke anyway.

Expectations had been high for a quick return to normality, especially in the south, where there have been fewer Covid-19 cases than in the north. The mood is sombre, not only because the virus, despite its slackening, continues to claim lives, but also because people are on edge after having been forced to stay at home for more than 50 days.

It seems theyre having a good laugh at our expense, says Costantino Montalbano, 31, a hair stylist in Palermo. Its as if theyre telling us to go out, but to stay at home. All this time locked up has affected our mental health, but its also hit us hard in the wallet. If we dont return to normality soon, coronavirus will have killed not only thousands of people, but the entire economy as well.

Like bars and restaurants, hairdressers should fully reopen on 1 June; museums and retailers from 18 May. Factories already geared towards exports and public construction projects resumed activity last Monday, while the majority of Italys industry will restart tomorrow. However, as the country plunges into recession, many businessmen and shopkeepers are complaining about the lack of financial support.

With summer around the corner, experts predict that the impact of Covid-19 on tourism, one of the countrys most important sectors, will be devastating. According to Italys National Confederation for Artisans and Small- and Medium-Sized Businesses (CNA), there will be 25 million fewer foreign tourists between July and September. The risk is that thousands of hotels, resorts and B&Bs will be forced to close their doors for the foreseeable future.

Bars and restaurants are the lifeblood of the economy of so many Italian cities and towns, but thousands have come together in protest against reopening, feeling that the restrictions of post-lockdown social distancing could spell the end for many.

As part of a series of symbolic gestures organised by a movement called Movimento Imprese Ospitalit (MIO), the owners of 75,000 bars and restaurants switched on the lights of their premises to mark the last day of business last Tuesday night before handing over the keys to their respective mayors the following morning. On Friday night, they switched off the lights in their homes for an hour.

Paolo Bianchini, a restaurant owner in Viterbo, Lazio, and spokesperson for MIO, said the peaceful protest was to show how much the hospitality sector was struggling. We only want to open when we know well be able to work efficiently, he said. For example, my restaurant has 100 covers with social distancing this will be reduced to 30. If I do so little business, my restaurant will close, as I wont be able to cover my costs. Paradoxically, we will fail if we open. We need liquidity how is it that serious countries like England are managing to help business owners, but Italy isnt lending a hand?

During the debate in the Senate on Thursday, the opposition parties grilled Conte. Ex-prime minister Matteo Renzi, who has called for less restraint in the reopening, remarked, The people in Bergamo and Brescia who are gone, those who died of the virus, if they could speak, theyd tell us to relaunch the country for them, in their honour.

Renzis controversial statement was harshly criticised by doctors who warned that the spread of the disease, which, as of Thursday, had killed almost 30,000 people in the country and infected more than 205,000, was not over and that a misstep could take the entire country back to mid-March coronavirus levels.

We risk a new wave of infections and outbreaks if were not careful, said Tullio Prestileo, an infectious diseases specialist at Palermos Benefratelli Hospital. If we dont realise this, we could easily find ourselves back where we started. In that case, we may not have the strength to get back up again.

See more here:

Anger as Italy slowly emerges from long Covid-19 lockdown - The Guardian

A stylist wearing a protective mask cuts a customer's hair at a barbershop in Atlanta, Georgia, on Monday, April 27, 2020.

Dustin Chambers | Bloomberg via Getty Images

When the coronavirus crisis, or at least the worst of it, passes, the U.S. economy will still be big the biggest in the world, with any threat to be overtaken likely put at bay for many years.

But in other ways, things will feel smaller, much smaller in fact.

Growth rates will be lower. Big crowds will be few. Profit margins will be tighter.

Life will continue in many regards, but nothing will be the same, not for a long time. Much of what will become routine daily life will go against instinct. Society will reach for ways to continue churning forward. But that will come with a mind not to repeat the trauma wrought by seven weeks of social distancing that has separated this connected world in ways that few ever thought possible.

"There will be lower densities of people everywhere," said Nick Colas, a Wall Street veteran and co-founder of DataTrek Research. "That affects restaurants and bars and sports and everything."

The size of the world and the magnitude of the task will be important as policymakers try to piece together a broken economy. Layoffs have soared as thriving businesses have been shuttered indefinitely. Manufacturing is in a steep recession, retail and restaurants could take years to get back to normal, and governments will be hamstrung in trying to provide basic services.

As the world indeed is apt to feel smaller, it will require big ideas to get the U.S. moving again.

While formulating investment strategies and market analysis, Colas spends a lot of time studying sociological trends how behavioral patterns impact what we do with our money and how we view our lives. One day he might be writing about thought exercises using game theory, the next examining, as he did in a recent daily note, how long specifically it takes people to develop new habits 66 days, it seems, a number useful when considering the current lockdown.

Looking at the present social distancing situation, Colas figures on some key trends developing.

He expects a faster return to domestic travel than might be apparent. Restaurants and retail will grapple with a host of challenges, like how to arrange seating and what happens in clothing stores when customers want to try on something. Sports will continue, but with fans mostly watching from home.

All of it will come against a backdrop that will force people to keep a safe space from each other, something profoundly counterintuitive to a culture ingrained with hugs, handshakes and kisses.

"It's very hard, because it goes against the most fundamental human need of social contact. We're social animals," Colas said. "This current phase already has been hard on people, particularly in areas like New York where a lot of single people live alone. They're going to want to have contact. That's human nature, that's the human spirit. It's going to be hard to tamp that down without mental health disruptions."

Regions of the country are taking the first steps, albeit gingerly, back to normalization.

New York is reopening parts of the state, while Mississippi also has loosened restrictions. Idaho is transitioning into the first phase of relaxing its stay-at-home order. Arizona and Nevada have extended their directives to May 15 but relaxed some rules. You can now play golf in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, but most of the Keystone State remains closed. Some resorts around the country are taking reservations for June.

Reopened areas will serve as fishbowls for others looking to relax restrictions. More than that, they will provide a window into how quickly the $21.5 trillion U.S. economy can get back on its feet.

Gross domestic product contracted 4.8% in the first quarter of 2020, the worst decline since the Great Recession, and more than 30 million people have filed unemployment claims, making the progress toward normalization all the more important and urgent.

"The issue's going to be, can you get people feeling like the new normal feels like the old normal?" Colas said. "It should end up feeling a whole lot better, because some of your normal life is back. You can at least hang out with your friends in the backyard while maintaining social distance. But at least people are coming over again."

How that translates into economic activity, though, remains uncertain.

Economists have been pondering the shape of the recovery: Will it be a U? V? W? Check mark? Square root? Nike swoosh?

No one seems to know, though the immediate expectations are that after the first-quarter slip the second quarter will post a number worse than anything the U.S. has seen before. In fact, the GDP number may be so bad something on the order of a 20% collapse or even worse and the unemployment rate peak anything from 15% to 30% seems perfectly likely as to become meaningless.

What will matter more is the path forward.

Most economists expect a considerable rebound after the second quarter. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said he sees "a fairly large increase given the size of the fall," thought "it's unlikely it would be bring us quickly back to pre-crisis level. "

That's all theory, though. As a practical matter, the country just has to get moving again.

"The point estimate of GDP right now is not really that valuable," said Marin Gjaja, a partner with Boston Consulting Group, which is helping businesses come up with strategies for reopening and how to conduct business in an altered landscape.

"The variation by sector is enormous," he added. "You've already seen what this has done to airlines, cruise ships, amusement parks, concert venues, amusement parks, any place where there are large amounts of people involved. They're trying to figure out how they can come back, what they can do to change their business in order to survive."

Gjaja also sees a landscape dominated by smaller social gatherings.

At a business level, that means shopping and eating closer to home. That benefits small retailers and locally focused restaurants but still leaves into question community-based businesses like barber shops and movie theaters.

"We've never seen a recession impact that looked like this with this degree of volatility in terms of impact by sector and geography," Gjaja said. "The degree of variability is really unique. We're going to have to figure out a way to navigate through that."

Boston Consulting released a report called "COVID-19: Win the Fight, Win the Future" that outlines what businesses need to do.

Gjaja stressed that different locales will have different needs. New York won't be the same as Montana which won't be the same as Michigan. Certain general rules, though, will apply.

Among the contingencies businesses need to take into account before opening are safety for employees and customers, preparation for additional shutdowns, and health monitoring for workers once they do return, he said.

For the travel industry, such questions are paramount.

The World Travel and Tourism Council, which represents the industry perhaps most impacted by the coronavirus lockdown, is advocating for a global set of rules to follow in airports, hotels and on planes.

"These must provide the reassurance travelers and authorities need, using new technology, to offer hassle-free, pre-vaccine 'new normal' travel in the short term," saidGloria Guevara, the council's president and CEO.

Guevara sees the liftoff in travel starting with something approaching "staycations" with trips near home, but then being led by younger people who can take advantage of lower fares to move about the country.

According to the WTTC, some of the changes travelers are likely to see at hotels will include digital check-ins, hand sanitizers in plentiful supply and contactless payments rather than cash. Cruise line workers will wear gloves and the ships themselves will be cleaned more frequently. At airports, flyers will be tested when boarding and exiting, and likely will have to wear masks while on board.

