Category: Top Three Stories

With an aim to create awareness on homestay facility in Andhra Pradesh, AP Tourism Authority (APTA) has organised a community-driven hospitality company, a homestay sensitization, and training workshop is being conducted in Vizag for the families, communities, AP CREDAI, travel agencies, etc, to enhance the potential of tourism accommodation in the state. The main objective of the workshop is to sensitize and to discuss the idea of homestays, home sharing, and its social, cultural and economic benefits for families and communities. It also put forward ideas to introduce online platforms like Airbnb and assist the participants to create accounts on ... Read more

Photo Courtesy: J&K Tourism The state tourism department is planning to conduct country-wide promotional campaign to attract more tourists to the Jammu and Kashmir. The department said it will also focus on attracting foreign tourists from Southeast Asian countries and Bangladesh, from where the footfall has witnessed a steep rise in the recent past. The move to launch promotional campaign were declared by Tourism Director, Tasaduq Jeelani during a meeting with tour operators, houseboat owners and hoteliers held in Srinagar recently. “The department is planning to participate in travel shows in Surat, Pune, Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Ahmadabad and Kolkata to tap ... Read more

Emirates has introduced new toys from the Emirates Fly with Me collection and Lonely Planet Kids activity kit bags for children travelling in all classes. The new range of toys will come in the top four favourite characters, as voted by customers and fans in a social media competition held last year. Of the 17 characters Emirates introduced on board in the last three years, the top four characters chosen for the new products are Lewis the Lion, Peek U the Panda, Ernie the Penguin, and Savanna the Elephant. The new collection will be on board all flights and across ... Read more

With an aim to educate the travel trade on Qatar’s tourism offerings, Qatar Tourism Authority has recently conducted their first ever workshop at St Regis in Mumbai. Around 14 companies including DMCs and hotels participated in the half-day event. “India has emerged as a very strong market for us. We are adopting different strategies for the India market and as of now our focus will be Delhi and Mumbai. In near future we will target the Southern region of India,” said Sanal Issac, Sales Manager, Gulf Adventures. “We can meet the expectations of Indian travellers that include food as well. Qatar can ... Read more

Photo Courtesy: Khaleej Times President of UAE HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan has announced the formation of a national emergency committee to provide relief assistance to people affected by devastating rain and floods in Kerala. According to the President’s instructions, the committee will be chaired by the Emirates Red Crescent (ERC) and include representatives from the UAE’s humanitarian organisations. The committee will also seek the help of dignitaries of the Indian resident community. In a series of tweet, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai said that the people of ... Read more

Panama has been building a cruise port to explore the potential of cruise tourism with the help of China. Amador Cruise Port, located at the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal is expected to boost the tourism industry of Panama. Around 260 cruise ships cross the Panama Canal in a year. Once fully functional the terminal can accommodate the larger vessels in the port and the authorities expect more ships would dock and alight for site seeing or shopping. Jan de Nul of Belgium specializes in the building and maintenance of ports, while a consortium with CHEC of China is ... Read more

Penang Convention and Exhibition Bureau (PCEB), the agency entrusted with the marketing and promotions of Malaysian island of Penang, said it will be hosting a mega destination familiarisation (FAM) trip for Indian agents in September. The aim is to make the agents understand the potential of Penang as a MICE destination and help them package it in many different ways to Indian groups. Organised with the support of Global Panorama Showcase (GPS), around 150 travel agents are expected to participate in the familiarisation tour scheduled between September 4 and 8. “One day will be dedicated to B2B meetings with prominent ... Read more

Zimbabwe is trying to boost their tourism sector by making documentaries on the major tourism destinations, to be showcased in Chinese tourism market. During his last visit to China, President Emmerson Mnangagwa signed a number of agreements with his Chinese counterpart, including a deal to film documentaries in Zimbabwe to be displayed in China. As per the agreement Chinese firm Touchroad International will bring Zheing Zhiang TV and Radio into the country, to begin filming and photographing Zimbabwe’s key tourist destinations. Zimbabwe has several world famous tourism destinations including Victoria Falls, Great Zimbabwe and Lake Kariba among others. “The country ... Read more

