Travel
PR to transport over 20 percent of freight business after completion of ML-I; official
Pakistan Railways is expecting to transport over 20 percent of the country’s freight business after the completion of Main Line-I (ML-I) under China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which would help the department to make profitable entity.
Currently, Pakistan Railways is transporting only four percent of the total freight traffic in the country which was not sufficient for the department, an official in the Ministry of Railways told APP on Wednesday. He said that the ML-I had been planned to be executed in three packages, adding, preliminary design of the project has been completed and a formal request for the loan for Package-I has been conveyed. ML-I is 1872-kilometer long track from Peshawar to Karachi and expected to create around 24,000 jobs and would jump up train speed to 160 kilometers per hour, he added. He said railway line would be upgraded from Karachi to Peshawar and Taxila to Havelian while a new track would be laid with improved sub grade for 160km per hour. Bridges would also be rehabilitated and constructed.
Moreover, he said, provision of modern signaling and telecom systems, conversion of level-crossing into underpasses or flyovers, fencing of track, establishment of dry port near Havelian and up-gradation of Walton Training Academy (Lahore) were also the components of this gigantic project. He said that completion of the project would not only create direct (20,000 local labour/technical experts and 4,000 Chinese experts) jobs but also reduce travel time between Karachi to Lahore from 18 to 10 hours. The official told that the capacity of the line would also be increased from 34 trains to 170 trains per day and speed of the freight trains would be increased at 120 km/h. After its completion, he said that the project would generate economic opportunities for daily wagers in main train stations of major cities and would also attract the foreign investment. On the other hand, Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique had also reviewed the performance of railways’ all dry ports in the country and directed to send evaluation reports of all ports to the ministry for promotion of trade and increasing revenue.
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- Thirty-one percent of Americans are more interested in international than domestic travel, according to a recent poll by tourism market research firm Destination Analysts.
- Households are continuing to unleash two or three years’ worth of pent-up demand as Covid-19 fears wane and the last vestiges of pandemic-era border restrictions have eased.
- Asia-Pacific is drawing particularly vigorous interest, although European destinations retain their popularity, too.
Americans are poised to travel overseas in a big way in 2023.
Households are continuing to unleash two or three years’ worth of pent-up demand as Covid-19 fears wane and the last vestiges of pandemic-era border restrictions have eased.
The U.S. dollar also remains relatively strong versus currencies like the euro, hybrid work yields more flexibility for big trips and some airlines have added new long-haul routes to overseas destinations, according to travel experts.
“The travel industry is just going gangbusters,” said Erin Florio, executive editor of Condé Nast Traveler.
Why travel abroad is poised ‘for a big comeback’
Thirty-one percent of Americans are more interested in international than domestic travel, according to a recent poll by tourism market research firm Destination Analysts. That was a six-point increase from February and a year-to-date high, according to the survey, published in November.
Meanwhile, 62% of 2023 flight searches in the first week of December were for international destinations, up from 55% the same time last year, according to a recent Hopper report. It cited international travel among the top three trends for 2023, saying it’s poised “for a big comeback.”
Searches on Kayak for flights abroad are up 1.3% versus a year ago, according to company data as of Dec. 18. Those for domestic flights were down 13%.
In 2022, the share of international trips for which Americans bought travel insurance was on par with 2019 levels, the first time that had occurred in the pandemic era, according to data from online travel insurance marketplace Squaremouth. The trend has continued for trips booked for 2023.
American travelers largely stayed within U.S. borders in 2020 and 2021 amid health concerns and overseas Covid-related restrictions such as testing requirements, mandatory quarantines or outright bans on foreign tourists. Visits to U.S. national parks boomed and RV rentals soared as outdoor vacations offered the dual benefits of travel and relative virus safety.
Now, fear of the virus has waned. In September, the share of travelers unconcerned about contracting Covid surpassed those who are concerned, the first time that had happened in the pandemic era, according to Destination Analysts.
‘There’s a lot of pent-up travel demand’
2022 was also a year for more big trips abroad — but a spike in virus cases toward the end of 2021 and into the new year, fueled by the highly contagious omicron variant, somewhat dampened enthusiasm, experts said.
“There’s a lot of pent-up travel demand,” said Jessica Griscavage, a travel advisor and CEO of Runway Travel. “We missed travel for two to three years.”
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This so-called “revenge travel” trend — a term recently coined to describe burgeoning, pent-up wanderlust — coincides with looser health rules abroad and at home.
The U.S. dropped a Covid testing requirement for inbound air travelers from abroad in June. That rule, which also applied to U.S. citizens, mandated a negative test within a day of flying.
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Many countries had also fully closed their borders to foreign tourists. Now, most are again welcoming visitors — especially those with a Covid vaccine.