Companies that fail to follow safety guidelines may have to pay a steep price just in terms of business lost.

A survey from Vital Vio, a New York-based biotech company, found that 51% of people won't do business with companies that don't show a commitment to being sanitary, while 76% said they will "hold brands accountable" that don't invest in cleaning up their spaces.

Respondents also said they are willing to pay more for cleaner and safer travel as well as activities like dining out and going to the gym.

All of the measures will combine to tell what kind of a recovery the U.S. has after what could well be the worst downturn in its history.

Analyzing companies on how safe they are to reopen based on potential to spread the disease, Goldman Sachs said the first sectors will be manufacturing, professional services and agriculture. The riskiest industries, and thus the last ones likely to come back online, are health care, education, retail, arts and entertainment and the accommodation and food service industries.

The firm's economists compared the U.S. open to what's happening in Sweden, where social distancing practices were widely used through the country did not shut down at a level comparable to the U.S., and China, because it is well ahead of the U.S. on the recovery timeline.

"We believe that the level of economic activity in the US will get better rather than worse over the remainder of the year for several reasons," Goldman's economists wrote. "Partial relaxation of shutdown orders will allow some businesses to reopen, people will learn to adapt in ways that minimize the economic costs of social distancing, wider antibody testing should allow those who are hopefully immune to resume normal activity, and improvements in treatment should reduce fear and raise willingness to be around others. In addition, fiscal stimulus should largely short-circuit the usual second-round effects of income losses."

They found, however, that China's pace is "too optimistic" for the U.S. while Sweden offers some hope though the country is still using fairly strict social distancing measures. In China, commerce has largely come back, but traffic studies show that consumers are driving to work during the week but not going out on the weekends, indicating that a significant level of fear remains.

How well the U.S. comes back ultimately will come down to a lot of factors, but feeling safe is likely to be paramount.

"It's not just what the numbers say. A lot is going to come down to how it feels, how much of people's normal lives they can reclaim," DataTrek's Colas said. "As we restore some normalcy, it will feel a lot better."

Read more from the original source:

Putting the economy back together again: What the future holds for Americans - CNBC

The Timess Travel section is tasked with bringing you the world. But with the world on pause, were inviting you to explore far-flung destinations through another, more interactive medium: coloring pages, inspired by some of our favorite travel photos.

Coloring books for children and adults alike have emerged with a new zeitgeist as an unbreakable, noiseless and screen-free indoor activity; AdAge named them one of the key creative trends to emerge from the pandemic.

They are also a potentially helpful antidote to the blahs.

Coloring books have been shown to reduce stress and anxiety while promoting relaxation as they help users remain present and focused, said Martha Dorn, the executive director of The Art Therapy Project, a nonprofit based in New York City. Repetitive strokes provide temporary relief from life stressors, and the focus required to color can keep negative emotions away.

Many hotels and other travel companies have jumped into the coloring-book game through downloadable, print-at-home pages: one effort to keep would-be guests engaged during a period of stay-at-home orders and border closures.

One&Onlys coloring books are inspired by its resorts in Australias Wolgan Valley (images include wombats, kangaroos) and in Los Cabos, Mexico (sea turtles, sharks). Xanterra Travel Collection, which operates Yellowstone National Park and several other parks in the United States, is transporting humpback whales and bighorn sheep to family rooms across the country.

The Leading Hotels of the World, a collection of independent luxury hotels and resorts, teamed with the Delaware-based artist Dallas Shaw to depict sketches of bucket-list stays like the Grand Hotel Fasano in northern Italy. And Elizabeth Sutton, an artist based in New York City, turned St. Barts, Aspen and other jet-setter destinations into a coloring book for Embark Beyond, a luxury travel agency.

Painting is always a way for me to escape, so I figured, why not offer the same to the world? said Ms Sutton. Its an escape through colorful and happy artworks to inspirational destinations around the globe.

Now its your turn to escape, by putting your creative spin on some of our best travel photography from Zadar, Croatia, to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. Download, print and share the results on Instagram, by tagging @nytimestravel to have your work featured.

Here is the original post:

While at Home, Lets Color the World - The New York Times

As Australia and New Zealand tentatively celebrate successes in their battles to bring Covid-19 under control, Winston Peters, New Zealands deputy prime minister, has raised the possibility of the two nations opening up travel to one another.

The mooted trans-Tasman bubble would allow travel between these two countries, which seem for now to have brought infection rates under control, while keeping their borders with the rest of the world closed or tightly managed.

While this seems like an excellent idea, it is one that needs go further. Specifically this spirit of neighbourliness needs to be extended to the small island states of the Pacific. Aside from giving real substance to Canberras talk of a step-up in the region, if managed carefully, medically there is little to lose and economically there is much to gain from this approach.

Pacific nations have been successful in preventing the spread of Covid-19 within their territories. American Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands and Frances Pacific territories have reported cases, as have Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste, but of the independent island states only Fiji has been more exposed 18 cases with no deaths and no new infections in more than a week. Once eradicated, there is no rational case for not allowing travel to and from Pacific Island states to Australia and New Zealand, should this be something that Pacific nations want.

Expanding a potential trans-Tasman bubble to the Pacific could help to stop its tourist industry from withering on the vine. Vanuatu, Fiji, Palau and the Cook Islands are all friends who depend upon Australian and New Zealand visitors for a substantial part of their economy, and we should not be leaving them out to dry now.

The impact on these nations from the lack of international tourists has already been devastating. In Fiji, where tourism contributes nearly 40% of GDP, nearly 300 hotel and resorts have closed, and tens of thousands of people have already lost their jobs. A recent survey of more than 250 tourism businesses in Vanuatu suggested drops of 70% of full-time and 33% of part-time employment in the sector as a result of Covid-19 impacts.

Going the other way, the Pacific has become an important source of seasonal harvest labour for Australia and New Zealand, and reopening the borders is one way of maintaining this. During the financial year 2018-19, some 12,000 workers from the region spent time in Australia as part of the Seasonal Worker Program (SWP), and if it hadnt been for the pandemic the numbers would have been even higher this year.

The issue of whether or not the closure of borders will disrupt Australias food supply-chain is complicated. Some farmers report being overwhelmed by trapped backpackers, others worry that if borders remain closed into the latter half of 2020, fruit and veg may go unpicked.

News that seasonal workers currently in Australia can extend their visas by a year is welcome, but a temporary fix. Especially when we factor in the importance that remittances from Australia have for many households in places like Vanuatu and Tonga the case for reopening the gates to seasonal workers, and perhaps even expanding the SWP is a strong one.

While supporting Pacific households and Australian farms are excellent reasons to advocate for opening our borders to Pacific Island states one aspect of this issue that does require some soul-searching is the degree to which such action would also be motivated by a spirit of competition with China. Some have argued that a trans-Pacific bubble could be a way of strengthening Australias strategic interest in the region as China is making its presence felt there.

Common as such reasoning may be, the spirit of it is not in anyones best interest, especially at a time of acute crisis. Anti-Chinese sentiment has a long history in both Australia and the Pacific and responsible policy-makers must not give oxygen to some of the paranoid rubbish that is out there. The question Australians need to be asking themselves is not how we can compete with China but how we might cooperate with it to help our more neighbours through an economic storm theyre ill-equipped to weather.

Without a doubt reopening our borders to the Covid-19 clear nations of the Pacific would pose more of a challenge than setting up a trans-Tansman bubble. Great care would need to be taken to work with Pacific governments and communities to ensure their great work at keeping the virus out was not undermined and any inclusion would have to be at the invitation of Pacific governments. Yesterday Matangi Tonga reported that Tongas top health official, Siale Akauola said Tonga was not ready to reopen borders and when it did it would be first to countries with no recorded cases of the virus, such as Samoa and Vanuatu.

However if Pacific nations wanted it, their inclusion in a trans-Pacific, rather than trans-Tasman travel bubble could be an act of goodwill that would better the lives of thousands and be appreciated for decades to come.

Michael Rose is a research fellow and anthropologist from the Australian National University.

Excerpt from:

If Australia and New Zealand restart travel, they should include the Pacific in their bubble - The Guardian

Animal Crossing: New Horizons on the Nintendo Switch has been the smash hit of the season, but I didn't expect it to almost replace real-world travel. But there I was, wandering around my buddy Myke's island, and feeling a depth of emotion I didn't see coming.

Yes, as we all sit here in our homes, sheltered in place and social distancing to stop the spread of COVID-19, I know for a fact that I'm not the only one who had to cancel his travel plans. I'd planned to spend a little over a month in the United Kingdom, half for personal pleasure and half for work. It was going to be the mini semester abroad I never took in college.

Then we all became familiar with the COVID-19 coronavirus, and airlines suspended 90% of their flights as part of their efforts to ground all of our travel for the foreseeable future. But that's not stopping the folks at Dodo Air, the preferred (and only) method of island-hopping in Animal Crossing.

