Cancelled tours, empty hotels: Israeli, Palestinian tourism reels as conflict escalates
Bethlehem/JerusalemReuters Early this month, the main square and streets around Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity were bustling with tourists. Now they are empty after a devastating attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas in Israel on 7th October. “Business is at a standstill since the war started,” said Essa Abu Dawoud, a tour guide in the […]
Turkey turns to tents and tourist resorts to house quake homeless
Istanbul/Kahramanmaras, TurkeyReuters Turkey is grappling with one of the biggest challenges from the earthquake that flattened a swathe of its towns and cities: how to shelter hundreds of thousands of people left homeless in the middle of winter. Banks of tents are being erected in stadiums and shattered city centres, and Mediterranean and Aegean summer […]
Rebooting economies: Harder to attract staff than visitors at Italy’s tourist hotspots
ANGELO AMANTE, writing for Reuters, reports on the difficulties facing the hospitality industry in Italy as the country looks to a post-COVID future…
Actor Michael Sheen urges UK to use hotels as refuges during COVID-19 lockdown
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation Hollywood actor and activist Michael Sheen urged the British government to turn empty hotels into refuges for people fleeing violence at home during the coronavirus lockdown as he warned there would be a dramatic increase in domestic abuse. The Welsh actor, famous for his roles in the Twilight Saga and Oscar […]
Major UK hotels found failing to combat threat of modern slavery
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation Major hotels in Britain are failing to protect workers from debt bondage and sexual exploitation, according to a study on Wednesday that found 75 per cent of hospitality businesses were flouting anti-slavery legislation. Britain’s world-first 2015 Modern Slavery Act requires companies whose turnover exceeds £36 million to produce an annual statement […]
Sri Lanka lifts curfew after bomb attacks kill 290, wound 500
Colombo, Sri LankaReuters Authorities lifted a curfew in Sri Lanka on Monday, a day after 290 people were killed and about 500 wounded by a string of bombings that tore through churches and luxury hotels on Easter Sunday. There was still no claim of responsibility for the attacks on two churches and four hotels in […]