Category: Top Three Stories

The Delhi government is all set to re-brand the city for tourists with an aim to double its revenue through tourism. The emphasis would be on creating specialised itineraries and conducting regular cultural events around the history of the capital. Currently, a traveller spends 1.8 days on an average in Delhi, and the aim is to increase this to 3.6 days.  According to World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), Delhi is the largest and busiest international airport, handling 58 million passengers in 2016-17. Research by the WTTC also found that the city generated Rs 320 crore in tourism in 2016, but ... Read more

A two-day Travel and Tourism Fair (TTF) featuring domestic and outbound destinations began at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC) on Friday, 13th July 2018 The first day of the show was reserved only for travel trade while the second day is open for all, including general public. The two-day travel trade show brings together State tourism boards, national tourist offices, hoteliers, airlines, tour operators and travel agents, online travel companies, railways and cruise lines under one roof, according to a press release.

Kerala tourism has organized a roadshow in Bhubaneswar to attract domestic travellers from the state. Kerala is expecting at least 10 per cent domestic tourists from Odisha this year. Around 7-8 per cent tourists from Odisha visited Kerala last year. Kerala tourism eyes to increase it up to 10 per cent this year. The roadshow showcased the presentation of a short 30-minute cultural programme, a visual storytelling that showcased the various art forms of Kerala. Tagged ‘ComeOutandPlay’, the campaign is aimed at domestic travellers who have been seeing Kerala as an antidote to urban experiences and as the antithesis of routine. The campaign ... Read more

High Commission of Malaysia, H. E. Dato’ Hidayat Abdul Hamid at the National Tourism Conclave Department of Tourism and Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation, Government of Rajasthan, along with Elets Technomedia Pvt Ltd, has organized National Tourism Conclave in the pink city of Jaipur. The conclave, kick-started today, acted as a platform for interaction between Government and Industry and other stakeholders on innovative practices for Tourism development and promotion. Jagdish Chopra, Chairman, Haryana Tourism Development Corporation Ltd; Vijai Vardhan, Additional Chief Secretary, Haryana Tourism, Government of Haryana; K B Singh, IPS, Chairman & MD, Orissa State Road Transport Corporation; S K Agarwal, Additional Chief Secretary Transport Department, Government ... Read more

The FIFA World Cup has helped “destroy stereotypes” about Russia and is expected to boost foreign tourism by 15 per cent as fans head home and spread the word that they had a great time, said Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets. “We expect a serious increase in the international influx (of tourists). We hope that this influx will increase next year by no less than 15 per cent, thanks to the policy of openness and the recognition of Russia that occurred during the World Cup,” Golodets, who was appointed to oversee sport and culture in May, told Reuters in an ... Read more

Derek Moore, Chairman, AITO; H.E. Akel Biltaji, Chairman, Abdali Development & Investment Company; Dr. Mario Hardy, CEO, PATA; Preston Motes, Chief of Party, USAID The Resilience Through Tourism Summit (RTTS), an international conference that took place in Amman earlier this week, has announced the winners of the world’s first International Peace Through Tourism Awards which have been launched to highlight global tourism’s contribution to prosperity and peace. The new awards act as a benchmark to celebrate how far countries and communities have come since the Amman Declaration on Peace Through Tourism was confirmed in 2000 at the IIPT’s previous Global Summit. ... Read more

Photo Courtesy: The Hindu With the aim to boost the tourism sector in Tamil Nadu, the state has organized a partnership meet in Hyderabad on Wednesday, 11th July 2018. The state is looking for more tourists from Telangana. Tamil Nadu Tourism Deputy Director Thiru Venugopal said, “We are striving to keep our position in the tourism industry of India and looking for new markets.” Tamil Nadu has been one of the favourite tourist destinations in India, for domestic and foreign tourists and this initiative is targeting to promote less known places in the state and thus attract more tourists. “Telengana ... Read more