Fully vaccinated tourists can access 197 countries without Covid-19 testing or quarantine, and an additional 16 are open but require testing, according to Kayak data.
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“We’re pretty much at a place where we can go anywhere,” Florio said.
Just 12 countries, including China, Libya, Turkmenistan and Yemen, are still closed to vaccinated Americans, according to Kayak.
Many countries have more restrictions in place for the unvaccinated. About 69% of Americans are fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC recommends being up to date on vaccines before international travel.
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Many nations — including Australia, Bhutan, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Morocco, New Zealand, the Philippines and Singapore — eased border closures in 2022. Many European nations also dropped testing requirements for Americans. (Travelers should consult the U.S. State Department website for country-specific Covid restrictions.)
In addition, the pandemic-era surge in remote work has made “bucket-list trips more of an achievable reality,” said Nitya Chambers, executive editor and senior vice president of content at Lonely Planet.
Indeed, Hopper found 67% of travelers take trips more often and 20% travel farther away due to the flexibility of remote work.
Where travel is ramping up most
The Asia-Pacific region is poised for the biggest bounce in 2023 due to its broad reopening in the second half of 2022, travel experts said.
Japan has seen perhaps the biggest boost in interest, they said. The country re-opened its borders to travelers Oct. 11, with some remaining restrictions.
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“You almost can’t talk about travel without the country of Japan being referenced for 2023,” Florio said, adding that Australia and New Zealand are also “massive.”
Asia has surged in demand the most of all regions, according to Hopper data, which shows 27% of international flight searches are to Asian cities versus 19% last year.
Indeed, eight of the top 10 trending international flight destinations in early December were within Asia and Oceania, Hopper said. Tokyo; Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; and Bangkok were the top three, with airfare averaging around $1,200 per round trip ticket.
G Adventures, an international tour operator, has seen 2023 sales swell most for Japan, Thailand and Vietnam, said managing director Ben Perlo. This November was a record overall month for the company; sales for the three Asian nations each surpassed their November 2019 numbers, he said.
However, Europe has remained the most popular destination in terms of total volume, with European cities capturing a third of all international flight searches, about the same as 2021, Hopper said.
Long-term rentals (those 28 days or longer) have “become substantially more popular in Asia-Pacific compared to a year ago,” according to an AirBnb spokesperson. Most long-term stays are in Europe and North America, though.
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Major European hubs were among the top searched this year through Sept. 30, according to Google Flights data. London ranked No. 1, followed by Paris (No. 3), Rome (No. 6) and Lisbon (No. 9). Ho Chi Minh City was No. 2, while other Asian cities like Delhi and Mumbai also ranked highly (No. 4 and 7, respectively).
We’re pretty much at a place where we can go anywhere.
Italy, the U.K. and France ranked a respective first, third and fifth among top foreign destinations in 2023, according to a recent Destination Analysts poll. (Canada, Mexico and Japan ranked second, fourth and sixth, respectively.)
“Everybody wants to go to Europe,” said Griscavage. “It was a destination everyone missed through the pandemic.”
Due to the demand, people have gotten more “creative” on how to travel to Europe, she added. Many are opting for the typically less busy (and less costly) shoulder season, perhaps as early as March or in the late fall, Griscavage said.
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Global demand for travel has played out similarly, with most interest directed at Europe and Asia, according to Expedia data. Edinburgh, Scotland, and Sydney, Australia, rank No. 1 and 6 partly due to respective major events like the Fringe, the world’s largest arts and media festival, and WorldPride, Expedia said.
Economic concerns, inflation ‘aren’t stopping people’
This isn’t all to say travel is without headwinds, though. Value has been of particular concern for travelers, whose budgets have been stressed by high inflation. Overall prices for airline fares and hotels are up 36% and 3%, respectively, in the past year, according to the consumer price index.
International trips are poised to be more expensive next year, Hopper said, despite signals from the consumer price index that airfare, hotel and rental car prices have been trending downward in recent months. The desire to travel abroad has swelled through 2022 despite these economic anxieties, said Destination Analysts.
The euro has been trading at historically weak levels against the U.S. dollar, meaning Americans have been able to get bargains when booking travel to countries like France, Germany, Italy and Portugal. That dynamic is likely driving at least part of the popularity, Perlo said. (The euro has strengthened a bit in recent weeks, though.)
“The economy right now and prices aren’t stopping people from traveling,” Chambers said. “People have been home, they want to get back out there, they have a list of things they want to experience and they’re doing that.”
More Read: Visit
I am an experienced financial analyst & writer who is well known for his ability to foretell market trends as well.
