Author: Tourism News live

“India is a land that has tremendous potential when it comes to tourism. With countless destinations and experiences to choose from, India attracts millions of domestic as well as international tourists. However, the tourism industry in India is increasingly facing a lot of challenges, which include high rate and rationalization of taxes; connectivity and high air fares; service standardization and accreditation and increasing competition,” said Kadakampally Surendran, Minister for Tourism, Govt of Kerala while speaking at the Tourism Minister’s Conclave at The Leela Raviz Kovalam here today. The GST Council of India has imposed 28 per cent tax on hotel ... Read more

Deepika Kumari Sharma, Director, Jammu and Kashmir Tourism, discussed the Challenges and Way Forward, of Jammu and Kashmir Tourism at the Tourism Minister’s Conference held today at The Leela Raviz Kovalam, Thiruvananthapuram. She pointed out that the ethnic cleansing in Kashmir, targeted abduction of foreigners, disruption of life, destruction of properties and facilities and administrative machinery supporting the sector coming to a halt are the circumstantial issues affecting J & K Tourism. Deepika Kumari also said that ignorance of audience unaddressed, corruption, general neglect and apathy are the systemic issues affecting J & K tourism. “Lack of quality infrastructure, good ... Read more

The Association of Tourism Trade Organisations, India (ATTOI), in association with Department of Tourism, Government of Kerala, is all set to host the International Conference on Tourism Technology (ICTT) in Kochi to address the challenges related with technology faced by Indian tourism and hospitality industry. The third edition of ICTT will have a separate session on attracting Chinese tourists to Indian destinations, especially Kerala. Richard Matuzevich from China will speak on the topic ‘How to do social media tourism promotion to get Chinese tourists. Excerpts from an interview with Richard Matuzevich… With the volume of outbound guests, Chinese tourists are ... Read more

The Champions Boat League (CBL) saw its competitive spirit soaring today with fraction of seconds proving critical in races, even as Tropical Titans continued their winning spree by finishing first in the third consecutive round of the pioneering water race modelled on IPL cricket. The victors timed 4:12.11 in the day’s final race to remain atop the CBL rankings, inches ahead of Coast Dominators (4:12.90) and Mighty Oars (4:13.80) who emerged second and third respectively along the one-km track. Tropical Titans were declared ‘Nerolac Excel Fastest Team of the Day”, and earned five extra points with the best timing of ... Read more

Chaliyar River Paddle’ is the 6th edition of this annual event by Jellyfish Water Sports and supported by Kerala Tourism. The three-day paddling event held from September 20th to September 22nd, 2019 targets water sports enthusiasts, nature lovers, tourists, children and people from all walks of life. Promoting water sports like kayaking, SUPing, and canoeing will help build the connection, turning more and more youngsters and tourists into evangelists of clean waters. “Chaliyar River Paddle has been focused on saving our rivers from urban pollution and promote recreational kayaking for everyone. Recently Kerala State has witnessed repetitive flooding and most ... Read more

Tourism Ministers and top officials of various states will congregate at the famed Kovalam beach resort here on September 16 to deliberate on key issues and challenges confronting travel and hospitality sector and hammer out strategies to firm up India’s position as a prime global destination of immense diversity. Union Minister of State for Tourism and Culture Prahlad Singh Patel will be the chief guest at the conclave, to be inaugurated by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at Leela Raviz, Kovalam. Hon’ble Minister for Tourism, Cooperation and Devaswom, Kadakampally Surendran will preside over the function. Major topics on the agenda ... Read more

A colourful cultural pageantry will be taken out in the city on September 16, to mark the finale of Onam Celebrations that showcased the best of Kerala’s art and performing traditions in multiple venues for a week. Hon’ble Governor Arif Mohammad Khan will flag off the procession, organized by the Kerala Tourism Department, at Manveeyam Veedhi, near the Raj Bhavan at 5pm. Hon. Minister for Tourism, Co-operation and Devaswom, Kadakampally Surendran will hand over the musical instrument ‘Kombu’ that proclaims the commencement of the procession, which will wend its way through the thoroughfares of the city for the next two ... Read more

