Category: Top Stories

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

Emirates is planning to introduce two additional flights to its Toronto (YYZ) service, to complement its existing schedule. The additional Toronto flights will be introduced on August 18, 2018 and will operate on a Saturday departing Dubai as EK241 at 0330 hrs and arrive in Toronto at 0930 hrs. The return flight, EK242, leaves Toronto at 1425 hrs and arrives in Dubai at 1140 hrs the next day. On Sundays, EK241 will depart at 03.30 hrs and arrive in Toronto at 09.30 hrs. The return flight, EK242, will leave Toronto at 14:30 and arrives in Dubai at 11:25 the next ... Read more

According to Tourism Council of Bhutan’s (TCB) exit survey 2017, nine out of every 10 international tourists have voted Bhutan as a safe tourist destination. About 91 per cent of the regional tourists from India, Bangladesh and Maldives also said Bhutan is a safe tourist destination. About 1,428 international visitors were surveyed at the Paro International Airport using administered questionnaire survey. A small number of international tourists were interviewed at exit points of Phuentsholing, Samdrupjongkhar, and Gelephu. A total of 1,534 regional visitors were surveyed at all exit points as part of the survey. Value for money stands the highest for ... Read more

If you have yet to book your tickets for your summer holidays, here is a chance to save some money. Dubai-based Emirates is offering discounted fares to various Asian cities. The offer is available for those who book the tickets on or before 12th August 2018. The passengers can travel until 31st October 2018 with the discounted prices. Currently Dubai to Mumbai economy ticket is priced AED. 460/- only. Dubai to Delhi is AED 500/-,  to Chennai AED 570/-, to Kochi – AED 500/-, to Thiruvananthapuram – AED 550/-, to Bengaluru – AED 560/- The rate may even be less, ... Read more

Photo Courtesy: BAR Table Bollywood star and Tourism Fiji ambassador Ileana D’Cruz launched Tourism Fiji’s 2018 India Roadshow today in a press conference. She also launched a video of her recent Fijian trip during the event. Tourism Fiji CEO Matthew Stoeckel said the India road-show would cover four major cities like, Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkatta and Bangalore. The roadshow officially begins tomorrow, 7th August  and ends on 14th August 2018. Ileana during her last visit of Fiji The actress, known for films like “Barfi!”, “Rustom” and the latest “Raid”, has been the ambassador for Fiji tourism in 2017 as well. “I’m ... Read more

Picture for Representation only (Photo Courtesy: Whyndham) A unique tea lounge is coming up at the Guwahati Tea Auction Centre (GTAC) soon. The tea lounge will have a tea restaurant which will offer teas like CTC, orthodox, second flush and specialty teas and various others. The lounge will be called ‘Chai Bar’. The plan to open a tea lounge was considered seven years back, how ever, it is only recently GTAC has decided to implement the proposed project. In a recent meeting, the GTAC governing body decided to form a special sub-committee to implement the project. The lounge is expected ... Read more

The first batch of 14 youngsters of Punjab origin from the United Kingdom will visit the State from August 7 to 16 as part of the scheme ‘Connect with Your Roots (CYR)’. The group consists of eight boys and six girls, aged between 16 and 22 years. The programme CYR was launched by Caption Amarinder Singh, Chief Minister of Punjab on 13th September 2017. The programme targets the foreign-born youth who are into second, third and fourth generations of Punjabis and have never travelled to Punjab. The government will make arrangement to bring them to Punjab and showcase its culture, ... Read more

Emirates is celebrating 15 years of successful operations to Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city. Since its inaugural flight in 2003, Emirates has carried over two million passengers to and from Auckland, connecting New Zealand to the world, with 21 flights a week to Dubai, Bali and beyond. Emirates began its services to Auckland with daily flights via Sydney and Melbourne and, later, Brisbane. In 2009, the award-winning airline introduced its iconic A380 aircraft to the route, providing a revolutionary double-decker aircraft to transport passengers between Auckland, Sydney and Emirates’ cosmopolitan hub, Dubai. The operations were further enhanced few years later ... Read more

The Kannur International Airport in northern Kerala, which is scheduled to be opened in September 2018, is expected to be beneficial for the Karnataka tourism industry. Top tourism destinations of Karnataka, like Mysuru and Kodagu (Coorg) are likely to be benefited by the new airport as they are within easy reach from Kannur. The new airport is just 58 km from Virajpet, about 90 km from Madikeri and 158 km from Mysuru. The airport will serve as a channel for tourism development since Kodagu is closer to Kannur and thus improve connectivity between the two cities. Tour operators of Kodagu ... Read more

Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL), which runs 165 hotels across the Taj, Vivanta and Ginger brands, is the latest hospitality major which is coming out to join the protest against the use of plastic straws. The hotel has made a commitment to stop using plastic straws at its properties as part of a sustainability push aimed at reducing plastic pollution in the world’s oceans. Earlier this year, the company announced that Taj Exotica Resort & Spa, Andamans in the Indian Ocean would become its first ‘Zero Single Use Plastic Hotel ‘. “We at IHCL have taken a pledge to phase ... Read more

Tourism industry of Hawaii islands has been gloomy, due to the recent eruption of Kilauea volcano. The cumulative expenditure loss to the tourism of Hawaii’s Big Island inflicted by the eruption may turn out to be as high as approximately 200 million U.S. dollars, a study found. According to the latest study, the Big Island may have already lost 38,000 potential visitors and around 50 million dollars in potential tourism expenditure in May and June. The Big Island of Hawaii may have lost 17,000 potential visitors and 22.7 million dollars in potential tourism expenditure in May and 21,000 potential visitors ... Read more

Mini-Europe is hosting a sound and light show for three Saturdays from Aug. 4 to 18 to mark the 2018 China-European Union Tourism Year campaign. It was as per the decision taken jointly in the China-EU Summit in July 2016 to observe 2018 as China-EU Tourism Year. The night sky in Brussels was lit up with dazzling colours, as Chinese themed fireworks shot up from its landmark Mini-Europe park as part of the celebrations. The park has been adorned with Chinese lanterns bearing images from Sichuan Opera, a traditional opera that originated in China’s southwestern Sichuan Province, famous for its ... Read more

Barcelo Resorts (Photo Courtesy: Bookings.com) Spanish hotels are cutting prices on summer holiday packages as tourists return to destinations like Turkey and resorts in North Africa, while visitor numbers to Spain continue to be increasing for the past four years. Tourism is one of major revenue earner of Spain, accounting for around 11 per cent of Spain’s total revenue. Last year around 82 million tourists visited Spain, making it the world’s second most visited country after France. Spain’s hotels have exploited the country’s popularity as a sought after tourist destination and increased prices on average by 21.4 per cent over ... Read more

Photo Courtesy: MMTV A mobile application named ‘Chalo’ has launched by the AK Saseendran, Minister of Transport on Friday, 3rd August 2018. It was part of the continuous efforts of the state government to encourage public transport and to curtail the use of private vehicles, which increases congestion, accidents, and pollution. This free mobile app enables live tracking of 850 private buses and a dozen of ferries operated in Kochi and to suburban towns. The app can be downloaded from Google Play Store. The App will become a multi-mode journey planner, once around 15,000 auto-rickshaws are included in it. “Commuters ... Read more