Category: Top Stories

Aiming to boost tourism in the state, Odisha Government is planning to launch a luxury train service in line with “Palace on Wheels.” The announcement came after a discussion between the Odisha Chief Secretary A P Padhi and Sanjiv Garg, additional member of the Railways (Tourism and Catering),  on June 28. “The railways had a word with the state government to introduce luxury trains in lines with the Palace on Wheels. Some states in the country have already started operating such luxury trains,” said Padhi. The proposed train will mainly aim at foreign tourists and local tourists who can afford ... Read more

Those who like long drive have a golden opportunity to fulfill their dream – that too crossing the border of the country. The event is organized by ByRoad, a group of travel enthusiasts. The event named “Bhutan By Road”, is a long drive to our neighbouring country Bhutan, through Silguri, West Bengal. ‘Bhutan-by-Road’ is a 14 day self-driving tour starts from Siliguri (West Bengal) through Bhutan and ends in Guwahati. Travellers have three options to take the car from their home to Siliguri and back. You can either drive it down yourselves from your residence/home city. ByRoad will provide necessary ... Read more

Good news for people of Controguerra in Italy. A new hotel – Idea 18 Boutique- is opening at Controguerra, in the hills between Abruzzo and Le Marche, 15 kilometres  away from Adriatic Riviera. The hotel covers a total area of 1,350 square meters surrounded by 3 hectares of greenery: one for the garden, two for the park. It features five suites, the dining room and various relaxation spaces: the structure is surrounded by green scenery, a pool, barbecue area and vegetable garden. The pool is located at the entrance of the structure. One of the short sides of the pool ... Read more

Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC) said it has recommenced its white water rafting activity on Mhadei river till September this year. There will be two rafting trips held each day with the first trip starting at 9:30 am and the second at 2:30 pm. Each trip will go on for 2.5 to 3.5 hours running 10 km each. For white water rafting, people are needed to assemble at The Earthen Pot Restaurant in Valpoi. There will be a 25-minute drive and a 10-minute walk from there to the Mhadei river valley. From there, the group will be lead to the ... Read more

Photo Courtesy: Aasif Shafi/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images Heavy rainfall has delayed the commencement of the annual pilgrimage of Amarnath Yatra, the annual 60-day pilgrimage to the holy cave of Amarnath. It is reported that only 1,007 pilgrims could pay obeisance to the naturally formed ice-lingam at the holy cave shrine. It is also reported that around 1,735 pilgrims are stranded at the Nunwan base camp. The yatra was earlier suspended on Thursday, when intermittent rains forced authorities to suspend the yatra briefly on the Baltal route and ask pilgrims to stay put at the Domel camp. However, as weather improved, the ... Read more

The World Heritage Tag by UNESCO has helped Ahmedabad tourism industry to attract 13 per cent more foreign tourists during the period 2017-18. This was revealed in a report by Gujarat Industrial and Technical Consultancy Organisation Limited (GITCO) Foreign tourist who stayed overnight in Ahmedadab has shown a hike in 2017-18. It increased to 1,38,000 when compared to 1,22,000 of 2016-17. The growth is around 13 per cent. The number of domestic travellers also shows a rise during this period. In 2016-17 the number of domestic tourists visited Ahmedabad was 66,63,000, which has increased to 74,59,000 in 2017-18, depicting an ... Read more

Casinos in Goa to be retained and legalized as per a recent research paper published by a scholar of south Goa. Dr. Afonso Botelho, an associate professor of Sociology at the Rosary College of Commerce and Arts. He explains in his paper that the Indian middle class tourism is in a boom stage and preserving the casinos would help the economic development of the region. However, the study specifies that sustainable strategies to be implemented to counteract possible ill-effects of casino gambling. Dr. Afonso also recommended setting up of an authority to regulate casinos in order to contain the potential ... Read more

