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Vietnam's ministry of transport announced on 13 July that the country has agreed to resume commercial flights to and from China, after they were suspended in February due to the COVID-19 pandemic; a visa suspension for Chinese nationals, though, will remain in place. A proposed schedule is yet to be confirmed, and it is currently unclear as to whether eligible arrivals from China would be subject to Vietnam's 14-day quarantine.

The government of France announced on 13 July that, with immediate effect, it has started to restrict Chinese airlines to one passenger flight per week, in a move seen to be a retaliatory response to curbs imposed by Beijing on French airlines; discussions between the two governments reportedly remain in motion, with an aim to reach a more satisfactory mutual decision. Currently three Chinese airlines are permitted to make weekly flights to Paris - Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines.

To address safe group travel practices and evolve today’s event experience, Hilton today announced a global, industry-leading cleanliness and customer service program specific to meetings and events. Hilton EventReady with CleanStay is the next phase of the company’s recently launched Hilton CleanStay and was shaped by extensive research and feedback.

The country's government has proposed that scheduled, commercial international flights should resume from 15 July; the proposal comes after Russia re-opened sports facilities and restaurants despite recording a high number of new COVID-19 cases. The deputy prime minister has said that any foreigners entering Russia would be required to have tested negative for the virus within three days of arrival.

The U.S. airline has announced today that it has delayed the resumption of flights to Hong Kong, following the introduction of measures from 8 July whereby airline crew are now subject to arrival testing and a 14-day medical surveillance. American Airlines were due to begin a three-times weekly service from Dallas/Forth Worth International Airport from 9 July, but have now pushed the resumption date back until 5 August.

The United Kingdom's Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has reported that some airlines may now be requiring passengers departing from airports in Bangladesh to present negative COVID-19 test certificates prior to boarding. Passengers due to fly on departing services should confirm any such requirement in advance with their airline.

The Italian government has suspended all flights from Bangladesh for one week, after a ‘significant number’ of passengers arriving on a flight to Rome on Monday tested positive for COVID-19. Last week the Lazio region, close to Rome, also urged the local Bangladeshi community to test for the virus after clusters of recent cases.

The country's government have reportedly today, 8 July, said that plans to introduce travel bubbles in September are likely to be delayed following a spike in COVID-19 cases. Countries including Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong were set to be included. The country has thus far partially lifted a three-month ban on foreign visitors this month, allowing business travellers and tourists seeking medical treatment to enter.

The country's economy minister has announced that the government had agreed with members of a new expert panel to ease restrictions on holding events from 10 July. The relaxation comes despite Tokyo reportedly confirming 102 new COVID-19 cases as of 6 July, in what was the fifth straight day that the tally of new cases exceeded 100.

Bali's local government plan to re-open to international tourism from September, around a month earlier than planned, according to Reuters. Meanwhile, the southeast Asian island will gradually re-open to domestic Indonesian visitors this month from 9 July onwards. Officials have said they will be maintaining a 'strict health protocol' to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The Indian low-cost airline SpiceJet is currently operating 25 flights under India's national repatriation drive, known as the Vande Bharat Mission (VBM). The airline will help bring back close to 4500 Indians stranded in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Oman under the initiative. SpiceJet has so far operated six of the scheduled special flights, bringing back over a thousand Indian nationals; it will operate another 19 flights this month from Ras Al-Khaimah, Jeddah, Dammam, Riyadh and Muscat.

The airline has announced that it will resume flying to more destinations across its network throughout July 2020. Across the UK and Europe, the airline will return to more short haul destinations by the end of July including Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Switzerland and Turkey. Domestic flights will resume between London and Belfast, Inverness, Jersey, Manchester, Newcastle and Newquay and the airline will move to double daily services to Edinburgh and Glasgow. Long-haul services set to resume include flights to a number of U.S. cities, the Caribbean, Toronto and Tokyo.

The world’s largest hotel chain, Marriott International, has embarked on project ‘We Care’ in India, which will entail new standard operating procedures for its staff and guests. Starting with JW Marriott at Aerocity New Delhi and the Ritz Carlton Pune, Marriott will gradually implement this programme across all its hotels in India and South Asia.

Airlines within the Lufthansa Group have published their summer flight schedule from July through to October 2020, when they will return to over 90% of short and medium haul destinations and 70% of long haul destinations compared to the same periods last year. Included within the list of destinations to which flights will resume are Indian cities New Delhi and Mumbai.

Indian hotel chain ITC Hotels have announced that it's property Welcomhotel Amritsar is now the state of Punjab’s ‘First LEED certified hotel’ under the aegis of USGBC (US Green Building Council). The hotel received the rating for energy efficiency for a range of sustainable initiatives like using 33% less energy & reducing water consumption by 46%. ITC's Gardenia hotel in Bengaluru is the first LEED platinum certified hotel in Asia Pacific (2009), while ITC Maurya was the first hotel in the world to be awarded this rating.

In addition to a number of domestic routes resuming, the airline will also in August fly 25% of its 2019 international schedule for the same month. This includes adding a number of services to the Caribbean and Mexico; in Europe, United will boost its schedule to the connecting hubs of Lufthansa Group partners including Brussels, Frankfurt, Munich and Zurich. Resumed Asian routes will include Tahiti and New Delhi, and the carrier also will add five routes to Canada plus 35 routes to Latin America.

A finalised list of 14 countries from which passengers are permitted to enter the EU’s 27 member, and four other, nations in Europe’s visa-free Schengen travel zone has been released; they are Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay. China may also soon be included if they confirm reciprocity. As expected, the U.S. is excluded for now, but the list will be reviewed every 14 days.

The country’s government has confirmed that existing border restrictions will remain in place past 1 July, when it will add an additional 18 countries to its ban on entry. This brings the total number of countries to 129.

The country will lift a ban on international flights from 1 July, it announced on 29 June, and allow entry to those who qualify under a new set of loosening restrictions. Those now to be permitted entry will include business travellers, foreigners with work permits or those with spouses in-country. Reportedly, foreigners seeking some forms of medical treatment including cosmetic surgery may also shortly be permitted entry. International arrivals will still be subject to a 14-day quarantine.

As communicated by CVS, effective from 7 July 2020, passengers traveling as tourists arriving at Dubai (DXB) must have mandatory documents in their possession. These include: Health declaration form, Quarantine undertaking form, Copy of PCR test issued 96 HRS before date of departure & Health insurance valid for the duration of the visa validity.