Category: Top Stories

Travellers will soon be able to make calls and access internet through their phones during air travel and ship voyage within Indian territory as the government has notified rules for providing such services. Indian and foreign airlines and shipping companies operating in the country can provide in-flight and maritime voice and data services in partnership with a valid Indian telecom licence holder. “These rules may be called the Flight and Maritime Connectivity Rules, 2018. They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette,” the notification dated December 14 said. The in-flight and maritime connectivity (IFMC) ... Read more

Mumbai’s iconic promenade at Marine Drive now has a plush toilet to go with its surrounding art deco architecture. The toilet, made at an estimated cost of Rs 90 lakh, has earned the reputation of being the city’s most expensive toilet. It was opened for public use on December 11. Constructed under a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative by the Jindal Group and Samatech, the swanky toilet has been handed over to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for maintenance. The civic body will keep the facility free for use for the next two months after which it may levy a ... Read more

Saudi is hosting Formula E – the mega event in the historic Saudi town of Ad Diriyah, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The event is set to revolutionize motorsports by using only electric race cars. Officially known as the ABB FIA Formula E Championship, the race expects to draw 40,000 attendees, with access not only to the race but also to the Kingdom’s largest ever festival for music, entertainment and cultural activities. A first for Saudi Arabia and the region, the event’s magnitude reflects the Kingdom’s goal of hosting major events and promoting them domestically and globally. A milestone was ... Read more

Sagada Waterfalls The local government of Sagada, in the Cordillera Mountains province of Philippine, has imposed new rules to control the number of visitors and to ensure discipline of the tourists in the site, in order to control the rush in the coming holidays. It was announced by the Sagada Municpality on their Facebook page on Friday. “We would like to advise the public of our tourism regulations in Sagada during long weekends, holidays and peak season. These rules are in line with the on-going process of making Sagada a responsible tourism destination,” sated the Facebook message. Sagada is a ... Read more

The St Mary’s Island is all set to be developed as a national hub for cliff diving. In view of this the Udupi district administration, in association with Malpe Development Committee and Mantra Tourism Development Company, has recently conducted a one-day cliff jump training session at the island on December 13. Plans are afoot to introduce training sessions for the next three months. The authorities are also planning to host a cliff jumping fest in April 2019. The day-long training session concluded yesterday had four instructors and 10 participants. The Mantra Tourism Development Company is expecting to train atleast 20 ... Read more

  Enable Travel, an accessible holiday specialist to introduce ‘wheel chair taxi’ in Goa to enable physically challenged tourists to move around without any accessibility issues. The programme will be implemented in association with Ezy Mov, India’s fisrt point-to-point wheel chair taxi service. In the first phase, five such vehicles will be introduced in January 2019. “Goa is one of the most popular travel destinations in India for both domestic and international tourists. However, due to lack of such facilities, people with mobility issues are unable to experience it. We have partnered with Ezy Mov, who are experienced to address ... Read more

The stunning hotel lobby, Jumeirah at Saadiyat Island Resort Jumeirah Group has opened Jumeirah at Saadiyat Island Resort, the group’s first luxury “eco-conscious” resort, nestled on the pristine shores of Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi. The luxury beachfront resort overlooks 400 metres of beautiful white sand on the Arabian Gulf and offers breathtakingly beautiful scenery and undisturbed wildlife. Guests may catch a glimpse of Indo-pacific humpback and bottle nose dolphins, green or hawksbill turtles and dugongs, which live in the Saadiyat Mangroves. Inland, gazelles, socotra cormorants, grey herons and greater flamingos are known to visit. “This resort is a place like ... Read more

Winter is the best time to visit Nilagiri, in the Balasore district of Odisha. Every year during the winter seasons thousands of tourists flock to enjoy the climate and natural scenic beauty of Nilagiri. Panchalingeswara temple which is situated on the hilltop of the Eastern Ghats in the area will be crowded with tourists from all around the state. The famous shrine is a serene place for darshan of Lord Shiva. Surrounded by natural landscapes, the place offers tourists great experience of pilgrim, picnic and sightseeing. A stream running down the hill makes the place even more attractive, where tourists ... Read more