Uday Samudra (UDS) Hotels at Kovalam in Thiruvananthapuram, has bagged the prestigious award for “Outstanding Commitments and Excellence in Service” in the field of tourism. Instituted by London based Anand TV, Rajasekharan Nair, Chairman and Managing Director of the hotel group has also been adjudged as the “Best Businessman in Tourism Sector” The awards were presented by Ian Duncan Smith, MP of British Parliament, in a function held at London. In addition to the above, Trivandrum-based “Jayan Samskariak Veedi” has conferred the “Best Business Man Award” to Rajasekharan Nair for his outstanding contribution in the field of tourism. Minister for ... Read more

Kerala Tourism is once again in the limelight. And, this time it takes the credit for launching one of the biggest advertising campaigns in the national level, aimed to mesmerize the domestic tourists. Joining Kerala Tourism, is the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, which has offered the exteriors of the coaches of the Delhi metro trains to adorn the vinyl graphics highlighting a collage of images from God’s Own Country. The campaign by Kerala Tourism includes the spectacle of a huge canvas, depicting the state’s soulful natural beauty such as serene beaches, emerald backwaters, lush hill stations, and exotic wildlife.

YouTube has launched a couple of new updates to the platform including the new “Premieres” feature that would allow creators to debut pre-recorded videos as a live moment. “Premieres are starting to roll out to uploaders today and will be available broadly soon,” said Neal Mohan, YouTube’s Chief Product Officer, in a blog post. “When creators choose to release a Premiere, we’ll automatically create a public landing page to build anticipation and hype up new content,” Mohan added. When all fans show up to watch the premiere, YouTube will enable them to chat with each other and with the creator ... Read more

Kovalam is set to be in the global yoga tour map. Kovalam is the best place for yoga, certify the participants of Yoga Ambassador Tour. Around 60 yoga exponents from 22 countries are participating in the Yoga Ambassador Tour, organized by ATTOI (Association of Tourism Trade Organizations, India), in association with Ministry of Ayush and Kerala Tourism. On day two of Yoga Ambassadors Tour, Kovalam beach was opted as the venue for conducting the yoga session. The session was led by Dr Arun Tejas of Sri Chithra Institute, Thiruvananthapuram. Though Kerala has witnessed mass yoga sessions in the state before, ... Read more

The Yoga Ambassadors has performed some yoga steps before the inaugural event at The Leela Raviz Kovalam in Thiruvananthapuram.

Almost 30 tourist destinations in the states will be enhanced with a cost of Rs 590.97 crores, said Cultural Affairs and Tourism Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu. Once the project is completed, Amritsar would be the centre of tourist activity, with its 11 destinations on the list. This will be done with the aid of Asian Development Bank worth Rs 344 Crores. Apart from this Rs. 96.67 Crores will be availed from the Swadesh Darshan Scheme, aiming at revamping religious and historical cities. Rs. 50 Crore will be sanctioned under the Prasad scheme for Amritsar city. The department has set aside ... Read more

Emirates is giving customers even more reasons to explore Dubai and the United Arab Emirates with the return of its signature pass this summer. ‘My Emirates Pass’ turns the Emirates boarding pass into an exclusive membership card, giving travellers exclusive offers and discounts within the UAE. Emirates customers flying to or through Dubai between 1 June and 31 August 2018 can take advantage of a range of offers at some of Dubai’s best known hotspots by simply showing their boarding pass and a valid form of identification. My Emirates Pass gives customers exclusive offers at over 250 locations including world ... Read more

flydubai has announced the launch of its new Home Check-in service in partnership with DUBZ and dnata and is now available for booking through flydubai.com on new and existing itineraries. Up to six hours ahead of departure, the new doorstep check-in and baggage collection service allows flydubai passengers to check in for their flight and hand over their baggage to dedicated DUBZ staff from the comfort of their home or office. A team from DUBZ will pick up the baggage up to 24 hours in advance of the flight, print boarding passes and baggage tags on the spot and deliver ... Read more