Category: Top Stories

World-famous as God’s own country – Kerala – the southern coastal state is a paradise for tourists. Endowed with nature’s bounty, Kerala’s mesmerising backwaters, gorgeous waterfalls, captivating hills, spice gardens and tea/coffee plantations will lure you to the core. Besides nature, Kerala’s traditions and culture will leave you spellbound. From Mohiniattam to Kathakali, from Kaikottakali to Kalaripayattu the state has plenty to offer, perhaps more than what one can dream of. If you ever wish to visit this beautiful place, you can make the most of your trip by picking up souvenirs as a token of remembrance. Kerala is also ... Read more

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), which represents the global Travel & Tourism private sector, and faculty and scientists of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, released four research insight papers to support the pursuit of sustainability in Travel & Tourism. The research insights aim to support decision-makers in Travel & Tourism to broaden their understanding of sustainability as it relates to policies and practice in the sector. WTTC and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health have a long history of collaboration, working towards a more sustainable future for Travel & Tourism. Together, they aim to ... Read more

Indian Railways has made a significant change in online ticket booking. The change is related to ticket cancellations. As per the new decision, Railways has announced that tickets booked through the Indian Railways website and App will be refunded immediately upon cancellation. At the time of booking the ticket, those only paid through IRCTC iPAY, the payment gateway of IRCTC, will get a quick refund against cancellation. In 2019, Indian Railways introduced the iPAY system. iPAY was launched as part of the central government’s Digital India campaign. Currently, it takes two to three days to get a refund on ticket ... Read more

Kerala’s Responsible Tourism Mission Coordinator K. Rupesh Kumar has been selected to the International Panel for the Training of Community Based Tourism Trainers. Out of 300 trainees globally, only four are from India who has successfully completed the training and qualified for admission to the panel. Two of them are from Kerala. Apart from Rupesh Kumar, responsible tourism researcher Sebastian Kuruvila is another member of the panel from Kerala. The course was organized by the International Trade Center, based in Switzerland. Admission to the course was restricted to those who led and researched tourism projects that attracted international attention in ... Read more

Safety and security is one of the priority areas by Indian Railways. Apart from safety and security of passengers, Railway Protection Force (RPF) has contributed in a big way during Covid-19 in Indian Railways efforts to sustain its fight against the virus. During the pandemic, RPF remained on the forefront of Indian Railway’s efforts like security of parked rolling stock, providing food to the needy, escorting all Shramik Special trains, handling 45 deliveries and about 34 medical emergencies in Shramik Specials. RPF has formulated a special plan ‘Reach out, secure and rehabilitate’ for protecting Covid orphans. RPF has initiated a ... Read more

Travel agents, pilots, tour operators, aviation workers and cabin crew are among the thousands of people who will ‘speak up for travel’ today, as part of a day of action. The sector is seeking to put pressure on the government to capitalise on the Covid-19 vaccine rollout by safely reopening travel for the summer season and provide tailored financial support to businesses. The pandemic has been a catastrophe for the travel industry, closing borders, and even making most travel to and from the UK illegal for months on end. Data from ABTA estimates that as many as 195,000 jobs have ... Read more

The Andhra Pradesh government yesterday decided to resume tourism in the state. The announcement to reopen all the prime tourist attractions was made by the state Tourism Minister Muttamsetti Srinivas Rao on Wednesday. He expressed that as the numbers of positive cases have dropped in the country, the tourist spots can now reopen from Thursday. The Minister also said that they will plan a roadshow across the country to popularise the state’s tourist attractions. He further informed that the tourism department’s Blue Bay hotel at Rushikonda in Visakhapatnam will be developed with INR 164 crore. Some popular tourist attractions in ... Read more

The UK government must abandon the ‘failed and damaging’ traffic light system now if it is to save the stricken Travel & Tourism sector from total collapse, says the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC). The controversial system, which has wreaked havoc among consumers and Travel & Tourism businesses, needs to be scrapped if there is any hope of saving hundreds of thousands of jobs throughout the UK WTTC, which represents the global Travel & Tourism private sector, says if this doesn’t happen urgently the more businesses will collapse, and more jobs will be lost. The global tourism body also ... Read more

A total of 42,28,802 children, 22,72,197 adolescents and 17,37,440 pregnant and lactating women participated in the Yoga modules for their better health and well-being on the occasion of International Yoga Day, 2021 on June 21, 2021.   More than 32 lakh field functionaries and over 82 lakh beneficiaries participated in the event. Jharkhand The Ministry of Women and Child Development urged all State Governments/UT Administrations to work in a coordinated manner to observe the day and secure long-term gains in the area of public health and well-being. State Governments and all stakeholders also undertook several activities to ensure good participation in ... Read more

If you want to see and learn about the oldest human settlements ever discovered in the country, then head to Edakkal Caves in Wayanad district. Located at about 10 km from Sulthan Bathery, Edakkal Caves have pictorial writings on the walls dating back to at least 6,000 BCE, in Stone Age. The caves were first discovered by the then Superintendent of Police of Malabar District, Fred Fawcett in 1895 during one of his hunting trips. Fawcett found that the caves were the habitat of Neolithic people, and his discovery drew the attention of archaeologists and historians across the world. Perched ... Read more

The UK will lose a staggering £639 million a day during July if international travel remains off-limits, according to an open letter to the UK Prime Minister, from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC). The global tourism body, which represents the global private Travel & Tourism sector, has written to the UK Prime Minister, warning the UK faces a possible £19.8 billion loss if international travel is effectively delayed until August. Up to 218,000 more jobs in the sector are also at serious risk of being lost if no action is taken now – in addition to the 307,000 ... Read more

The tourism department is gearing up to revive the tourism sector, which has been ravaged by stringent restrictions. Tourism revenues have halved in the last financial year due to covid restrictions. In the financial year 2019-2020, DTPC (District Tourism Promotion Council) received revenue of 7.09 crores, but in this financial year 2020-2021 its only 3.85 crores. In this financial year, Tourism centers were opened only in April. The income for that month was only Rs 48 lakh. DTPC reported a net loss of Rs 3.24 crore in the second financial year. It is in this context that projects aimed at ... Read more

You will be amazed at the latest tourist attraction in Kollam, the Jatayu Earth Center, which hosts the world’s largest bird sculpture. Spread over 65 acres in four hills, it is the first BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) Tourism in the state. On the way to Chadayamangalam in Kollam district, the statue of Jatayu resting on a hill in the distance attracts your attention. Jatayu is a legendary bird in the Indian epic Ramayana. You can reach the top of the hill by cable car. Many experiences at Jatayu Rock await the traveler. The museum inside the sculpture and the 6D theater are ... Read more

On the occasion of the seventh International yoga day, The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi talked of Yoga’s role during the pandemic. He said Yoga has proved a source of strength and poise for people during this difficult time. He pointed out that it was easy for countries to forget Yoga Day during the pandemic as it is not intrinsic to their culture but, instead, enthusiasm for Yoga has increased globally. One of the key ingredients of yoga is fortitude in the face of adversity. When pandemic appeared, no one was ready from the point of view of capabilities, resources, ... Read more

Despite the lockdown concessions, Kerala has not changed to the point where travelers can safely eat out from hotels the way they used to. In this case, KTDC’s plan to provide food in vehicles was initiated. KTDC has the largest hotel chain in the Kerala tourism sector. The KTDC hotels that people come to dine on are getting ready to go down to the people. Under the new scheme, KTDC hotels will be allowed to order and dine in their own vehicles while visiting hotels. Launched under the name ‘In-Car Dining’, the project will provide quality and delicious food to ... Read more