Category: Top Stories

The National Aquarium at Al Qana in Abu Dhabi is now 70 percent complete and will open in 2020. The attraction is set to be the biggest aquarium in the Middle East, housing 33,000 marine animals. The 7,000-square-metre aquarium, made up of 10 zones, is being developed by Al Barakah International Investment. Home to more than 33,000 marine creatures, responsibly and ethically sourced from around the world, The National Aquarium will be led by a world-class team of 80 qualified marine experts and specialists. Through themed zones of learning, the journey will highlight the conservation required to protect the planet. ... Read more

Detox, restore and rejuvenate with a one of a kind wellness getaway that will soothe your body, mind and soul. Escape from the hustle and bustle of daily life and sign up for the first-ever Cinnamon Wellness Retreat, a ten-day immersive programme that will take you on a powerful journey of self-discovery, healing and cleansing. Set to take place from the 1st to 10th of November 2019 at Cinnamon Lodge Habarana, this all-inclusive wellness programme will offer a full spectrum of daily wellness activities and therapies conducted by world-renowned experts and specialists, who will guide you, mentor you, inspire you ... Read more

The Pride Group of Hotels is presently scaling up its operations to focus more on ‘Pride Hotels’ and ‘Pride Resorts’ brands that are moderately priced, upscale, full service, business and leisure hotels. The group is also coming up with the new brand exclusively focused on millennial customers. The hotel chain is presently planning to open a 300- room property in Goa, besides expanding its presence in Guwahati, Panipat, and Nashik later this year. It also plans to add 75 rooms and 50 rooms respectively at its five-star properties in Nagpur and Pune respectively. Pride Hotels is also in advanced talks ... Read more

Tourism Malaysia has launched the much ‘VisitMalaysia 2020’ campaign at a three-city roadshow covering Amritsar, Mumbai and Hyderabad. “We are happy to host VisitMalaysia 2020 roadshow in Mumbai because this will enable us to do a quality networking with the travel trade fraternity and to boost Indian tourist footfall to Malaysia. The VM2020 roadshow emphasises India as main potential market for the country,” said Mohd Hafiz Hashim, Director, Tourism Malaysia Mumbai. In 2018, 600,311 (+8.6 per cent) Indian tourists visited Malaysia and spent almost RM 2.7 billion. Statistics from January until May 2019 show that a total of 295,609 with ... Read more

Tourist guides who help the visitors know and experience the places they visit are the true ambassadors of Kerala Tourism, Hon Minister for Tourism, Co-operation and Devaswom Kadakampally Surendran said on Saturday. He was speaking after presenting licenses and certificates for those who completed the training programme for regional and state level tourist guides conducted by Kerala Institute of Tourism and Travel Studies (KITTS) in association with the State Tourism Department. “Services rendered by well-trained guides to Kerala Tourism is invaluable. It is due to their competence and sincere efforts that tourists enjoy the unique attractions that the state offer ... Read more

A tropical island paradise ringed with technicolour coral reefs, dramatic mountain ranges and beautiful sunny beaches, the palm-lined coastline of Mauritius is one of the star attractions with miles of white sand and exotic flowers. Ideal for families, Club Med’s premium Mauritius holidays ensures an end to end all inclusive experience with unlimited food and beverage options, water sports, entertainment shows, themed parties and more. Discover preserved coves on your paddle board or kayak, connect with dolphins or relax in the Zen pool perched high above the rocks at La Plantation d’Albion Club Med. Embark on a family diving adventure ... Read more

If you’re keen to make the most of incredible hotel deals with Cinnamon whilst exploring the nooks and crannies of the island, there’s never been a better time to start planning your getaway. Whether you’re an adventure enthusiast, a fan of beach-side lazing or a nature buff, Cinnamon offers a range of unique stays and experiences that will enable you to unwind and kick back whilst rediscovering Sri Lanka. Back to the bush – Owing to the gentle showers, this is the ideal time to visit Cinnamon Wild Yala located at the Yala National Park. The cooler climate works best ... Read more