An adventure that will leave you breathless! Take a swim in the Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea and explore the first Underwater Military Museum offering underwater enthusiasts 19 fascinating relics of battles. The military machines are stationed along the coral reefs imitating a battle tactical formation, that have formed the most exciting underwater escapade, intriguing divers and snorkelers to discover more and more of the dive site, not expecting what to see next and leaving them with a totally unique experience. After 30 days of scanning, photographing and planning, the blueprints for scuttling are ready, and the Aqaba ... Read more

Portugal has hit the limelight and is at the center of attention as a spectacular tourist destination with Bollywood’s two biggest action superstars shooting a sequence in this stunning country! Known for its natural landscapes, as well as history, culture and cuisine; the landscapes of Portugal have been used in the film “War”, the hottest Bollywood action film starring superstars Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff who have shot a “dangerous” bike chase sequence on Portugal’s highest mountain peak Serra da Estrela for the film. “For one big action chase sequence, they had to drive superbikes at high speed on top ... Read more

Beyond Israel’s most popular tourist attractions – such as Jerusalem’s Old City, the Dead Sea and Tel Aviv’s White City – the diverse country has lush forests to the north and a vibrant desert to the south, offering ample opportunities for adventure travelers to explore. Whether visitors are looking to rappel off an arch into a great and beautiful abyss, hike cross country or swim among the dolphins, adventure tourism in Israel is booming. Spanning only 263 miles, adventure-seekers will appreciate Israel’s offerings for adventurers of every level and interest, whether they are traveling north, south, east or west. In ... Read more

The Tourism Authority of Thailand, New Delhi (TAT), in collaboration with Go Air, hosted 10 travel agents from Tier II and Tier II cities on a Trade FAM trip from 26th – 29th August 2019. The focus was on a specific customer segment- Phuket as a family destination. The purpose of this trip was to acquaint the agents with services and offerings of Go Air and experience new and existing products of Phuket as a family destination and also meet the sellers of Phuket directly through a B2B networking event. TAT Phuket welcomed all the FAM participants and 30 buyers ... Read more

Seychelles Tourism Board (STB) participated in the Global Panorama Showcase 2019 (GPS), a premier business networking event in order to reach out to tour operators beyond metro cities of India. Out of eight cities where the event took place, this year STB shortlisted Hyderabad, Lucknow and Kolkata to educate and network with the travel trade. “This year Seychelles Tourism Board conducted various workshops across India, however, participating in GPS helped widen our base of interaction with agents from tier II and tier III cities that have the potential and interest in Seychelles. While we have reached out to around 200 ... Read more

YouTube has unlimited potential for travel destinations planning to increase the tourist footfall. With visually appealing content, it is now easy to grab the attention of the target audience. Recent studies show that audiences prefer video on all social platforms. YouTube is the second largest search engine after Google and many travellers start their trip planning with search. YouTube has an important part to play in your Search Engine Optimisation and Content Marketing strategies. Here’s Jessica Dante, Youtube Marketing Expert from London, speaking at the International Conference on Tourism Technology on How to use YouTube for destination promotion on September ... Read more

Latest figures show that Jordan’s tourism saw an 8.6 per cent increase in revenue hitting $3.2 billion from around the world within 7 months of 2019 (January- July 2019). The total number of tourists to Jordan has increased by 9.8 per cent as compared to 2018 for the same period. This year Jordan will further confirm its status as one of the most attractive holiday destinations by making visa-on-arrival process easy. The Queen Alia International Airport, Amman has recently introduced 12 new visa processing, purchasing counters for non-Jordanian passengers for entry visa. “We are very pleased to see a notable ... Read more

With an aim to boost tourism in Tripura, the state government has decided to construct 51 temples, which would be replicas of the 51 Shaktipeeths and has also started a helicopter service to Devatamura and Unnakoti hills, famous for huge-rock cut sculptures. The state government has already allocated 14.22 acres of land for construction of replicas of Shaktipeeths at Fulkumari in Gomati district, about 3-km away from the Tripuresari temple, a famous temple and one of the 51 Shaktipeeths. “There are 51 Shaktipeeths. Of the 51 Shaktipeeths, 38 are in India, six in Bangladesh, three in Nepal, two in Pakistan ... Read more