As I said, I didn't intend to feel a lot of feelings while playing Animal Crossing. It just happened. One day I walked into the Nook's Cranny shop on my island, and saw the perfect gift to buy for my friend Myke Hurley, with whom I always hang out when I go to London.

Myke is a professional podcaster, and when I saw an ink jar, pen and stack of paper (an "Essay Set") for sale I immediately thought of Myke's show The Pen Addict. He knows more about all the different kinds of pens than I will ever learn, but I couldn't simply give him the set, as we hadn't become friends in Animal Crossing yet.

So I texted Myke to set things up, teasing his incoming present. Later that night, when I saw his name appear in the top-left corner of the Switch UI, I let him know I was going to be coming over.

Myke then texted me his Dodo code, which I thought was an odd way to invite me over. Couldn't Myke just open his airport to all of his friends? Well, I've since realized that Myke was giving only me access to his island, so we could enjoy the moment by ourselves.

When I got to Myke's island, which he's named Mega, I felt a smidge of that feeling you get when you go somewhere completely new. Unlike all the other Animal Crossing islands to which I've traveled, Myke's was organized and designed to an extravagant degree.

Spotlights shot out from the grounds, rows upon rows of flowers lined the walkways and there was even a brick oven on the beach, with cast iron chairs and a table. Before we could get any further, I dropped the Essay Set in front of Myke's character, and he replied with the Joy emote, where blooms appear over the head and the character swoons.

This virtual trip to Mega felt like a neat little moment, but it was all amplified when I saw a UK-style phone booth on his island, and I remembered the trip that I'd cancelled. And as our little avatars moved around his island, myself in a red luchador mask and Myke in a snazzy fedora and leopard print spectacles, I noticed the little details.

As we ran side by side, our arms fluttered in the most adorable way. Standing outside his museum, we both performed the Delight emote. The emote looked similar to a pose that we'd seen a pro wrestler strike. Myke told me he didn't see that similarity before, "but now I won't think of it any other way."

Myke even gave me a tour of his three-level flat in Animal Crossing, which inspired me to buy some better flooring in my own game. But when I was inside his bathroom, I noticed not one, but two fans. When I asked about the necessity of such aeration, he replied "lol." Leaving the island didn't feel bad, as we added each other as Best Friends in the game. This will make returning easier.

Animal Crossing meetups are real, and not just for friends trying to connect when life won't let them. Mindy Weisberger, a colleague of mine at Live Science, tweeted out a little anecdote she learned during quarantine:

"High school relationships in the time of social distancing = hanging out on each other's islands and whacking each other over the head with butterfly nets, apparently." For teens, that's a lot less exciting than a real date, but parents must love it.

So far, as we all adjust to this bizarre way of living, I'm finding Animal Crossing connections to be a lot more pleasant than the Zoom calls. Videoconferencing has wiped us out so much that there's even a phrase for it: Zoom fatigue. Animal Crossing linkups, by comparison, are easier to focus on, as you don't have a grid of different people's faces, drawing your attention everywhere.

Even weddings and graduation ceremonies are being held in Animal Crossing, CNN reports. And I can't blame anyone. The calming and adorable islands of Animal Crossing may not have the power to create the moments that in-person events can, but so far, they're the most calming option around.

Today's best Animal Crossing: New Horizons deals

Nintendo Animal Crossing: New...

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Animal Crossing replaced my real-life vacation, and that's OK - Tom's Guide

Cuban travel experience is one of a kind. Cuba may not take the top spot for being the worlds most famous tourist destination, but it is as exciting as it sounds. Its world is completely different from its neighboring countries and offers you an admirable blend of modern and cultural. From the famous cigars to crystal-clear waters along the beach, a trip to Cuba will give you the kind of fulfillment one expects from an international trip. But, you can make your trip even better if you take certain safeguards and acquaint yourself with the Cuban world a little bit before joining it.

In case you have your heart set on exploring a distinct culture and lifestyle, then Cuba is where you should be. But, visiting any new place means you are in a world of things new and unknown. So, for a good Cuban experience, you must inform yourself of a few really important things. Read along to know more about them in this article.

Have you read? Antigua and Barbuda Citizenship by Investment Program (CIP), St. Lucia CIP: Saint Lucia Citizenship By Investment Program, Vanuatu CIP: Vanuatu Citizenship By Investment Program, Montenegro Citizenship By Investment Program (CIP)

Read the rest here:

Cuban Travel : 5 Tips That Will Make Your Trip To Cuba Easy - CEOWORLD magazine

9.44am EDT09:44

Test results suggesting people in South Korea had been reinfected after recovering from Covid-19 were actually false positives caused by dead lung cells, the World Health Organisations technical lead, Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, told the BBCs Andrew Marr Show today.

You can watch the video here:

9.34am EDT09:34

Footballers in Serie A, Italys top division, will be allowed to start individual training sessions from Monday in the latest cautious step towards a restart for sport across Europe.

Athletes and non athletes, of non individual disciplines, just like any citizen, are allowed to practise individual sporting activities, in private and public areas, in respect of the interpersonal safety distance of at least two metres and in respect of the ban to gather in any form, the Italian interior ministry said in a letter to local authorities.

A number of clubs in Englands Premier League allowed players to work on an individual basis at their training grounds on a strict rota basis from last Monday, while players at clubs in the German Bundesliga are permitted to train in small, socially-distanced groups. The leagues in France and the Netherlands, however, have been concluded without any further activity taking place.

9.22am EDT09:22

NHS England has announced 327 new deaths of people who tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in England to 21,180.

More details on this, and the rest of the Covid-19 picture across the UK, from my colleague Nadeem Badshah.

8.54am EDT08:54

Nearly 3,000 cruise ship workers quarantined aboard a liner will undergo tests for the novel coronavirus, German travel group TUI said.

Mein Schiff 3 was being used to ferry 2,899 TUI employees and crew home with both cruises and the usual means of transport in much of Europe shut down by the pandemic.

Problems began when the huge vessel docked at in the German North Sea port of Cuxhaven on April 28 with more than a dozen crew members showing flu-like symptoms.

One of them then tested positive for the virus on Friday leading the company to quarantine everyone on board.

A first wave of 229 tests on personnel who had been in contact with the infected crew member came back negative, TUI said.

8.49am EDT08:49

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said mosques would reopen across large parts of the country Monday, as officials reported a drop in the number of deaths from the novel coronavirus.

Health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said 47 people died of the virus over the past 24 hours, the lowest daily count in 55 days. He told a news conference he hoped the trend will continue in the upcoming days.

His remarks came as President Hassan Rouhani said 132 counties, around one third of the countrys administrative divisions, would reopen their mosques as of tomorrow.

Social distancing is more important than collective prayer, he said in a televised meeting of the countrys virus taskforce.

The president argued that Islam considers safety obligatory, while praying in mosques is only recommended.

Rouhani did not give the names of the counties affected by the measure or the number of mosques due to reopen on Monday.

The measure is not expected to be implemented in the capital, Tehran, or in the main Shiite holy cities of Mashhad which are among those most affected by the outbreak.

Mosques and some key Shiite shrines in Iran were closed in March amid the Middle Easts deadliest COVID-19 outbreak.

The targeted counties are low-risk, Rouhani said.

According to Jahanpour, the 47 new deaths brought to 6,203 the total number officially recorded in Iran since it reported its first cases in mid-February.

He added that 976 fresh infection cases were confirmed in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 97,424.

8.21am EDT08:21

Handing over to my colleague Sarah Marsh for the next hour or so of global coronavirus updates.

8.15am EDT08:15

Dutch health authorities have confirmed a daily increase of 335 coronavirus infections, meaning the countrys total is now 40,571, while 69 new deaths have been recorded. In total, the Netherlands has now seen 5,056 fatalities.

This rise means the Netherlands is still 15th in the global ranking of Covid-19 cases, although the authorities have warned that the actual number of infections is probably higher because not all suspected patients are being tested.

8.05am EDT08:05

For those waking up in the US around now, Gene Marks has written a guide for small businesses who may not be covered by the governments paycheck protection program (PPP). If that applies to you, there could be other funding streams available.

Read more from the original source:

Coronavirus live news: Russia and Afghanistan announce their biggest rises in cases - The Guardian

In 2008, Argleton village in west Lancashire appeared on Google, complete with weather reports, a job site and an estate agent advertising houses for sale. Argleton vanished two years later. While its site was and still is a damp field in the middle of nowhere, its worth noting that Argleton is an anagram of G Not Real. Although Google never admitted to having created it, Argleton was a phantom settlement, planted as a trap.

In the world of digital mapping and cartography, snares to catch unwary plagiarists take the form of fake roads or places, known as trap streets or paper towns. For some, such as Lye Close or Noereal Road, the clue is in the name. (A real alleyway in Cardiff that served as a trap street in the 2014 Dr Who episode Face the Raven may, conversely, be the worlds only fictional fictional street.)

Otto Lindberg and Ernest Alpens used the initials of their names to create Agloe on an intersection in the Catskills

Perhaps the most notable cartographic curiosity is Agloe, immortalised in John Greens 2008 novel, Paper Towns. When its protagonist Margo disappears, she leaves oblique clues as to her whereabouts. The trail leads to somewhere and nowhere Agloe.

