Category: Top Stories

In a stimulus to the tourism sector in Odisha, large hotel brands such as Taj Hotels, Hyatt Hotels, ITC Hotels and Crown Plaza have come forward to start their hotels in the state. Taj Hotel “Taj Hotel is coming up with a large commercial complex. Similarly, we are hopeful that ITC’s property will be ready in the next six months. All the new hotels will be coming up in Bhubaneswar,” said a senior official of the tourism department. ITC Group is putting up a 110 room five star hotel in Bhubaneswar under its Welcome Hotel brand. According to the Odisha tourism website, the state ... Read more

Emirates and Jetstar Pacific have announced a new codeshare agreement, expanding the existing partnership between the Dubai-based carrier and Jetstar Group. The new partnership with the Ho Chi Minh City-based carrier allows Emirates’ passengers to enjoy connectivity on domestic flights within Vietnam, in addition to flights connecting Vietnam to Singapore, Thailand as well as Australia. The new codeshare services from Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi connect Emirates passengers to 14 Vietnamese cities beyond Ho Chi Minh City and six cities beyond Hanoi. Emirates will also operate codeshare flights with Jetstar Pacific between the latter’s hub in Ho Chi Minh ... Read more

Photo Credits: gotnewswire India and the Netherlands could join hands for promoting medical tourism in both countries. It was suggested by Shirpad Yesso Nayik, Union minister of state for Ayush, while talking in a seminar titled ‘India-Netherlands Collaboration in Healthcare, including Ayurveda, at Leiden. “India is the world’s largest producer of generic medicine and there is tremendous potential for medical value travel to India for conventional and alternative medical treatments like Ayurveda,” said the minister. Alternative medical streams in India, named Ayush, denotes to medical treatments other than allopathic such as Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha and homeopathy. Naik reiterated the ... Read more

Turismo de Portugal (TdP) has conducted roadshows combined with B2B sessions, in New Delhi and Mumbai. The roadshow was aimed to educate and motivate the focused invitee list of preferred travel agents, tour operators and trade partners and update their knowledge about Portugal, the products it has to offer, USP’s of the destination, exchange rate, visas and how it caters to different segments of the Indian travellers. The event was divided into 2 different sessions – one was the focused B2B sessions where the invitees held business meetings with the Portugal DMCs. The DMCs and their top management attend the Roadshow; ... Read more

Kochi airport, the seventh busiest in the country, had been non-functional from August 14 to 28 owing to the devastating flood that shook the entire state between August 8 and 22. The airport authorities had first announced the shuttering of the facility till August 18, which was then extended to August 26 and further to August 29 as water levels continued to rise inundating the runway, the terminals as well as the large solar farm surrounding the airport. The engineers from government-owned consultancy Kitco have begun a survey in Nedumbassery and Kanjoor panchayat areas as a preliminary step to help ... Read more

Indian Blackbucks Indian Blackbucks (Antilope cervicapra) is one of the three species of antelopes found in Odisha, which are in the endangered list. In order to enhance the population of the black bucks, the authorities are planning to release some of them in the Chandaka forest on city outskirts this year. Last month the authorities have sought the help of Wildlife Institute of India (WII) for the population management of the antelopes.  As per the recent census the total number of blackbucks the Bhetnoi-Balipadar landscape of Ganjam district was counted to be 4,080. “The fact that the landscape of Bhetnoi ... Read more

Pamukkale, Turkey After their recent participation in the trade exhibitions in India, Turkish tourism industry is eyeing on Indian Metro cities to develop wedding and Mice tourism in their country. The tourism department is planning to have campaigns to lure people from Chennai and other metros. Recently Indians are showing interest in conducting wedding and other important functions abroad.  They are less hesitant to spend money to make the functions as grand as possible. Turkish tourism department is trying to exploit this tendency and showcase their historical monuments and other world renowned tourism spots to the MICE and Destination Wedding ... Read more

