Category: Top Stories

Rahul Ramachandran (Right) at shooting location Meet Rahul Ramachandran, probably the youngest director in the Malayalam film industry. With his debut film ‘Jeem Boom Baa’, he is about to fulfil his lifetime dream to become a film maker. Hailing from the hospitality industry, 25 year old Rahul, with his young team is going to hit the silver-screen by February 2019. Interestingly all those in the technical team are from Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala. Rahul shares his exciting journey which matches with a thrilling screenplay, with Manoj Attingal of Tourism News Live… Poster of Jeem Boom Baa What made ... Read more

Inspired by Akshay Kumar’s movie Padman, Chandigarh based teenagers Jaanvi Singh and Laavanya Jain have started a hygiene campaign ‘spot free’. They visit the nearby slums to create awareness of personal hygiene and bought sanitary napkins and distribute among the women. Later they have decided to make the pads themselves, as they could not afford the costs. “After watching Padman, we thought we should buy pads & distribute it to women who can’t afford it. But the cost was too much and that’s why we decided to make them ourselves. Each pad made by us costs Rs 2. Now we ... Read more

Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) and Airbnb announced a strategic partnership to launch Airbnb Experiences in Sri Lanka and drive local, authentic and sustainable tourism across the country. Through this Asia-first partnership, Airbnb and SLTDA will work together to onboard local experience hosts onto the Airbnb platform and help local people from across Sri Lanka share their passions and interests with travelers from around the world. Travelers can now choose from more than 40 Airbnb Experiences in Sri Lanka designed and led by local experts. “We’re delighted to sign this partnership with the Sri Lankan Tourism Ministry – the ... Read more

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the project for construction of 6.930 km long 4-lane bridge at Phulaut in Bihar. There is a 10 km long missing link between Phulaut and Bihpur on NH-106 and falling in the catchment area of Kosi River. As such, presently, the traffic from Phulaut to Bihpur requires to take a detour of approximate 72 km. On construction of the new 4-Lane Bridge across river Kosi under this project, distance between Phulaut and Bihpur shall be reduced to only 12 km. The new bridge will generate direct employment ... Read more

As part the efforts to bring more tourists to the country, the government has extended e-visa facility for citizens of 165 countries. The e-visa facility is available at 25 airports and five seaports. It was informed by K J Alphons, Tourism minister, in the Lok Sabha. “Government has launched the ‘Incredible India 2.0’ campaign, indicating a shift from generic promotions to market-specific promotional plans. A 24X7 toll free multi-lingual tourist helpline has also been put in place as part of the efforts” added Alphons. To promote tourism in India, events such as ‘paryatan parv’ (tourism festival), International Buddhist Conclave and ... Read more

The Supreme Court has directed the Tamil Nadu government to seal or close down 11 resorts and hotels constructed on the elephant corridor of Nilgiris in violation of law within 48 hours . A Bench headed by Justice Madan B Lokur directed the owners of the other resorts and hotels located in the area to produce their documents of approval before the Collector within 24 hours. The apex court said the Collector will verify the documents and if he arrives at the conclusion that a resort or hotel has been constructed without prior approval, the same should also be closed within ... Read more

Vice President of India, M Venkaiah Naidu will inaugurate the Indian Culinary Institute on August 19 in Tirupati.  The construction of the Rs 98.6 crores ICI has been completed. Union Minister of Tourism K J Alphons will also participate in the programme. The State government has provided 14.21 acres of land for ICI near Tirupati Airport. The completed works have been visited by Visiting secretary of department of tourism Mukesh Kumar Meena, APTDC MD Himanshu Shukla and district collector P S Pradyumna. “With the expansion of tourism sector, the students who come out of ICI may get good employment opportunities,” said Mukesh Kumar.  ... Read more

Preah Vihear Temple Preah Vihear temple is located in Svay Chhrum village, Kantuot commune, Choam Ksan district, about 108 kilo meters north of Preah Vihear provincial town. Preah Vihear province was created in 1964 by cutting the land from Stung Treng, Kampong Thom and Siem Reap provinces.   The province is at the north of Cambodia, on the plateau that is rich in forests, mountains and streams. Preah Vihear temple is an ancient Hindu temple built during the reign of the Khmer Empire that is situated atop a 525 meter cliff in the Dangrek Mountains. In 1962, following a lengthy ... Read more

