Category: Top Stories

World’s largest river island, Majuli island in Assam In a bid to promote the heritage, history, and culture of Guwahati city, Assam Tourism Development Corporation (ATDC) has launched Guwahati Heritage Walk, to showcase the heritage sites of the city to the domestic and foreign tourists through the morning commute. Jayanta Malla Baruah, Chairman, Assam Tourism Development Corporation (ATDC), launched the tour recently in the presence of tour operators and association members. Guwahati Heritage Walk starts from the North Brook Gate of Sukreswar Temple, then Cotton College, Latasil, Jurpukhuri, Ujanbazar, Shattrakar Devalay and ends at Raj Bhawan. The main aim of ... Read more

Everyday life can really stress you out, with work, home and social life taking a toll on the body. Sadly, we are rarely able to take time off to allow our bodies to heal, rest and energize. Thankfully, modern wellness therapies target these very stress points and help reset your body, making you ready to take on the world! Most trusted wellness resorts across India have their signature therapies that they’ve perfected over the years. Experienced therapists use their skill and knowledge to relieve you of your pain points and relax the muscles. We list down some of the most ... Read more

Ever thought of entering a prison and spending a day inside the bars? You don’t have to commit a crime to live inside the bars now. Soon, you will be able to spend a day at Asia’s biggest prison, Tihar. Visitors will be given prison robes, get up early in the morning, do the daily chores including grinding wheat and sleep on the floor. Spread across 400 acres, the most populated prison in India, houses 16,000 prisoners. The 220-year-old Sangareddy prisonnin Telangana has already started ‘feel the jail’ programme in 2016. The heritage jail, which had been converted into a ... Read more

Kottappuram, near Kodungallur, will be the new venue for the seventh race of the Champions Boat League (CBL) this weekend, as organisers changed the original plan to hold the October 19 leg at Ponnani in Malappuram district. Citing logistical reasons that have made it extremely difficult for the CBL snake-boats to be brought to upstate Ponnani, the officials informed that the league’s races this Saturday will be held at the Muziris Kottappuram Waterfront that was the venue for the previous leg on October 12. The district of Thrissur thus gets to host two rounds of the pioneering CBL that was ... Read more

The thrill quotient around Champions Boat League (CBL) registered a massive surge halfway the three-month event, as the sixth of the 12-round League saw Tropical Titans regaining their winning track with a timing of 3:44.51 amid a sustained trend of close results. In the first and only CBL leg in this district, Backwater Knights apparently came a surprise second in the evening’s final, but were subsequently declared third after judges imposed an additional five seconds on the team for track violation. Thus, Raging Rowers were officially declared the runner-up, clocking 3:47.56 along the 900-metre track at the Kottappuram backwaters near ... Read more

The Fern Hotels & Resorts, India’s leading environmentally sensitive hotel chain, has opened The Fern Ranthambhore Forest Resort, in Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan. This is the 8th hotel which the company is managing in the state. Overall the company’s count has extended to 67 hotels across the country and in Nepal and Seychelles. “We are very happy with the company’s growth. We are increasing our presence in key leisure destinations as well which is a very good indicator of the company’s overall progress,” said Suhail Kannampilly, the CEO of the company. Located amidst the backdrop of mountains and lush green forest, ... Read more

A Shaman healer has introduced a pioneering programme at Six Senses Douro Valley, Portugal, revealing ancient secrets to ‘hack the human DNA’ to prevent disease and increase longevity. Dr Alberto Villoldo’sGrow a New Body programme runs from November 03 to 10 at the five-star luxury resort. It combines the ancient wisdom of Shamanic healers with latest advances in neuroscience, medicine and nutrition. A world-renowned psychologist, anthropologist and shamanic healer, Dr Villoldo was the youngest clinical professor at San Francisco State University. He later spent 25 years studying shamanic healing practices in the Amazon and Andes before founding the world-renowned Four Winds ... Read more