Department of Tourism (DOT) is s of Philippines set to review and revise the targets and strategies under the National Tourism Development Plan (NTDP) early next year. “So we will be reviewing our goals when you talk about gross domestic product (GDP) contribution, direct domestic tourism, etc.,” said Bernadette Romulo-Puyat, Tourism secretary. Tourism Undersecretary and spokesperson Benito Bengzon said the Junior review is set to begin by the end of January. “When we review the plan, we will not only review the strategic directions, the programs, but we would also have to look at the performance indicators which would also ... Read more

Despite its recent economic slowdown, air travel demand in China remains high and the country is expected to become the world’s largest air travel market by 2020, according to Beroe Inc., a procurement intelligence firm. Meanwhile, global airline prices are expected to grow by 2.6 per cent with an increase in oil prices, competitive pressure from the shortage of pilots, potential trade wars, and increasing fare segmentation to improve yield. “Chinese economy witnessed a recent slowdown, but is expected to remain the largest business travel market, with a sustained high growth rate. However, growing trade tensions between China and the ... Read more

To help empower travellers to make more informed decisions when it comes to holiday travel, researchers at InsureMyTrip reveal which airports to possibly avoid and how the latest data trends can aid travelers when comparing travel insurance benefits. InsureMyTrip predicts New York’s LaGuardia (LGA) will be most stressful for travellers this Christmas. LGA reports the highest percentage of canceled flights (4.9 per cent) so far this year. Flights scheduled for departure between 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm are more susceptible to delays and cancellations. If a flight is canceled, most airlines will rebook travellers on the next available flight at no additional ... Read more

Tourism Malaysia has launched the “Malaysia Fantastic Deals” package to promote more value-for-money holiday packages to Malaysia for tourists from India. The campaign was officiated by Tuan Syed Yahya Syed Othman, Director of Package Development Division, Tourism Malaysia, and and Manoj Mehta, Country Manager of Malindo Air. The initiative sees Tourism Malaysia in partnership with Malindo Air and several popular hotels and a restaurant in Malaysia to offer a total of five packages catered specifically to the India market. The packages can be purchased through selected Indian travel agents based in Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai and Calcutta. Bookings are open only ... Read more

Tour operators joining Mangalam Kali at Banam Farm House, a SMiLE venture at Kasargod Having convinced about the immense, unique and varying tourism potential of the pristine north Malabar in Kerala, the state run Bekal Resorts Development Corporation (BRDC) has come out with a seemingly viable and pragmatic strategy to ensure quantum jump in tourist inflow to the region. The Small and Medium Industries Leveraging Experiential tourism (SMiLE) initiative of BRDC, where small entrepreneurs are trained to leverage experiential tourism and budget accommodation, is a model that can be replicated in other districts of the state, said industry players. Number ... Read more

Bakel Fort, Kasargod Kasaragod  is located at the northern end of Kerala, comprising of Hosdurg and Kasaragod taluks which were part of undivided Kannur District. In the east the district is Kodagu and Dakshina Kannada districts of Karnataka, the Arabian Sea in the west, and the Kannada District of Karnataka in the north. The district is bounded by the Kannur district. Kasaragod is said to be the crown of Kerala,  a land of many different languages, the history of the invasion and resistance, testimonies of historical forts, remains of innovative culture of the modern stone age like ‘Chenkallarakal’, ‘Nannangatikal’, ‘Muniyarakal’, ... Read more

Travel is expected to peak this weekend for Emirates, as the airline expects yet another busy period with over 100,000 passengers passing through Terminal 3 this upcoming weekend ahead of the winter holiday break. The busiest time for departures will be on Friday 14th December with more than 30,000 passengers scheduled to travel. Peak travel will continue throughout the month with high passenger traffic peaking again on Friday 21st and Saturday 22nd of December. With road works and infrastructure enhancements happening around the main airport highways and roads during this time, Emirates urges customers to build in extra time to ... Read more