Agloe was the creation of two men: Otto Lindberg and Ernest Alpens from Americas General Drafting Company. Commissioned to make a map of New York state in the 1930s, they used the initials of their names to create a paper town Agloe which they dropped into a dirt road intersection in the Catskills.

When it appeared years later on a map made by one of their competitors, Rand McNally, General Drafting threatened to sue. McNally pointed out that it would lose the case: Agloes general store could be found at the intersection. Its store manager, having spotted Agloe on a map, had taken it as a good place to set up shop. A lack of houses or indeed a town of any kind should have suggested otherwise; the unfortunate shopkeeper went out of business shortly after. It was, however, sufficient proof that Agloe existed. Contemporary maps still feature Agloe. This, its strange history and the popularity of the book Paper Towns ensures a steady stream of curious sightseers.

Isnt it ironic? Like rain on your wedding day, sang Alanis Morissette in Ironic. That the song failed to include any actual examples of irony is in itself ironic. As is the continuing existence of Agloe, a place that still is, because it never was.

See the original post:

The imaginary American town that became a tourist attraction - The Guardian

Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusas novel is both an escapist joy and a political education

May 2nd 2020

YOU MIGHT think that a nostalgic novel about a declining 19th-century Sicilian aristocrat by an unknown writer would have sunk without trace. Yet Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusas The Leopard, first published in 1958 shortly after his death, became a classic. One reason is that it is an extraordinarily evocative piece of writing. Another is that it distils timeless truths about revolutions and the rise and fall of elites.

Wherever you might be locked down, The Leopard will transport you to western Sicily, a lovely, faithless land of sun and dust, of carnal delights and golden crops, of lush gardens and barren mountains, of crumbling palaces and Ozymandian monuments to an ancient past of multiple invasions. Its people are sunk in a voluptuous torpor, their vanity stronger than their misery, full of secrets nobody keeps.

The protagonist, Fabrizio, Prince of Salina, is based on Lampedusas great-grandfather. He is a conservative, attached to feudal order, but self-aware. His world is challenged in 1860 by Garibaldis invasion of the island. At night, on the hills around Palermo, glimmer the flickering lights of dozens of bonfires lit by the rebel band, silent threats to the city of palaces and convents (in Archibald Colquhouns translation). Garibaldis overthrow of the moth-eaten Bourbon kingdom of Naples and Sicily was the prelude to the unification of Italy.

Although he has several children, Fabrizio sees his true heir in Tancredi, his zestful nephew who prepares to join Garibaldi. If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change, Tancredi explains. That sentiment has entered the political vocabulary of the Latin world as gattopardismo (a play on the novels Italian title, Il Gattopardo), a philosophy of embracing change to neuter or at least control it.

Change is personified by Don Calogero, the shrewd mayor of Donnafugata, an inland town and location of Fabrizios favourite palace. Crushing the amorous hopes of his own daughter, Concetta, Fabrizio spies the advantage to Tancredis career of marrying him to the mayors only child, the beautiful Angelica. This involves Fabrizio welcoming into his family the little conglomeration of ill-cut clothes, money and cunning brashness that is Calogero.

The victors of revolutions often ape the rulers they dislodge. That is especially so in the Latin world, where many have been rearrangements of the furniture rather than genuine upheavals. Lampedusa was not alone in believing that unification had taken Sicily backwards (one form of resistance would be the Mafia). At first, the Italian left decried The Leopard; it took Luchino Visconti, a communist but an aristocratic one, to recognise the books genius, turning it into a baroque film starring Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon and a young Claudia Cardinale. That multinational cast was a fitting tribute to a story rooted in time and place that also transcends them.

This article appeared in the Books and arts section of the print edition under the headline "Rereading The Leopard"

Visit link:

Travel to a land of sun and dust with The Leopard - The Economist

(CNN) Fans of Disney World in Florida and Disneyland in California are already dreaming of the parks' eventual reopening down the distant road.

But in a world that's been through a pandemic, what will that reality look like?

If Disney is about anything, it's about bringing people together. Lots and lots of them. And really, really close -- from the restaurants to the rides.

While much remains to be seen, here's what we know so far about the whats and the whens of the situation:

Florida

Guests leave the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in the final minutes before the park closed on Sunday night, March 15. Whatever the future brings to a Disney visit, it won't look like this.

Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

Phase 1 of a reopening would allow the parks to operate at 50% capacity, and Phase 2 would jump that up to 75%. In both phases, any staff members 65 or older would be encouraged to stay at home.

The suggested guidelines include having the parks tape off markings of 6 feet apart in queues and having staff regularly wipe down surfaces at random.

As for the task force's required mandates, your experiences going to the grocery store will help prepare you for what you'd find there:

-- All employees would be required to wear face masks (there's no mention of the same requirement for guests).

-- Touchless hand sanitizer should be available at each ticketing entry and turnstiles as well as the entry and exits of each ride and attraction.

-- Parks should wipe down all railing and surfaces regularly.

-- Temperature checks should be given to staff members before each shift (those with a temperature above 100.4 must not enter the premises).

The entrance to the Magic Kingdom at Disney World is seen on the first day of closure (March 16) as theme parks in the Orlando area suspended operations.

Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

So when might things open?

"Theme parks and other venues of that magnitude shall each develop their own specific and unique set of guidelines following the CDC recommendations and using best practices that will protect the life, health and safety of their employees and guests," said task force Co-Chairman Chuck Whittall, president of Unicorp, from a a draft statement.

"They will be permitted to open at their own discretion with their internally determined level of safe capacities throughout the various phases."

Thomas Mazloum, senior vice president of Walt Disney World Resorts and Transportation Operations, is a member of the task force.

CNN Travel has reached out to Disney for comment.

The task force also gave suggested guidelines for Orange County hotels, including the encouragement of mobile check-ins, limited housekeeping services and self-parking by guests.

Mandates included sneeze guards at the front desk, the removal of coffee pots from rooms and hand sanitizer available at the entry.

California

It could take even longer for Disneyland and other major parks in California to reopen, as the state is taking a slower time line to restarting the economy than many Southern states such as Florida.

While he didn't specifically mention theme parks, other big-draw venues such as concerts, convention centers and sports with live crowds are in the fourth, and last, stage.

Those openings would be months away, as one of the requirements is that "therapeutics have been developed," meaning this stage would wait until treatments become available.

What will things be like?

Guests wave goodbye to Mickey Mouse and friends on Main Street USA in the final minutes before the park closed March 15.

Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

Until the parks are actually up and running again, it's hard to know exactly what the experience for guests will be like.

With fewer people in the parks at first, it will definitely feel less crowded. Reactions to that could be very personal -- for some, it may feel like a visit during low season. For others, the parks may feel less energetic and lively.

Even with fewer people, wait times might not be necessarily lessened as people must stay farther apart in queues, restaurants and such.

-- Suspension or regulation of parades and shows: The popular events, which often bring together a lot of people at once to an area, might not be held or set up in such a way to spread out people.

-- No preshow attractions: It's possible you'll be skipping those fun preshow attractions that take your mind off the wait as they are another spot where people tend to congregate.

Continue reading here:

Outlook for Disney World and Disneyland reopenings: What will it be like? And when will parks be running? - CNN

The British comedian Griff Rhys Jones, it seems, has turned his wanderlust into a mid-career pivot to travel documentaries. Interviewed last week on the effect of the coronavirus lockdown, he gave an informed perspective on the future of travel.

In his seclusion, living on his own in rural England, he had turned to a book about the wonders of Dunhuang. Caves found in this north-western outpost of China are the repository of some of the finest art surviving from the heyday of the Silk Road, a network of trade routes that connected the East and West from the 2nd century BCE to the 18th century CE.

Mr Rhys Jones is not unappreciative of his home-bound status. He spoke movingly of tracking the changes in nature throughout the spring. But what is amply evident is that the human instinct to see new things, experience other cultures and detach oneself from the familiar remains too strong to be quashed by the coronavirus.

Travel though is certainly set to change for everybody in the months and years ahead. The new normal will give way to a different structure of movement. The outlines of what that might be, initially at least, are beginning to form.

To start with what must be preserved, there are obvious realities.

Many of us have lives, or indeed livelihoods, concentrated in two, if not three, different regions. Certainly, family interests are scattered beyond single border lines for a number of people. And air travel is the symptom, not the cause, of this widespread reality.

At the moment, the lack of traffic in the sky tells its own tale of a world where barriers are the highest they have been in living memory. The story last week that there was one Airbus 380 flying on the models 15th anniversary summed up how the ideal of air travel has been lost in the first quarter of 2020.

Political leaders have warned in various ways that the bulk of the population should not expect this to change at least until the second half of the year if not much further in the future.

The human instinct to see new things, experience other cultures and detach oneself from the familiar remains too strong to be quashed by the coronavirus

Michael O'Leary, who runs Ryanair, has said that the budget European airline will be lucky to fly one-third planned passenger loads this year. Further, he has predicted a five-year hangover for the industry as players look to establish their foothold.