ATOAI 12th Convention in Madhya Pradesh Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI) always hold their annual conventions in adventure destinations and, this year the association has selected Araku Valley its venue for the next convention. The 14th Annual Convention of ATOAI will be held in Araku Valley, Andhra Pradesh from 25th to 28th October, 2018. Araku Valley, located 115 km from Vizag airport, is an amazing hill station, one of unfathomable valleys in India that lures the tourists with its breath-taking landscapes and pleasant weather. The annual convention of the Adventure Tour Operators Association of India is a gathering of the ... Read more

Goa government plan to include agro-eco tourism in the school syllabus. It was suggested by the ICAR-Central Coast Agricultural Research Institute (CCARI) and they are said to be in the process of writing to the state education department recommending this. An agro eco-tourism unit has already launched in the state equipped with a range of agricultural activities and display of various operations like mushroom production, bee hives etc. “When the agro eco-tourism unit has launched, lots of schools have contacted us showing their interest. We are writing to the government to include this in the school curriculum. We may also ... Read more

The Government of Kerala is all set to honour the rescue workers from the tourism field including life guards, who actively participated in the rescue operations during the recent flood that hit the state. Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran will attend the function which is to be held at Kanakakkunnu Palace in Thiruvananthapuram at 4 pm on September 3. Boat drivers and staff members of Kerala Tourism Development Corporation (KTDC) and District Tourism Promotion Councils (DTPC), and those who rushed into the rescue operations under the aegis of various organizations in the tourism/hospitality sector will also be honoured at the function. ... Read more

A short film on Jammu and Kashmir tourism, titled “Warmest Place on Earth” has won “gold” at an award ceremony organised by the India chapter of International Advertising Association (IAA). The ad film launched by the state’s Tourism Department in September 2017 has been declared the winner in the ‘Travel and Tourism Category’ at IndiAA awards held in Mumbai on Friday. The film highlights the hospitality of Kashmir. The 5-minute film was the first such big campaign launched by the Kashmir government. Conceptualised by J Walter Thompson, the film was directed by filmmaker Amit Sharma. The lyrics of the background song in the ... Read more

Kerala’s popular tourist destination, Thekkady, famous for the Tiger Reserve and wild life sanctuary, which has been closed following the rains, is returning to its normal days. The ban on tourism and operation of heavy vehicles, following rain and floods, has revoked last day by the District Collector. As soon as the restrictions have lifted, tourists started flowing to Thekkady. Lots of people came to Thekkady lake to enjoy boating. Members of different organizations operating in the region have come to experience boating after the havoc created by the rigorous rain. Most of the roads to Thekkady have damaged due ... Read more

After the incessant rains and flood, Kuttanad in Alappuzha, renowned for its house boats, is bouncing back to normal. House boats resumed operation in Alappuzha on 31st August 2018. This year was expected to be a better tourism season for the houseboats, with the announcement of the first-ever Boat League, Nehru Trophy Boat Race and Monsoon Tourism in the tourism chart. However, the unexpected rain and flood have stumbled all the plans. “It is not easy to recover from the disruption at once. Our efforts are to move slowly to normality,” said Jobin J Akkarakkalam, Secretary of Kerala Houseboat Owners ... Read more

The longest flight I have ever had is my flight to Taiwan, back in 2014, which made travel almost 4400 kilometres in a flight. And, in those long hours spent in the flight,  I finished two movies, had a couple of snacks and slept for some time, and still, there was more time left made me stare at the ceiling. The thought of a non-stop 20 hour flight, which is going to be the longest flight, was literally a blow for me. But, the Qantas Airways flight between London and Sydney, is not going to be the mundane, boring travel it seems. ... Read more

Maharashtra tourism department plans to launch a web portal to provide a single source of authentic information about medical care and to eliminate hawkers and middlemen. “Maharashtra is trying to enhance its strength in the medical and wellness industry, which includes therapies like yoga, Ayurveda and meditation. The portal will include all the stakeholders in the industry like, doctors, practitioners, hospitals, spas, transport and travel agencies, service providers, bureaus providing bedside assistants for patients and even security services,” said a senior official from the state tourism department. Before implementing the program, inputs from experts in all the related sectors will ... Read more