Travellers who are yet to decide on summer plans can take advantage of attractive holiday packages to Dubai by simply flying with Emirates. Upon booking, passengers can avail exclusive rates at world-class hotels, enjoy outstanding entertainment and experience theme parks across Dubai, including tickets to some of the city’s world-class shows and attractions. Customers can experience Dubai starting at USD $49 a night, applicable to two guests per room, at Rove Dubai Marina – located in the city’s stylish waterfront district. The package also includes two complimentary tickets to visit Dubai Parks and Resorts – the largest integrated theme park ... Read more

Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO), the apex association of inbound tour operators, will propose reduction in current e-visa fee as a measure to attract more international tourists to India. IATO said at first, it will take up the proposal with Ministry of Tourism, Government of India. This was informed by Pronab Sarkar, President of the Association while addressing the members at their monthly interactive meeting in Delhi. IATO opines that reduction in e-visa fee is important to attract more tourists to meet the targeted 20 million tourist arrivals by 2020. The Association will also ask the Tourism Ministry to ... Read more

Uber Eats has launched its second service in Andhra Pradesh at Vijayawada on July 10. “Uber Eats service is launched in Vijayawada and consumers can order their favourite food by downloading the Uber Eats app on their mobile phones. Vijayawada marks the 18th city for Uber Eats since the launch in India in May 2017,” said Bhavik Rathod, Head of Uber Eats India. Uber Eats has partnered with restaurants such as Paradise, Cream Stone, Drunken Monkey, Seven Days, Southern Spice and many more. The service will be available for consumers across key neighborhoods in the city such as Labbipet, Governorpet, Auto ... Read more

Nepal is all set to launch its first broad gauge railway service connecting India by December. The broad-gauge passenger railway service will be operated from Nepal’s South-Eastern Janakpur town to Jayanagar. This stretch is a section of the 69km Nepal-India cross border railway line from Jayanagar to Nepal’s South Eastern region. Five more cross-border railway lines between the two neighboring countries are either being constructed or planned. There was an operation of Janakpur-Jaynagar railway service in the past but on a narrow gauge line. But the service came to a complete halt around five years ago after renovation and upgrading ... Read more

The Fijian government has pledged to raise its tourism standards to increase visitor arrivals and foreign exchange earnings. “47 per cent of the Fijian government’s allocation of 99.3 million Fijian dollars (about 47.2 million U S dollars) announced in the 2018-2019 National Budget for Fiji’s Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism, was allocated to the tourism sector to foster sustainable development,” said Jioji Konrote, President of Fiji while addressing the new Rosie Holidays Event in Fiji’s third largest city of Nadi. “The government is constantly engaging with Fijian industry stakeholders, including Fiji Airways, to have more source markets for tourism arrivals. Our ... Read more

India will conduct a road show in China to attract more tourists from that country which has the highest number of outbound people, Union Tourism Minister K J Alphons said today while announcing the schedule for the first India Tourism Mart. Aiming to double the number of foreign tourist arrivals and receipts from it in the next three years, India will conduct a road show in China, along with other promotional activities. Last year, India’s tourism industry did extremely well. The inbound tourists from abroad crossed 10 million and the ministry aiming at doubling this in three years. Recently road ... Read more

As part of the ‘mega anniversary sale’, the economy airline IndiGo to give away 1.2 million seats at a discounted rate starting from Rs 1,212/- across its network of flights including overseas destinations. The booking starts on Tuesday for the four-day and can travel from July 25 to March 30 next year, IndiGo said in a press release. “IndiGo is offering customers a four-day special sale starting at Rs 1,212 effective from July 10 till July 13. As part of the mega sale, the airline is offering 12 lakh seats for travel between July 25, 2018 and March 30, 2019 ... Read more

A scheme to provide free SIM cards to foreign tourists arriving in India to help them to stay connected while in India has been “discontinued” as it was felt “unnecessary”, informed tourism secretary Rashmi Verma. Under the scheme, foreign tourists availing e-visas were provided free SIM cards on arrival in India. The scheme was launched in February last year by the then tourism minister Mahesh Sharma. The BSNL SIM cards provided to the foreign tourists were with Rs 50 talk time and 50 MB Data. The cards would be activated, once the tourists land in India. It has validity of ... Read more