The obvious comparison is with the 9/11 attacks on US soil nearly two decades ago, a period after which taking off shoes at airports security lines was arduous for all but eventually became normalised. This time around, it seems inevitable that swabs and disinfectant sprays are going to be required for every flight. Blood tests could be standardised.

Compulsory quarantine periods, perhaps in the currently under-occupied hotels that surround major airports, is already a reality. The likelihood is that this will endure for some time and be commonplace everywhere.

Visitors wear protective face masks at the Arab Health conference at Dubai World Trade Centre. Pawan Singh / The National

Mohammed Al Ghamdi from Saudi Diagnostics wears a face mask at the Arab Health conference at Dubai World Trade Centre in Dubai. Pawan Singh / The National

Doctors say the masks offer limited protection and the public are at little risk. Pawan Singh / The National

Tourists wear face masks on Sunset Beach near the Burj Al Arab hotel on Wednesday, hours after the country declared its first case. Antonie Robertson / The National

Masks were selling out in stores in Dubai and Abu Dhabi on Wednesday. Doctors say they offer limited protection and urged the public not to panic over a single reported case. Antonie Robertson / The National

The masks were popular with Chinese tourists even before the Wuhan outbreak and are commonly seen being worn in airports. Antonie Robertson / The National

A tour group, some of whom covered their faces, take photos next to the Burj Al Arab in Dubai on Wednesday. Antonie Robertson / The National

A medical worker checks the body temperature of a driver at a checkpoint outside the city of Yueyang, Hunan province, near the border with Hubei province, which is in lockdown. Reuters

A woman wearing a face mask passes a health notice warning passengers arriving at London's Heathrow Airport about the virus. AFP

Tokyo quarantine officers wearing full protective gear approach a charted flight, believed to be carrying Japanese citizens repatriated from Wuhan, at Haneda airport in Tokyo. EPA

A Kenyan health worker screens a passenger wearing face mask after they arrived from China, at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi. EPA

Medical personnel take temperature tests of passengers on board a plane at the airport in Zhoushan City, Zhejiang province, China. EPA

Passengers are seen on a thermal screen upon their arrival at the Tribhuvan International Airport after Nepal confirmed the first case of coronavirus in the country. Reuters

An airport official checks the temperature of a passenger upon his arrival at the Bacha Khan International Airport in Peshawar. AFP

An airport official checks the temperature of a passenger upon his arrival at the Bacha Khan International Airport in Peshawar. AFP

Disinfection workers wearing masks spray antiseptic solution at Incheon International Airport in Incheon, South Korea. Getty Images

A short business trip accompanied by two weeks of quarantine away from friends and families would make little sense for most.

Jim Hackett, the chief executive of Ford, spoke last week about how standardisation could pave the way towards providing confidence in safety for employers and providers in the pandemic era. As there are ISO standards for manufacturing, there will be certification of procedures and practices. This is a logical means to rebuilding faith in travel for passengers by airlines.

In a document released last week, the UK-based forum World Travel and Tourism Council had a first stab at how the new normal could be constructed for travellers.

New cleaning procedures in airports, airplanes and hotels would become industry-wide standards, it said. Digital check-in and contactless payments would prevail. To minimise contact with cabin crew, flyers would buy sealed grab-and-go food packages before boarding. Social-distanced queueing and in-flight masks would be mandated in new protocols.

Flyers would be expected to turn up three hours in advance for short-haul flights and four hours for long-haul ones so that swab tests could be conducted. Passengers not facing quarantine would be expected to sign up for contact tracing through a telephone app in the destination country. The bridge would become a disinfectant tunnel.

Cabin crew could be expected to come around with sanitisers regularly during the flight. Planes are likely to fly at around 60 per cent of current capacity to ensure distancing in the aisles.

Emirates Boeing 777 aircraft are seen on the tarmac at Dubai International Airport. AFP

A health worker checks the body temperature of passengers bound for Frankfurt at Dubai International Airport. AFP

Passengers bound for Frankfurt board a shuttle bus at Dubai International Airport. AFP

A flydubai aircraft is parked on the tarmac of Dubai International Airport. AFP

Passengers check in at Dubai International Airport. AFP

An information board displays an alert for passengers to maintain distance from others at Dubai International Airport. AFP

Mask-clad passengers bound for Frankfurt walk past check-in counters at Dubai International Airport. AFP

A mask-clad employee walks in front of a flydubai aircraft on the tarmac of Dubai International Airport. AFP

Passengers bound for Frankfurt wait at a terminal of Dubai International Airport. AFP

Passengers bound for Frankfurt wait at a terminal of Dubai International Airport. AFP

Passengers bound for Frankfurt wait at a terminal of Dubai International Airport. AFP

Passengers wait at a terminal at Dubai International Airport, as Emirates resumed a limited number of outbound passenger flights. AFP

An Emirates aircraft takes off from Dubai International Airport. AFP

Emirates Airbus A380 and Boeing 777 aircraft are seen on the tarmac at Dubai International Airport as the airline resumed a limited number of outbound passenger flights. AFP

Passengers are assisted at the check-in counter in a terminal at Dubai International Airport. AFP

Passengers have their travel documents checked before departure at Dubai International Airport. AFP

Passengers have their travel documents checked before departure at Dubai International Airport. AFP

Procedure is a killjoy. There is no denying that hurdles presented above amount to a barrier to travel. The economics of flight will change drastically, too.

Individual journeys will be more expensive. Lower loads, more administration, extra preparation and the possibility of enforced isolation at either end of the journey are all factors that will raise costs.

To anyone tiring of Zoom and other video-conferencing tools, the likelihood is that sales, conferences and interviews are no longer going to be something that most people fly for but, instead, just click a switch online.

That said, even with all the rigours mentioned above, the hunger to see the treasures of Dunhuang, and places like it, will keep planes in the air. As will the need to hop on a two-hour journey to see friends and family.

Damien McElroy is the London bureau chief of The National

Updated: May 2, 2020 05:33 PM

More:

Coronavirus: How future travel is going to be so different - The National

The coronavirus pandemic has caused one of mankinds favorite activities to halt all across the world: traveling.No one is planning vacations, booking tickets, or wishlisting Airbnbs in exotic locales.

While it might take us a while to get back to visiting places in person,we can surely visit many intriguing and scenic places virtually, from the comfort of our couches.

Heres how you can do it:

On its Like A Version segment, Australian radio station Triple J hosts some incredible musicians as they cover popular songs in their own style. Have a listen to one of these below, and follow the channel to hear more fantastic covers.

This is my favorite twitter account these days:

Stay safe!

Read next: Mans paralyzed hand can feel again -- thanks to a brain implant

Read our daily coverage on how the tech industry is responding to the coronavirus and subscribe to our weekly newsletter Coronavirus in Context.

For tips and tricks on working remotely, check out our Growth Quarters articles here or follow us on Twitter.

Original post:

Daily Distraction: Travel the world without leaving your house - The Next Web

Few businesses have taken as hard a hit from the coronavirus pandemic as those in the aviation industry.

Across the world, airlines have called for government bailouts as international travel has all but ground to a halt.

Staff at some airlines were let go or forced to take pay cuts and industry bosses have issued dire warnings about future earnings.

So when restrictions are lifted, what can passengers expect?

Firstly, airlines are expected to space out passengers, meaning many seats will be unused.

People will prefer to travel within their country or region due to a fear of relapse... and be able to return home quickly in the event of another lockdown

Prof Amitabh Upadhya

That will inevitably to lead to an increase in ticket prices, though perhaps not straight away, experts said.

Periods of quarantine before or after travel may become necessary and staycations or short hops to neighbouring countries are expected to be more common.

Amitabh Upadhya, a professor at Skyline University College in Sharjah who specialises in tourism and travel, said recovery would be slow.

He said the industry survived past crises such as 9/11 and numerous natural disasters, although there was no meaningful comparison to the coronavirus pandemic.

There will be a slow recovery and people will prefer to travel within their country or region due to a fear of relapse, Prof Upadhya told The National.

People will want to be able to return home quickly in the event of another lockdown.

Overall, unless a complete treatment protocol is in place and vaccines are conveniently available, tourism will take a beating.

The prediction of a slow recovery is in line with those made by global airline bosses.

Ed Bastian, chief executive of Delta Airlines, told staff to expect a choppy, sluggish recovery that would take up to three years, even after the virus was contained.

Prof Upadhya said he believed the inevitable downturn in passenger numbers would also affect other businesses that rely on tourism.

Unfortunately, I dont see a pleasant scenario fo airlines and hotels and I have even worse fears for the cruise industry, he said.

I also have my doubts about the low-cost airlines that saw a surge in the past few decades and have been very successful.

"Larger legacy airline companies with more muscle may gobble up a few or force some to close shop.

Air travel fares initially will be low and some adventurous travellers would take advantage, but ultimately air travel will become dearer.

The figures are stark. About two-thirds of the worlds 26,000 passenger aircraft are grounded and about 25 million jobs are at risk in the airline industry, Bloomberg reported.

