Category: Top Three Stories

The Kerala Tourism department is preparing a master plan for the comprehensive development of Kovalam. The tourism minister, Kadakampally Surendran has informed that necessary infrastructure facilities will be set up at Kovalam before the next tourism season. The new facilities include toilets, parking facility, waste management system, safety measures and street lighting at a cost of Rs 24 lakh. The department has already spent for lighting facilities. Rs 70 lakh was sanctioned for the renovation of the footpath. The government is taking necessary steps to develop various tourist destinations in the capital city of Thiruvananthapuram. Blueprint for the heritage street project at Chalai is ... Read more

Lalitha Mahal Palace Hotel, Mysuru As part of the initiatives taken by Karnataka Tourism Ministry for the overall development of tourism industry in Mysuru, an innovative programme named ‘Tent Tourism’ is recently announced by the Tourism Minister. The idea behind this project is to make Mysuru an ideal place for tourists to stay overnight, than a one-day picnic destination. Tents in Rann Utsav – Kutch, Gujarat Increasing demand for eco and adventure tourism where tourists prefer staying in tents instead of holidaying in permanent concrete structures made the Mysuru tourism authorities think differently to cater the demands of the tourists. ... Read more

Over 1500 pilgrims along the route of Kailash Mansarover Yatra in Nepal are stuck in Nepal due to bad weather. About 525 pilgrims are stranded in Simikot, 550 are in Hilsa and another 500 more in Tibet side, an official statement by the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu said. Indian Embassy has issued helpline numbers for pilgrims and their family members. The pilgrims have been stranded after heavy rains caused landslips at several locations. The embassy said that the stranded pilgrims are being given proper medical attention and arrangements have been made to ensure the availability of food and water. “The Indian Embassy in Kathmandu ... Read more

Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) has been conduction promotional activities aimed at reinforcing ties with the key stakeholders in the tourism industry and to explore new opportunities. As part of the promotional activities, a tourism delegation led by the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) has conducted a road-show to Kazakhstan and Ukraine, two key destinations within the Commonwealth of Independent States, to attract more tourists form these places. Ferrari World, Abu Dhabi As per the relaxed visa rules, Ukrainian travellers can have a visa on arrival when reaching ... Read more

Considering the breeding season for wild animals, especially the tigers, Ranthambore National Park and Sariska Tiger Reserve in Rajastan  will be partially closed this monsoon, i.e., from July 1 to September 30. However, Ranthambore safari in zone 6 to 10 will be opened for tourists same as in the past years. Similarly, Alwar’s buffer zone will also be open during this period. While talking about the closure of the park, the Chief conservator of forests at Alwar, Gobind Sagar Bhardwaj, said, “The Park will remain closed for three months. However, pilgrims visiting Pandupol temple will be allowed to enter inside ... Read more

Travelling of Malaysians to India will be expensive as the India’s eVisa charges increased from RM200 (Rs 3,400) to RM 320 (Rs 5,440), and is valid for four months. The new charges came into being on June 25 2018; scraping the cheaper six-month visa that was priced at RM194.56 (Rs 3,308). Over-the-counter visas are now priced at RM462.56 (Rs 7,865), excluding service charges. Validity is one year. The Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) member Gopalan Mariappan said the price increase will adversely affect the inflow of Malaysian tourists to India “The stoppage of the cheaper six-month visa ... Read more

Tourism stakeholders of north Bengal and Nepal have decided to promote both regions as an integrated tourism circuit. The decision was made at the Third Indo-Nepal Friendship Meet that was organised by the Nepal Consulate General office in Calcutta and Association for Conservation & Tourism (ACT) in Mirik. “As the landscape is contiguous, we want the tourism sector both in north Bengal and eastern Nepal to flourish. A joint effort to promote the region as an integrated circuit can help in this growth,” said Raj Basu, a representative of ACT. As part of the meet, it was decided that a team ... Read more