Nature lovers and adventure seekers looking for a true taste of the Emirati lifestyle don’t have to look any further. Al Badayer Oasis by Mysk, the third gem in Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq)’s ‘Sharjah Collection’, nestled in central Sharjah’s lively Al Badayer Desert, is now welcoming guests. This picturesque oasis is first of its kind in the UAE with a unique design inspired by traditional Emirati heritage. It is the ultimate desert experience nestled in Al Badayer Desert’s burnt orange dunes, which are famously known to be ‘made for adventure’. Al Badayer is one of the most popular ... Read more

Following the vision of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi of development of tourism in Ladakh and under the leadership of Union Minister of State for Tourism & Culture (Independent Charge) Prahlad Singh Patel, the Indian Institute of Skiing & Mountaineering (IISM) Gulmarg, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, in association with Indian Institute of Travel & Tourism Management (IITTM) an autonomous body under the Ministry of Tourism, has organised an Adventure Tourism Training Courses in Trekking. The first of its kind in the region, this 10 days training course trains local youth in various aspects of mountain trekking and also ... Read more

In a first such initiative in the country, Kerala Tourism will be implementing guidelines and a certification scheme from Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) to promote more systematic approach and safety in adventure tourism. The procedural guidelines for registration are under consideration of the state government and is expected to come into force by October. BIS will be joining hands with Kerala Tourism to launch the new certification scheme, which is meant to comply with safety and security standards. This was disclosed by State Tourism Director P Bala Kiran IAS on the concluding day of the International Conference on ‘Global Trends ... Read more

David Carollo from Singapore, in a session on ‘Secrets of Search Engine Rankings’, at the International Conference on Tourism Technology, said algorithms continue to evolve, perpetually making thousands of improvements. “Those tasked with creating or optimizing content need to be aware of these modifications and their effect. To stay competitive in search in 2020, you need an optimization approach that reflects a successful search engine result,” he said. The search engine results are generally tracking tools attempting to provide an answer with algorithms that combine lots of factors: search volumes, ranking positions, conversion rate and user intent. “There are over ... Read more

At a session on ‘Impact of Influential Marketing in Tourism’ at ICTT 2019, digital marketing strategist Ellie Shedden spoke of the vitality of a thorough understanding of one’s intended audience and ultimate goals to help understand the entire gamut of the marketing plan. According to the speaker, who is founder of oop.com, more and more travelers of late prefer influencers’ opinion to advertisements. They choose agencies, hotels, airlines and even travel directions based on the advice of influencers, she noted. “Companies offering predefined descriptions of the products get much less traction compared to influencers. Today influencers manage the information themselves,” ... Read more

Traditional travel agencies need to employ Artificial Intelligence (AI) that must filter into medium-level companies as well, a global summit said here today even as it took note of how influencers in tourism manage information using sophisticated and innovative methods to serve the needs of consumers and breathe new vitality in the hospitality industry. Speakers at the International Conference on Tourism Technology (ICTT) 2019 highlighted the ways of using AI to offer personalization of guests in the hospitality industry along the whole travel process, while a couple of other sessions dealt with the importance of successful digital campaigns to attract ... Read more

Shane Dallas started off his session at the ICTT2019 at Le Meridien, Kochi, explaining the three C’s of photography – Composition, Control and Connection. Shane has around 30 plus years of experience in photography. He has travelled across some 100 plus countries with his camera, capturing amazing frames of life. Shane Dallas advises to use a DSLR or advanced mirrorless camera and always carry a tripod, filters and cleaning equipment. He also advises not to shoot in auto mode. The basic principle behind the rule of thirds is to imagine breaking an image down into thirds (both horizontally and vertically) ... Read more

Driven by brand new content and fascinating visuals, the sleek, interactive and information-laden Facebook page of Kerala Tourism has hit a new high, emerging as the most followed tourism page in South Asia and also overtaking Tourism Malaysia, Singapore & Thailand by a fair margin. The number of ‘likes’ on Kerala Tourism’s Facebook page has tripled in the past two years, touching a figure of 3,481,239 , thus eclipsing the popular social media platform of Tourism Malaysia that has 3.3 million, Visit Singapore 3.2million and Amazing Thailand 2.6 million likes. Internationally, now only three countries—Australia with 8.3 million, Go USA ... Read more