The International Air Transport Association said airlines faced a $314 billion (Dh1.153 trillion) shortfall in ticket sales this year and half of those companies would be at risk of bankruptcy in two to three months without government help.

More broadly, the World Travel and Tourism Council said 100 million people could lose their jobs.

New working practices may also have an effect on the future of travel.

Restrictions to curb the spread of the virus have meant more businesses across the world have turned to video platforms to hold meetings.

And while many international conferences and seminars have been cancelled due to the pandemic, others have gone ahead online.

Maggie Bootsman, UAE general manager of Travel Counsellors, a company in Manchester that arranges bespoke holidays and operates in seven countries, said that trend could continue.

However, she said she did not believe business travel would suffer long-term.

Its true we may see more video conferencing than face-to-face meetings," she said.

"However, people will still need to travel for business to forge and renew relationships with their suppliers and partners.

The focus will be on traveller health, safety and well-being, and corporate travellers will be looking to their travel suppliers for reassurance that the necessary precautions have been taken to protect people post-Covid-19.

Many customers tell us they are craving something positive to look forward to ... to take to the road or skies again and explore the world as they did before

Maggie Bootsman, Travel Counsellors

She said many people were eager to spend travel vouchers given to them by airlines in compensation for cancelled flights.

Were supporting our customers to rearrange cancelled travel plans to later in the year or for 2021, with many customers telling us they are craving something positive to look forward to, she said.

Were planning for a renewed love for travel among many of our customers, who will be keen to take to the road or skies again and explore the world as they did before.

However, those who choose to continue travelling as before could find the experience more cumbersome.

Both Prof Upadhya and Ms Bootsman said they believed enhanced health screening could become a new normal for people who booked flights.

Meanwhile, protective equipment has become part of the uniform for cabin crew still at work.

Post-September 11 saw extra security at airports and tourist destinations and I believe that health checks will become the new normal, Ms Bootsman said.

Airline and accommodation providers that have actively protected their customers during this time will be more attractive to travellers, who are going to very aware of any potential risks.

Justin Francis, chief executive of the UK-based company Responsible Travel, said any drop in tourism numbers could also have devastating consequences for some of the worlds poorest communities, who rely so heavily on the sector.

Mr Francis, whose company offers authentic and sustainable adventures, said he was director of a safari company near the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya.

There is now no tourism and the markets are closed. They cannot buy food or easily sell cattle," he said.

Mr Francis said a collaborative approach was critical for the industry to recover.

The recovery will not be equal, he said.

For a time, tourism will narrow down even further on a few trusted favourites who are able to invest quickest in health screening and guarantee good medical care in the destinations.

Some destinations who can afford it will essentially pay tourists to come.

If we are to rebuild tourism better than before, then I believe we must act and behave like we are all in this together.

Updated: May 3, 2020 04:31 PM

See the rest here:

Coronavirus: Why expensive airline fares and airport health checks could become the norm - The National

Jumping into a turquoise infinity lake at the top of a Oaxacan mountain, Dom and his sister, Lizzie, are awestruck. I dont think Ive ever seen anything as beautiful as that in my entire life, Dom says. Id have been gutted if wed missed this.

Meanwhile, two rivals in their adventure, the married couple Jen and Robbie, are hot, sweaty and weighed down by their giant rucksacks on the outskirts of Mexico City. They have mistakenly travelled to a metro station, rather than an international bus terminal 100km (62 miles) away. Oh my God, fumes Jen. Wheres the bloody bus station? Were LOST.

Anyone who has strapped on a backpack and boarded a 6am long-haul flight will have nodded in recognition all the way through the latest series of Race Across the World (BBC Two). As the contestants soon found out, that is the thing with travel: sometimes you accidentally discover a hidden wonder of the world, other times you are sunburnt and on the edge of a breakdown at a ticketing booth.

Perhaps it was this sense of holiday deja vu alongside the heartwarming displays of kindness from strangers that made more than 4 million people watch the five couples, unaided by smartphones or air travel, race 25,000km through Latin America.

Halfway through the series broadcast, the Covid-19 pandemic spread rapidly, prompting most countries to lock down and suspend international travel. With each following episode, Race Across the World took on a bittersweet quality, as journeying so freely and being within touching distance of strangers! instantly looked as if it were from another era. While only one couple took home the 20,000 prize in Sundays episode (no spoilers ahead), the greater prize for all the contestants was being among the last people for a while, at least able to explore the world on a whim.

Its pretty crazy watching the race back now, says Dom, back home in the UK. Lizzie agrees: It definitely makes it seem more epic than we ever realised before. They add that the show and those 28-hour bus rides unwittingly prepared them for life in isolation: We are both quite used to waiting now but at least we have the comfort of our phones, TV, beds and proper meals. Were still bickering every day, though

Tim Harcourt, the shows executive producer, says: Watching the show back now, it reminds me that we all took our freedom to travel for granted. But I hope the series serves as inspiration thats especially needed during these times. Families and young people especially are tapping into these shared experiences and discovering the world the only way they can at the moment through exciting, adrenaline-filled travel TV.

With holidays cancelled, weddings and festivals postponed and people having no idea when they will be allowed to leave their home towns, Harcourt is right in that viewers are looking to TV to transport them across continents and cultures.

Historically, travel on TV has been a form of escapism or inspiration. In the late 60s and 70s, bright, magazine-like shows such as Holiday and Wish You Were Here? promoted the wave of cheap charter flights and package holidays in Europe. In the 00s, things shifted to reality TV competitions such as Shipwrecked and Coach Trip.

These shows are broadcast alongside celebrity travelogues from stalwarts such as Michael Palin, Joanna Lumley and Billy Connolly, through to Jack Whitehall, Russell Howard and Sue Perkins. Channel 4s successful Travel Man series which has been running since 2015 announced a change in presenter from Richard Ayoade to Joe Lycett last year. But with most on-location TV grounded like the airlines, what does the future hold for our armchair travels on screen?

Foodie jet-setters can still torment themselves by watching the final series of The Trip in which Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon eat in fancy restaurants around Europe, doing Marlon Brando impressions which aired on Sky earlier this month, mid-quarantine.

Josh Hyams, a producer on The Trip to Greece, is in the early stages of developing another travel series. He says: When I watch The Trip again, it feels like glimpsing back to an easier and less complicated time. Coronavirus has rendered making a travel show like this impossible for the moment.

I hope that, once the virus has passed, we can rely on travel shows coming back as before. However, the problem will always be whether one can get insurance that covers a production for any outbreak or delays. That will determine when a show will be able to come back.

The BBCs Pilgrimage: The Road to Istanbul also experienced a similar strange shift in world-changing events midway through transmission. But its executive producer, Caroline Matthews, believes the timing of the series broadcast in which seven celebrities walked the Sultans Trail from Serbia to Turkey and its theme of peaceful contemplation struck a chord with viewers in lockdown: I saw on Twitter that quite a few people have been commenting on the mindfulness and spirituality thats kind of been resonating with everybody at the moment because were going through such tough times, she says.

Matthews says they would have expected to be in the development stage for the fourth series which films in September but this has been put on hold. We do have a slight advantage in that a pilgrimage is all about physical distancing and isolation by its nature.

On the issue of the need to be mindful about bringing a cast and crew into remote areas in future, she adds: We have a skeletal crew the minimal amount of people to deliver the show, anyway. Were just going to have to be more creative and resourceful in how we film splitting into smaller groups and a lot more self-shot. We always use local runners, crew and drivers, too.

Producers will no doubt be looking to the travel industry for guidance, as it tries to work out how it can function after the pandemic. Fiona Reece, the founder of the PR and content agency Travel Tonic, says: Theres still a huge appetite for exploration, but I think, post-corona, people might feel nervous about travelling again. Theres nothing on television that really exists to give people advice on how to book, where would be safe to travel to. I think this crisis has really highlighted the need for advice on TV shows again, like we used to see with Holiday or Wish You Were Here..?

Reece believes the focus will be on UK-based holidays: Some people will want to go back to their favourite places, such as Devon and Cornwall, but others will want to go where they can escape the crowds. I think theres going to be much more interest in remote places, plus glamping, camping and road-tripping in camper vans to explore the British Isles.

Matthews is also looking at filming on home turf again: When lockdown is lifted, well start work on locations. At the moment, were looking at pilgrimages abroad and in the UK. Maybe this is where we all fall back in love with the UK again.

As for Race Across the World, plans for the first celebrity version were postponed in March, but Harcourt remains optimistic: We havent started casting for the next series, but I am confident we will be ready to go as soon as travel restrictions are lifted for one of the routes we want.

Travel TV is a window on the world that awaits us all. The effort to overcome this crisis needs to be a team like those trying to win Race Across the World we need good communication, patience, risk aversion, foresight and planning, coupled with a bit of luck.

Race Across the World: Revealed is on BBC Two on 3 May at 8pm; series one and two are available in full on BBC iPlayer

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No fly zone: will Race Across the World be the last travel TV of its kind? - The Guardian

The bad dreams started when the planes disappeared.