IndiGo has announced the launch of 24 new flights on its network. The airline has introduced four new routes and will operate its first flight between Ahmedabad and Bhubaneshwar, Ahmedabad and Varanasi, Hyderabad and Patna and Kolkata and Surat. All 24 new services will commence from September 2018. IndiGo will provide a second flight in Agartala-Guwahati, Hyderabad-Guwahati and Kolkata-Nagpur routes. It is also planning to run a fourth flight between Hyderabad and Bhubaneswar and a fifth flight between Ahmedabad and Hyderabad. IndiGo has also introduced a discount offer for domestic air passengers, with tickets costing as low as `981 between ... Read more

As torrential rain lashes Kerala, the tourism department has decided to postpone the Nehru Trophy boat race, which was scheduled on Saturday (Aug 11) at Punnamada lake in Alappuzha. The tourism department has made the announcement considering the risk from the heavy rain and flood. Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar was invited as the chief guest of the event. About 78 boats will contest in different categories in the race this time. Twenty five chundan vallams (snakeboats) will participate in the 66th edition of the boat race. Apart from it, 26 boats in Iruttu Kuthi ‘A’, four boats each in Churulan and ... Read more

Photo Courtesy: Voice of Sikkim The Khangchendzonga Biosphere Reserve (KBR) in Sikkim, surrounding the world’s third highest peak Mount Khanchendzonga, has been added to UNESCO’s World Network of Biosphere Reserves, making it the 11th biosphere in India to be included in the network. It is to be considered an opportunity for joint collaboration and conservation of biodiversity with neighbouring countries like Nepal, and Bhutan. The Khangchendzonga National Park (KNP) in Sikkim is popular among trekking and hiking enthusiasts, is also the starting point for several stunning trails, taking explorers up and through a dizzying variety of forests and terrains to ... Read more

Global Panorama Showcase (GPS) is a Premier Business Networking Event and Business-to-Business team, who have been conducting trade shows in various cities of India. The events provide a platform for interaction and business between tour operators and travel Agents to understand the each other and build good business relationships. GPS is conducting an event in Kochi to facilitate interaction between the buyers and sellers in the tourism industry. The event, which will be hosted at Le Meridian hotel, will be for three days starting from Thursday, 9 August, 2018 to Saturday, 11 August, 2018. First day of the event will ... Read more

GOAMILES, Goa’s first mobile app based taxi service,  was launched by Manohar Parrikar, Chief Minister of Goa at the Secretariat Complex, Porvorim. GOAMILES will provide the convenience of booking a taxi immediately upon arrival in the state at reasonable, government approved rates. The GOAMILES app can be downloaded from Google Play Store and Apple Store. Speaking at the launch, Parrikar said, “Goa can now take tourists for miles through the new app based taxi service which will be affordable and give travellers a comfortable journey from the time they arrive till they leave. I congratulate Goa Tourism for launching this initiative ... Read more

Picture Courtesy: Hatten Land Malacca (Melaka) is expected to have a RM200 million (USD 49.2 million) water theme park, the largest in the Malaysian UNESCO World Heritage city. A collaboration between Singapore’s Hatten Land, Samsung C&T Corporation – which also operates South Korea’s Everland Resort – and water slides designer Polin Waterparks, Splash World at Harbour City is due for completion by end of 2019 and expected to be opened to the public in the first half of 2020. A joint statement by the partners said that the water park, located 14 floors above ground, will be “the world’s first ... Read more

Wide body aircrafts can now operate from Calicut airport. The application from Saudi Airlines has been approved by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, allowing them to operate wide body aircrafts. The airport was partially closed on May 1, 2015, after the Airport Authority of India (AAI) banned operation of wide-bodied aircrafts including Boeing 777 and B747-400 and Airbus 330 for the runway re-carpeting, to ensure safety of passengers. A convoy of Kerala MPs have visited the Union Aviation Minister several times to seek permission for making the airport fully functional. Revamping works of the runways to facilitate operation of ... Read more