While Kerala has been experiencing devastating rain, which it has not been witnessed in recent years, thousands of people come forward from around the world to help the state to overcome the havoc. Salila Sukumaran during Yoga Ambassadors Tour 2018 Salila Sukumaran, a yoga teacher and resident of USA, who has visited Kerala recently as part of the Yoga Ambassadors Tour 2018, has urged  in her facebook post to help Kerala to overcome the disastrous situation. She was describing, how the KSEB people has rescued an elephant, which stranded in the flooding river. We share her facebook post for the ... Read more

Travelyaari has partnered with Yes Bank’s domestic remittance service, to offer a seamless payment method to customers through Yes Money’s API. With this partnership Yes Money is adding bus bookings to its portfolio in order to bridge the only visible missing piece from its assorted platter of financial services. Moreover, it aimed to promote financial inclusion among people who have access to a formal bank account at the terminating point, usually one’s native village, but not at the originating point which is the city to where they migrate for work. Through Yes Money’s extensive base of 80,000 business correspondents and ... Read more

Photo Courtesy: thefabulousscript.com As per the recent reports from the Australian tourism authorities, the country has received around 277,100 Indian tourists during the period from June 2017 to May 2018. This is 19 per cent more than that of the previous year. India has become the eighth largest inbound market for Australia, after China, New Zealand, the US, Britain, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia. Average spending by Indian tourists increased by 14 per cent between April 2017 and March 2018, with visitors spending AUD 1.53 billion (around Rs 7,650 crore) in Australia. Last year it was AUD 1.33 billion. In terms ... Read more

SpiceJet has launched ‘SpicEngage’, a complimentary in-flight entertainment system, in a bid to offer flyers seamless access to a fascinating range of entertainment content at no extra charge. SpiceJet is the first and only Indian low cost airline to launch this free service. “I am excited to announce the launch of our new in-flight entertainment system, SpicEngage, which will vastly improve the onboard experience of our flyers. Passengers can now use their own phones and tablets onboard SpiceJet to watch their favourite shows, play games, read and do much more,” said Ajay Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, SpiceJet. “SpicEngage, much ... Read more

The Indian Railways said it will not provide free travel insurance to its passengers starting September 1. Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has decided to stop free travel insurance starting September 1 and “the option of free insurance will be optional”. Travellers, while booking tickets through its website or mobile application, will have to choose from two options: to opt-in or opt-out of travel insurance. IRCTC has been giving free travel insurance to passengers since December 2017 with an aim to promote the digital transaction. The Railways had earlier also waived off ticket booking charge for users who make payments via debit ... Read more

Kochi international airport has suspended its operations for four days. It was informed by the airport authorities in a notification issued. The notification states, “Kochi airport operations temporarily suspended till 18th Saturday 2 PM since the inflow of water is still on a raising trend. We are working hard to drain out the storm water. All are requested to co-operate.” All the suspended services of Kochi will be operated from Thiruvananthapuram Airport. An Emergency control room has opened in the airport to assist the passengers. Control room contact numbers are – 0484 3053500, 2610094. Red  alert has been declared in the ... Read more

Photo Courtesy: bandwagon Renowned Canadian singer, The Weeknd (Abel Makkonen Tesfaye) has recently announced his first ever Asia tour, to the excitement of his fans in the Asian continent.  Scheduled to commence in Hong Kong on 30 November 2018, he will visit eight countries across the Southeast Asia region. The musical tour will be passing through Bangkok, Thailand; Singapore, Manila, Philippines; Bali, Indonesia; Taipey, Taiwan; Seoul, Korea and finally Tokyo in Japan Ticket details and venues have yet to be announced. Shot from his song ‘I feel it coming’ The R&B singer is known for a swing of chart-topping hits ... Read more