I live under the flightpath of aircraft landing at YYZ. There are times during the day when I can watch a parade of planes from all over the world heading SW at about 5,000 feet before they make a 180-degree turn for final approach into Pearson.

Some in the neighbourhood dont like the noise. Me, I love it. Somehow the jets overhead keep me in touch with the wider world out there. Ill often sit in the backyard trying to make out the liveries. When that doesnt work, I have all manner of ATC apps on my laptop, iPad and iPhone. (Hint: If you have an iPhone, ask Siri What planes are flying overhead and see what happens.)

But back to the bad dreams. In a normal year, Id put about 100,000 miles in the sky, flying to points all over the planet. Now, though, I cant even make a weekend trip out to see my aged parents in Winnipeg. The result has been nightmares involving air travel: missing flights, an inability to find the right gate, denied boarding, hideous seat assignments, and so on.

They all stem from the same thing: A frustration over not being able to travel forwell, who knows for how long?

I even missing the boarding music airlines play as we struggle to find space in the overhead bins. I associate that music with the anticipation of the flight and the things that lie at the other end.

This brings me to a post at One Mile at a Time, a travel site that covers how to get the best upgrades. Theyve collected the best boarding music from the worlds airlines that we can listen to at home.

Heres a sample.

More here.

Link:

Miss air travel? Heres a selection of the best boarding music in the world - A Journal of Musical Things

Id missed the joke about the three-legged chicken. It was causing a stir.

That one about the chicken with three legs you told yesterday, said a presenter on Irelands Midwest Radios afternoon show, apparently Ronald Reagan told it first.

Did he, now? the co-host replied.

Yes. You stole a joke from Ronald Reagan.

Jeez, Im going as red as a tomato here.

The conjunction of tripedal fowl, the 40th president of the United States and two men in a studio in Ballyhaunis, County Mayo, will never make a list of great radio moments but it was enough to coax me from between my four walls, even if it was via the imagination.

Radio has never been more popular: its seen off challenges, from television to the internet, to become stronger than ever. In 2017, according to industry ratings body Rajar, nine out of 10 people in the UK listened to the radio every week. Perhaps it succeeds because we have to conjure up our own pictures of events and places beyond our immediate surroundings. As a bored, lonely boy growing up in an anonymous south-east London suburb, Id spend most evenings in my bedroom jamming a coathanger into the back of an old radio and scanning the airwaves, awestruck by the range of languages and music bursting out of the night through skirling static; each voice sending tantalising reassurance of a world beyond the dispiriting confines of my own.

Were living through a different kind of isolation these days but radio is again a valuable form of escape. If we cant go to the world then it has to come to us and, thanks to its radio stations, is available at the touch of a screen. Streaming has made global radio local and I can eavesdrop on continents through their breakfast shows, travel bulletins and drive-time programmes on a range of devices.

A good way to navigate the crowded airwaves is through the Radio Garden app: a portal set up by Dutch national broadcaster NPO in which a tide of little green dots washes across the surface of the planet, each representing a different station. Alight on any of them and be transported somewhere different, somewhere exotically local.

Thats how I reached Ballyhaunis, where the lads were now up for a dance.

Lets forget our troubles, roll back the sofa, push back the chest of drawers and have a jive to Sharon Shannon whos Courtin in the Kitchen, they suggested. Well, it made a change from Joe Wicks anyway.

From the west of Ireland, I crossed the Atlantic to the long-established New Orleans community station WWOZ, where the breakfast show was just underway.

Its a beauuuuuuuuutiful New Orleans morning out there, came the laid-back basso profundo of DJ Ol Man River, coming out of Ray Charles Lets Go Get Stoned. Check out that sky filled with pinks and purples, people.

His weather forecast predicted 80F combined with a sweaty 87% humidity for the Big Easy, but a slight breeze would, he chuckled, be enough to blow the smoke away if youre taking ol Ray Charles advice.

On Falklands Radio in Port Stanley, Morning Show presenter Wendy Luxton was probably not taking ol Ray Charles advice.

So many people are going back to crocheting and sewing these days, she said. I might try and take up crocheting again, actually. There must be tutorials on YouTube.

After further South Atlantic musing Life here has changed somewhat; we look forward so much to cooking magazines now it was north-west to Bridgetown, Barbados, where, on 98.1 The One FM, Dave Smooth, The Soca Bully, was reading out a series of birthday messages, slipping seamlessly into a solemn intonation of the death notices then handing over to a colleague for a potted biography of pioneering Caribbean trade unionist Clement Payne, one of the 10 National Heroes of Barbados.

Heading south-east and crossing the Pacific, I alighted at Rox FM, a community station set up by volunteers to serve the 4,700 people living in the remote mining town of Roxby Downs, six hours into the outback north of Adelaide. Its output ranges from current affairs show Women on the Line to Man Cave (full schedule description: your mates) to the weekly Aboriginal Way, which was getting started as I arrived.

Id like to begin by acknowledging the elders of the land, past and present, said the presenter ahead of a wide-ranging exploration of cultural and social issues aimed at Indigenous Australians.

Similarly remote, broadcasting from a tin shack in Gairloch on the west coast of the Scottish Highlands, is Two Lochs Radio (2LR), Britains smallest commercial station. Serving a geographical area the size of Glasgow with a population of just 2,600 scattered across a rugged landscape, 2LR represents the best of local radio: a reliable hub of information and entertainment tailored to its territory thats also an invaluable bulwark against rural loneliness.

Breakfast presenter Stuart Smith gave us the news, from a stranded ship in the Minch (now half empty of cargo, with a Dutch tug keeping guard throughout the salvage operation) to If youve got a book overdue from the community library, dont panic, all fines are currently waived.

The latter in particular, while outwardly trivial, demonstrates the lifeline radio can provide. These stations conjure up a sense of place and community thats at once specifically local and globally recognisable from the Highlands pensioner worried about the overdue Catherine Cookson on her kitchen table to the young Indigenous Australian woman in South Australia, tuning in to hear there are others out there who share hopes and concerns she thought were just her own.

All this and a three-legged chicken. What a radio world this is.

Go here to see the original:

A trip around the world through local radio stations - The Guardian

From zingy chilli crabs in the Caribbean to creamy coconut curries in Kolkata, top chefs share their favourite dishes from around the globe to transport us to far-flung places.

Three years ago I visited Sardinia with a boyfriend, Luca, for Sa Sartiglia, Oristanos Mardi Gras festival, complete with medieval horse racing, drinking and eating. Oristano is one of Sardinias great medieval cities, with cobbled streets and balconies blowsy with bougainvillea. During Sa Sartiglia the equivalent of the Palio horse race in Siena the city-centre piazza shuts down and it becomes the course. Riders get dressed up in elaborate costumes with white masks, bells and silk, and do acrobatics on the horses.

Lucas family home was a stream of friends and family, the TV blaring out live coverage of the race, though it was happening less than 100 yards away there was too much eating to be done to leave the house. There was a table spread with suckling pig, roast lamb and chicken (all from the family farm), rag, ravioli, bread, olives and grilled aubergines. The viola aubergines in Sardinia are enormous and beautiful, and you taste the sun when you eat them.

Serves four to six as an antipasti

Ingredients

80g pine nuts

3 large aubergines, sliced cm thick

handful of mint, chopped

80g feta or ricotta salata

For the dressing

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp date molasses

1 garlic clove, minced

2 tbsp lemon juice

zest of half a lemon, grated

5 tbsp best-quality olive oil

pinch of chilli akes

Method

Preheat the oven to 170C/Gas 3.

Toast the pine nuts on a baking sheet for a few minutes, until golden.

In a griddle pan over a medium heat, grill the aubergines in batches until they have softened, making sure they take a good amount of colour on each side.

Arrange on a platter and sprinkle over the mint, the nuts and the ricotta/feta. Mix the ingredients for the dressing together, whisk well, then drizzle over the top.

Bitter Honey: Recipes and Stories from the Island of Sardinia by Letitia Clark (Hardie Grant) is out on April 30

My fondest travel memories are from childhood holidays in south Devon. Pottering about in the rock pools on Salcombe beach, seeing bright sea anemones and crabs for the first time, and using our little nets to catch fresh shrimps by the bucketload, which my parents would cook up for tea.

We stayed in the picturesque village of Newton Ferrers. At low tide we could walk right across the causeway to Noss Mayo, all the boats keeled over in the mud. It was and still is very beautiful, a largely untouched landscape on the estuary of the River Yealm where you can see herons, kingfishers and egrets.

My father had a 19ft sailing boat and we would go mackerel fishing with a long line and flies on the string. Any mackerel dish I make still takes me back to these memories of Devon.

To make a great ceviche, coarsely chop 200g mackerel and marinate in lime juice and zest, 20ml olive oil, half a teaspoon of caster sugar, a teaspoon of chopped coriander, a pinch of chili flakes, salt, a teaspoon of finely chopped shallot and a little chopped garlic. Serve with tartar sauce (make your own by adding chopped gherkins, capers, parsley and shallots to mayonnaise).