Leaders of tourism industry have unanimously agreed on the action plan for implementing a “Green Code of Conduct” in nine major tourist destinations and accommodation units in Kerala, as the two-day workshop held to mark the launch of “Clean Kerala Initiative,” piloted by Responsible Tourism Mission (RT) with the co-operation of the stake-holders in the tourism sector, concluded on Thursday. As per the action plan, at least two of these centres will be converted into RT practising destinations before December 31. Besides, by September 30, possible accommodation units in different parts will be declared plastic-free. The programme was organized by ... Read more

The Fern Hotels & Resorts, India’s leading environmentally sensitive hotel chain have opened a second property under The Fern Residency Brand in Nepal. This takes the tally to 63 hotels managed by the company, across 46 locations in India, Nepal and Seychelles. “It is a moment of great satisfaction and pride for us. Our Fern brand has been well received in Kathmandu and that has given us the confidence to open the second property. The property will operate as an eco-sensitive hotel, offering guests a central location at great value, for their corporate and leisure stays,” said Suhail Kannampilly, CEO, ... Read more

Travelbag have surveyed over 2,000 members of the British public to find out how important their social media presence is to them, and whether their posts are reflective of their travel experiences. A new poll by long haul tailored travel specialist Travelbag has shown that three-quarters of social media users confess that not all the photos they post are reflective of the experience they were having on their holiday, even though the majority of people claimed to update their social media in order to share those experiences. This urge to ‘do it for the ‘gram’ is, the company believes, causing ... Read more

Eminent classical musicians Padma Parassala B Ponnammal and Padma Bhushan Dr. T V Gopalakrishnan have been selected for the inaugural Nishagandhi Sangeetha Puraskaram, instituted by Kerala Tourism to honour artists who have made outstanding contributions to music. Kadakampally Surendran, Minister for Tourism, Cooperation and Devaswom made the announcement at a press conference here on Wednesday. The honour carries Rs 1.5 lakh, citation and memento. Nishagandhi Monsoon Ragaas, the five-day music festival organized by the Kerala Tourism Department, will be inaugurated by Hon’ble Governor of Kerala Rtd Justice P Sathasivam on July 20, at 6.15 PM at Kanakakunnu Palace. Minister for ... Read more

Akshardham Temple, Gujarat The Gujarat government is planning to come up with a heritage tourism policy, while focusing on attracting foreign tourists, said Jenu Devan, Managing Director & Commissioner of Tourism, Gujarat Tourism. The state has registered 14 per cent growth in the number of tourists in 2018-19. In 2016-17, tourists’ inflow was 4.48 crore and the same went up to almost 5.8 crore in 2018-19. The annual growth rate was 14 per cent. With the trend of increasing tourists’ footfalls, we are expecting that tourist inflow should cross six crore in the current fiscal. About six lakh foreign tourists ... Read more

As part of its series of initiatives to attract and welcome diverse travellers from key metropolitan and secondary Indian cities to Singapore, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has organised an eight-city roadshow, together with close to 45 Singapore tourism stakeholders, in Thiruvananthapuram, Hyderabad, Madurai, Kolkata, Rajkot, Guwahati, Nagpur and Jalandhar. Themed “Growing Connections, Achieving Together”, the trade engagement roadshows will serve to deepen the STB’s and tourism stakeholders’ existing partnerships and foster new ones with the local travel trade fraternity. The STB will present latest developments in the Singapore tourism scene and update the trade on exciting, new offerings, like ... Read more

Jaipur, the pink city, has finally become a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is India’s first planned city founded by Sawai Jai Singh II in 1727, and is only the second Indian city to feature on the prestigious list. “In case of need, any World Heritage site can utilise World Heritage Funds for purpose of conservation, training to build capacity for management of WH site. The scale is not that big, can go up to $100,000 at several occasions. It shows solidarity of international community toward a World Heritage in need of such assistance. This happens only in case of ... Read more

SriLankan Airlines will enhance connectivity to India with new flights to Ahmedabad and Calicut. The operations will begin in 2020. The airlines has started operating 4 additional weekly flights connecting Delhi with Colombo from July 4 taking the weekly flights between the two cities to 18 flights. The launch of four more flights to Delhi will see the weekly flights operated by SriLankan Airlines to various cities in India go up to 221 flights a week. India is an important market for the airline and constitutes almost 24 per cent of the total passengers travelling with SriLankan airlines on its ... Read more