Oman Air has launched a new flight from Muscat to the Moroccan city of Casablanca today. Oman Air is looking into further expanding its fleet and destination network as the airline continues to grow its operations out of its hub in Muscat. The new route comes after Oman Air’s most recent service inaugurated to Istanbul on June 1 and ahead of its winter launch to Moscow planned to take place in October 2018. The service to Casablanca is operated by Dreamliner (787-800) and will depart from Muscat four times per week flying to Mohammed V International Airport. With a flight ... Read more

Goa Tourism Development Corporation’s (GTDC) taxi app ‘GOAMILES’ is all set to launch in July. The app is in final stages of testing in actual conditions. 2800 licensed taxi drivers in Goa have already expressed interest in using the app and the number is expected to grow further as passenger demands swell. The project is expected to bring relief to tourists looking for convenient modes of transportation. “The launch of the app- based taxi service in Goa is going to bring a revolutionary change in the transportation system for all stakeholders which includes taxi drivers, tourists and locals. I am ... Read more

PATA (Pacific Asia Travel Association) India Chapter has announced that it will organize its inaugural ‘The Tourism Powerhouse’ from August 5-6, 2018 at The Park in New Delhi. The event will feature interactive sessions for PATA India members on the tourism industry-related subjects. Rashmi Verma, Secretary – Tourism, Government of India and Chairperson, PATA India Chapter has unveiled the logo for Tourism Powerhouse 2018 at the 7th Update & Outlook Meeting hosted by PATA India Chapter & Ministry of Tourism (MoT), Government of India at The Claridges, New Delhi. Suman Billa, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism and MP Mall, Chairman and ... Read more

Srinagar-Jammu highway reopened on Saturday, 30th June, after remain closed for a day due to landslide and shooting stones caused by heavy rains. Closing of the 300 Km long passage connecting Kashmir to the rest of country adversely affected the traffic, including the Amarnath pilgrimage, which started recently.

IndiGo has announced its 56th destination as Surat, and will now operate new flights connecting Surat with Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Jaipur at a starting all-inclusive fare of Rs 1,999. The new services will start from August, 2018. The carrier will be operating three new routes, including Jaipur- Varanasi, Jaipur Guwahati, and Mumbai-Bagdogra. Customers who wish to plan their travel can book tickets via IndiGo’s official website- http://goindigo.in. IndiGo has launched 7 domestic and 2 international destinations since January 2018. The budget carrier has also announced the introduction of additional daily, non-stop flights from Guwahati to cities like Delhi ... Read more

US Tourism industry was in a downfall followed by President Trump’s initial executive order banning travel to the US from seven countries: North Korea, Syria, Iran, Yemen, Libya, Somalia and Venezuela. Now, after the Supreme Court ruling to uphold the ban, the travel and tourist industry is in a revival mode. Supreme Court decision upholding the travel ban on five Muslim-majority nations as well as North Korea and some travellers from Venezuela will stimulate restoration of the tourism industry Roger Dow, the president and chief executive officer of the U S Travel Association, said, “The most important thing is the administration has got to change its rhetoric to welcoming ... Read more

Britons become the top tourists who have visited Ireland, revealed a recent research, which states that one in four of the island’s foreign visitors are from the UK. It was in the third Annual Tourism Index, Europcar, Ireland revealed that 27 per cent of foreign tourists who visited Ireland last year came from UK. Americans stands second with 13 per cent. Italians bag the third place with 12 per cent of the foreign foot prints. Researchers tried to find out the reason that attracts people to Ireland and it was understood from the survey that majority of the tourists were ... Read more

You don’t need to stand in long queues for checking in and getting your boarding pass for travelling from Mumbai airport. Instead, you can check-in along with printing your boarding passes before leaving the hotel lobby at selected three airport hotels and six hotels outside airport. The GVK Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL), the company that administers the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) has introduced extended check-in facility that will be available at the hotels in Mumbai. The facility is introduced in three hotels in the airport and six hotels outside the airport. Outside the airport, Sahara Star, Hyatt Regency, ... Read more