Category: Top Stories

All of us have wondered how’s life in jails would be. Take your imaginations away! You don’t need to a criminal or the visitor of a criminal to enter the jail gates anymore. Just like the much famed Alcatraz in San Francisco and the cellular jails in Andaman, the gates of Maharashtra jails are also open to public from now on. The state prison administration is all set to send a proposal to the government to allow tourists to rent a real prison cell, where they can live for a stipulated period. If the proposal is approved, Maharashtra will be the ... Read more

Swiss National Park Swiss Tourism board is looking at the strong potential in medical tourism, and is eying UAE as a source market for medical tourism to Switzerland. “At the moment, it’s (medical tourism) less than 10 per cent of total visits to Switzerland. That’s why we see so much potential and opportunity to grow. We’re looking at the UAE because we already have substantial clientele who come to visit Switzerland,” said Martin Nydeggar, chief executive officer of Switzerland Tourism. Switzerland welcomes around 70 million visitors a year. However, these numbers are not in the country for medical tourism. “We ... Read more

A record number of 43.7 million tourists visited Toronto in 2017, led by Americans, Chinese and British tourists. According to the latest statistics released by Tourism Toronto, tourists pumped $8.8 billion into the local economy in 2017. Toronto also recorded a $700 million spike in booked hotels, attractions and restaurants compared to 2016. International visits surpassed the 5 million mark for the first time. With nearly 3 million American overnight visitors spending $1.8 billion, visits from grew for the seventh year in a row. Second to US, the biggest international source markets were China with 319,000 visitors and the UK with ... Read more

Air India celebrates the induction of its latest Boeing 777-300 ER aircraft, which will be one of the two new planes to be used for VVIP purposes. The new aircraft is among the last three Boeing 777 aircraft remaining from an order of 68 Boeing aircraft placed by the Air India in 2006. The plane took off from Everett in Washington at 12 pm local time and landed in Delhi at 7.31 pm, completing its journey in a record 14 hours and 10 minutes. The Reverse Pacific westbound flight from Seattle to Delhi took a shorter route over Northern Russia ... Read more

Dubai’s most recognised airline service provider Fly Dubai has recently added two international destinations to their fleet. The newly added spots are from Thessaloniki in Greece and Aquaba in Jordan. The new flight schedules will come into effect in June 2018. Aqaba Port Aquaba, a city in Jordan, is unique for its coastal significance as well as historic importance. The city is administered by the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority, which has turned Aqaba into a low-tax, duty-free city, attracting several mega projects like Ayla Oasis, Saraya Aqaba, Marsa Zayed and expansion of the Port of Aqaba. White Tower, Thessaloniki, Greece ... Read more

Photo Courtesy: chandrikahotel The 25th GST Council meeting held in Delhi has decided to allow Input Tax Credit (ITC) of input services in the same line of business at the GST rate of 5 per cent in case of tour operator services and that of the small housekeeping service providers, notified under section 9 (5) of GST Act, who provide such services through ECO. The council has also decided to reduce GST rate on services by way of admission to theme parks, water parks, joy rides, merry-go-rounds, go-carting and ballet, from 28 per cent to 18 per cent. IT has ... Read more

UP CM, Yogi Adityanath exploring the stalls of handloom, crafts, and food on UP Diwas at Avadh Shilpgram, Lucknow. The Uttar Pradesh government is celebrating its foundation day for the first time with much pomp and glory. Lauding the Yogi Adityanath government’s flagship scheme of `One District One Product` (ODOP) on the occasion of the first ‘Uttar Pradesh Diwas’, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu said it was a very important initiative not only in terms of the state’s progress but also for apprising the new generation about their rich heritage. UP CM, Yogi Adityanath exploring the stalls of handloom, crafts, ... Read more

A traditional dance of Telangana The Government  of  India is organising ‘Bharat Parv’  event  at  the   Red Fort, Delhi  from  26th to 31st  January, 2018   as  part of  the  Republic  Day  2018  celebrations.  The prime objective   of organizing the event  is  to  generate  a  patriotic  mood,  promote  the  rich  cultural  diversity  of the country and  to  ensure  wider  participation  of the  general  public. The Ministry of  Tourism  has  been  designated  as the nodal  Ministry for the  event, the highlights of  which  include Display  of  Republic Day Parade Tableaux, Performances  by  the Armed  Forces  Bands (Static as  well  as  dynamic),  a  ... Read more

Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapati Raju today said the UDAN Phase 2 will connect 43 airports and helipads in the priority sector, the North-East and the hill states. The minister was speaking at the Award of Regional Connectivity Flights after Second round of Bidding under RCS Udan in New Delhi. States with maximum number of airports and helipads seeing activation under UDAN 2 are Uttarakhand (15), Uttar Pradesh (9), Arunachal Pradesh (8) and Himachal Pradesh (6) and Assam and Manipur (5 each).  “Kargil will be connected by airport for the first time. New greenfield airport in Kannur will get flights to ... Read more

Kuwait’s major low cost airline, Jazeera Airways, which has started its operation to Kochi, is said to be seeing the possibility of a tie-up with Kerala tourism. “There is a great opportunity for Kuwait and Kerala in the field of medical and leisure tourism. There is lot of traffic especially during weekends to Kerala out of Kuwait, many of whom could be seeking medical treatment in the state,” said Andrew Ward, VP Marketing and Customer Experience, Jazeera. Jazeera has launched four weekly flights to Kochi from Kuwait. Kochi is the third route in India after Hyderabad and Ahmedabad. The flights ... Read more

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has said they set a growth target of 8 per cent in tourism revenue from the international market. “Thailand’s ‘unbeatable geographic location’ is a major reason why visitor arrivals will continue to grow strongly in the years ahead,” said Tanes Petsuwan, TAT Deputy Governor for Marketing Communications, during the ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) 2018 held in northern Thai city of Chiang Mai. “Thailand has the best connections within the entire region as there are approximately 30 overland border checkpoints open for travel by international visitors with Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Malaysia, as well as four Friendship ... Read more

Travel spice, an online hotel booking platform from Bangalore, has won the ‘Travel Tech’ start-up of the year 2018 award from the Government of Karnataka. Award, and a prize money of Rs 15 lakhs, was handed over by the Minister of Tourism Priyannk Kharge to the co-founders of travel spice Ankit Manglik and Prashant Mitta at Bangalore Palace. Photo Courtesy: m24news.com The company has business with over 8000-star hotels among 220 cities in India and abroad. Travel Spice provides online bookings with discounts as well as value-based services. “Travel Spice is based on the unique opaque model well suited for ... Read more

Photo Courtesy: SPTO The World Health Organisation, in partnership with the South Pacific Tourism Organisation, is planning to improve the health of both the tourism workforce and tourists to the region. “The so-called ‘Healthy Islands’ project would promote smoke-free public places, increase the opportunities for people to eat healthy local foods and get physically active,” said WHO Technical Officer, Dr Ada Moadsiri. Under the new partnership, the organizations will promote smoke-free public places and increase opportunities for people to eat healthy local foods and get physically active. The partnership also aims to support improved accessibility for persons with disabilities in the ... Read more

Photo Courtesy: Kerala Tourism Ten million foreign tourists visited India in 2017. With more projects in the anvil, the country has potential to push it higher. However, the state tourism departments are looking at the budget allocations from the Central Government for the year 2018. Officials from the ministry hint that it is not going be an exciting budget for the tourism industry. The safety and infrastructure of the industry are the sections which need immediate attention. A handful of projects are waiting for the fund allocation from the ministry. Tourism ministry has received Rs 1776 crore in 2017-18. This year, ... Read more

Photo Courtesy: Prakriti Shakti CGH Earth have always been innovative in coming up with new ideas and projects, which never fail to astonish us with its grandeur and wholesomeness. After having more than two decades of experience in Ayurveda healing at their hospitals in Kalari Kovilakom and Kalari Rasayana, the CGH group started this new project, Prakriti Shakti. Prakriti Shakti is situated on the pristine hills of Panchalimedu in Kerala. With 19 rooms and a well-equipped team, Prakriti Shakti practises healing through nature, the only way to heal you from within and rejuvenate your mind, body and spirit. The treatments ... Read more