Becoming a certified flight instructor is a rewarding career that combines a passion for aviation with a challenging career. As a flight instructor, you will be responsible for training student pilots who will one day become commercial, instrument, or multiengine pilots. As a flight instructor, you will have the opportunity to build hundreds of hours of flying experience, which is valuable for your professional development as a pilot. You can even turn your passion for flying into a lucrative profession.
There are two levels of certification. Obtaining a flight instructor certificate is required for commercial pilots. To earn a certificate as a flight instructor, you must have a commercial pilot license in a light-air aircraft. The FAA has specific requirements for becoming a flight instructor. To become a flight instructor, you must pass a practical exam.
The most common reason to become a CFI is to build flight time. Since most aviation jobs require a minimum amount of flight time, most candidates choose to teach flight training to build their hours. The teaching aspect of the job allows them to build their experience steadily while reinforcing the knowledge they learned during flight training. Additionally, flight instructors become knowledgeable pilots who are endorsed by other pilots to take practical tests.
After completing the ground school, applicants will undergo a comprehensive training program, which covers ground school fundamentals and flight instructor aeronautical knowledge. During this course, candidates will spend a considerable amount of time self-studying and teaching other students. They must be capable of providing safe flight instruction to their student pilots. The CFI course is designed to make this transition as seamless as possible for all participants.
The CFII flight rating enables instructors to teach students who are working towards an instrument rating. In addition to training students to earn their instrument rating, they may hold privileges of other instructor ratings. For example, a CFII can teach students how to fly an aircraft with a multi-engine or instrument rating. These two ratings are the highest in the aviation industry and are responsible for teaching student pilots.
A certified flight instructor can also become a seasoned instrument flying instructor. Instrument flying instruction is challenging and rewarding, but it does require a lot of work. The CFI training includes a knowledge test that covers instrument flying basics and flight procedures. There is also an exam known as the FAA checkride, which requires the student to answer questions related to the principles of learning. Practicing in a simulator is a great way to prepare for the checkride.
An instrument-rated flight instructor must have a flight instructor certificate and have at least 200 hours of experience teaching pilots. A flight instructor’s privileges are further restricted by the Federal Aviation Regulations. For example, flight instructors who teach in a flight school under 14 CFR parts 141 and 142 may require specialized authorization from the local controlling agency. The certification process can be arduous, but the rewards will be well worth it.
The White House is looking into a presidential commission’s recommendations to cut the processing time for Green Card applications to just six months and to clear the backlogs by April 2023 in a move that could help hundreds of thousands of immigrant families, especially those from China and India.
The President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders released its inaugural report on Friday. The report was approved on May 12 and transmitted to the President on August 24 and the White House Domestic Policy Council is currently reviewing its recommendations before they can sent to President Joe Biden for his decision.
The report states because of COVID-19-related closures and staffing limitations as well as the continued effect of the 2017 travel bans, processing green cards up to the annual cap has been difficult.
It recommends that the Department of State’s National Visa Center (NVC) facility should hire additional officers to increase its capacity to process Green Card application interviews by 100 percent in three months from August 2022, and by increasing Green Card applications and visa interviews and adjudicate decisions by 150 percent by April 2023, and reduce the current backlog by the end of 2023.
The committee said in the report that Green Card visa interviews and visa processing timelines should be limited to a targeted goal of six months.Green Card visa interviews and visa processing timelines should be limited to a targeted goal of six months
The commission recommends to reduce the agency’s pending family-based Green Card backlog, US Citizenship and Immigration Services should review their processes, systems, and policies and establish new internal cycle time goals by streamlining processes, removing redundant steps, if any, and automating any manual approvals.
It says this should improve its internal dashboards and reporting system, and enhance policies to reduce the cycle time for processing all forms related to family-based Green Card applications
Family reunification has been delayed for years due to an increase in family-based immigration backlogs over the past three decades.
The report states that out of the 226,000 green cards available, only 65,452 family-based preference green cards were issued in FY 2021.
“If there is a query or more information is needed, USCIS (the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) and the Department of State (DOS) shall continue to process the applications outside the six-month goal and adjudicate decisions in a timely fashion,”
“If an application is not completed in six months, then it will not be terminated and will continue to be processed in a timely fashion ongoing,”, the report states.
The recommendations also include adjudicating requests for temporary work programmes, such as the H-1B and H-2A visas for agricultural workers within a span of two months extending the period of work permit extension to 365 days instead of the current 180 days.
A green card is a Permanent Resident Card issued to immigrants to the US as evidence that the bearer has been granted the privilege of residing permanently while the H1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to hire foreign workers for specialized positions that call for theoretical or technical expertise.
If accepted and implemented the recommendations could be a big relief to immigrant families especially from India and China.
I am an experienced financial analyst & writer who is well known for his ability to foretell market trends as well.
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