Muse by Tom Aikens, 38 Groom Place, London SW1 (musebytomaikens.co.uk)

After checking into Soho House Barcelona one Friday last spring, my boyfriend and I headed to the bar for pre-dinner drinks, where we were immersed in the young vibrant energy. We ordered chilled manzanilla (Spanish crisp dry white sherry) with a platter of green olives, almonds and Iberico ham simple Spanish bar food, but it was fantastic, so much so that it has become our ritual aperitif during lockdown.

Early the next morning we visited La Boqueria, a buzzing market with jaw-dropping displays of fresh fish, cured meats, spices, cheeses, vegetables and an extraordinary array of beans. We called at Bar Pinotxo for brunch its the oldest bar in the market, a small counter seating only about 12 people, and the food is sensational and incredibly good value.

We ate lightly smoked sardine fillets, chickpeas with black pudding, slow-cooked beef cheeks and squid with Santa Pau beans (a local bean similar to borlotti). All accompanied by an ice-cold local beer! Inspired, we hit the stalls, and I bought an array of fabulous spices and oils including saffron to recreate a fish dish when I got home for a taste-escape back to this magical place.

Serves four

Ingredients

Olive oil

800g white fish (ling, haddock, hake or whiting), cut into small pieces

1 onion, finely chopped

3 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 tin of cherry tomatoes

2 tbsp whole almonds, finely chopped

a good pinch of saffron, soaked with warm water

300ml white wine

2 tbsp fresh flat parsley, finely chopped

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 180C/Gas 4.

Add a tablespoon of olive oil to a frying pan over a medium heat, then add the fish, season and cook for 30 seconds on each side. Transfer to a casserole dish.

Add another tablespoon of olive oil to the pan and stir in the onions and garlic, cover and cook for two to three minutes. Then stir in the tomatoes. Season and cook for a further five minutes and transfer to the casserole dish with the fish, almonds, and the saffron and water, plus white wine and one glass of water.

Cook in the oven for 30 minutes, then stir in the parsley and serve with basmati rice or a big green salad and lemon wedges.

Try more recipes in Clodaghs Suppers or get daily inspiration on IGTV @clodagh_mckenna

King prawns in malai curry sauce is a perfect holiday dish. It transports me to Kolkata, one of my favourite places in the world. Usually reserved for special occasions, it takes me back to when I worked at The Oberoi Grand hotel and the Bijoya celebrations between the Durga Puja and Kali Puja festivals. Malai refers to the creamy, tender meat inside a young coconut.

Serves two

Ingredients

400g large freshwater prawns, peeled and deveined

1 tsp ground turmeric

1 tsp salt

2 bay leaves

3 red onions, blended to a fine paste

1 tbsp ground cumin

2 tbsp ginger and garlic paste

2 green chillies, slit lengthways

250ml shellfish stock

75ml coconut milk

tsp sugar

4-5 green cardamom pods, ground

1 tbsp coriander, chopped

juice of lime

Method

Marinate the prawns in turmeric and salt for five minutes. Saut the bay leaves and onion paste in vegetable oil over a medium heat for 10 to 12 minutes. Meanwhile, sear the prawns in oil for a minute on each side.

Mix turmeric, ground cumin and ginger-garlic paste in 75ml water, add to the sauted onions, and cook gently for two to three minutes, stirring.

Add the remaining salt, green chillies and prawns and stir for a minute.

Add the stock, then mix in the coconut milk and simmer for two or three minutes, adding more stock if necessary.

Season and sprinkle on the ground cardamom and chopped coriander.

Squeeze over the lime juice and serve with basmati rice.

From Spice at Home by Vivek Singh (Absolute Press, 25); cinnamonclub.com

On my first trip to the Philippines with my wife, Irha, she took me straight to Caf Laguna in Cebu, where shes from. Its a popular local restaurant thats always packed. I had eaten Philippine adobo before, in Dubai but the adobo at Laguna was the best Id ever had. It makes such a difference eating a national dish in its place of origin.

Afterwards I had to go to my mother-in-laws house to taste the family recipe. Initially, I was worried: what if I didnt like her mothers version as much? Thankfully it was amazing, and Irhas mother taught me how to cook it. Now we enjoy this recipe as a family at home and it always brings back memories of that astonishing trip.

Pollen Street Social, London W1 (pollenstreetsocial.com)

In this region of Spain, on the Portuguese border, the black pigs roam semi-wild, feasting on acorns before they become exquisite iberico pork. From the pigs, they also make sausages and the most amazing smoked paprika, garlic and cumin-spiked chorizos. I tried it while I was there, grilled over open flames (there may be nothing better than that smell for grabbing attention at a gathering), alongside roasted peppers. Its the finest chorizo Ive found, made even better by the cooling saffron aioli.

Serves four

Ingredients

350g soft, spicy cooking chorizo (about six sausages), peeled

1 large red bell pepper

1 large yellow bell pepper

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1 tsp thyme leaves

50ml extra virgin olive oil

50ml white balsamic vinegar

2 pinches of saffron strands, infused in a splash of warm water

sea salt and black pepper

200ml aioli or olive oil mayonnaise, to serve

Method

Light the barbecue or use a hot griddle pan.

Put the peppers on the grill and blacken all sides.

Transfer the peppers to the indirect heat zone, and cook for 20 minutes.

Put in a heatproof bowl and cover with cling film.

Leave to steam for 15 minutes, then deseed and peel off the skins. Roughly slice, then put in a bowl with the garlic, thyme, extra virgin olive oil, vinegar and seasoning. Marinate for 15 minutes.

Cut the chorizo in half lengthways, place on the grill and cook for two minutes on each side until lightly charred and cooked through.

Whisk the saffron-infused water into the aioli/mayonnaise.

Spoon the marinated peppers on to the plates and serve with the chorizo and a dollop of aioli.

Norma, 8 Charlotte Street, London W1 (normalondon.com)

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Travel with your taste buds recipes from around the world by Britain's top chefs - Telegraph.co.uk

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rattle the world and its travel & tourism industry, the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has thanked all those in the sector going the extra mile to support their communities through these challenging times.

WTTC president & CEO Gloria Guevara said: WTTC wants to pay tribute to the millions of amazing coronavirus heroes throughout the global travel & tourism sector for selflessly going the extra mile to help their communities to overcome and combat the Covid-19 pandemic threat.

We recognise their quiet heroism and phenomenal dedication through using their incredible people skills developed during their normal working lives and wealth of experience to step up and offer essential help and assistance to those on the front line fighting this terrible virus.

Guevara concluded: Whether its tending to the sick, opening hotels for health workers or manning foodbanks, they, like countless others have risen to the challenge and shown with their hearts and actions that we are stronger together and we will win this battle.

WTTC highlighted a number of initiatives around the globe, including furloughed airline crew being deployed to help in hospitals, to operating additional cargo flights and hotels opening their doors to accommodate frontline staff.

The Council also noted that hospitality groups such as Hilton have been working to provide up to a million healthcare professionals with free accommodation.

In March and April, WTTC has called on world governments to support the travel & tourism industry, projected to lose up 75 million jobs if nothing is done. According to WTTCS 2020 Economic Impact Report, during 2019, the sector supported one in 10 jobs (330 million), making a 10.3% contribution to global GDP and generating one in four of all new jobs.

See original here:

WTTC thanks all those in the travel & tourism sector - Arabian Industry

Passport detailsGudrid Thorbjarnardttir, AKA Gudrid the Far-Travelled, New World explorer.

Place and date of birthIceland, sometime in the late ninth century but you should never ask a Viking woman her age.

Claim to fameGudrid was as well-travelled as her nickname suggests, visiting Norway, Greenland and, later in life, making a pilgrimage to Rome. What makes her truly exceptional, though, is that she sailed to North America in a longship, beating Christopher Columbus to the New World by almost 500 years. According to the accounts recorded in the Saga of Erik the Red and the Saga of the Greenlanders, Gudrid lived in America (known to the Vikings as Vinland) for three years. Her son Snorri was the first European to be born there.

Supporting documentationIts an almost unimaginable feat of derring-do, considering the hazards and the available technology, but there are pretty good reasons to believe that it stacks up. Since the 1960s archaeological evidence has emerged to confirm the Vinland sagas extraordinary accounts of a precocious Norse expedition to the New World. The remains of a settlement were discovered at LAnse aux Meadows, on the northern tip of Newfoundland, with typical Viking characteristics and preserved artefacts. Remnants of a spindle used for spinning yarn support the idea that a woman was among the would-be settlers.

Distinguishing marksSadly, Gudrid will never come to life for us in the way later, better-documented explorers do. However, the glimpses we get from the two sagas suggest Gudrid was not only resourceful but a compassionate traveller, who deserves to be better-known.

Last sightedThe Viking settlement in America was abandoned after three years. Gudrid returned to Iceland, where she ran a farm, and eventually converted to Christianity. In her sunset years, she went on a pilgrimage to Rome

Intrepidness ratingConsidering the era, the challenges, the risks, her gender and the cultural norms of the time, Gudrids a 10 out of 10.

Go here to read the rest:

Gudrid Thorbjarnardttir the woman who found the New World 500 years before Columbus - The Guardian