Category: Top Three Stories

From the beginning of July, citizens from the UK, France, Germany, Spain, and Italy will get visa exemptions for the next three years, until June 30, 2021. Vietnam has first offered visa waivers for citizens from five European countries in July, 2015. The policy has been updated annually and would have expired at the end of June. Vietnam is among those countries which has strictest visa policy in Asia. The country currently offers visa waivers to visitors from 24 countries and territories, including the ASEAN member countries. Vietnam has tried to improve the situation with an e-visa policy which is now available ... Read more

Mrunmai Joshi Sasank, one of the young IAS officers in Kerala, will take charge as the new Additional Director of Tourism, as per the cabinet decision taken on 27th June 2018.

 “The central ministry is considering receiving the foreign tourists coming to our country by assigning government representatives,” said union minister of state for tourism Alphons Kannanthanam. He was talking to the media after the road show in various American States to showcase Indian Tourism industry under the brand name ‘Incredible India’.

The state government has expedited the steps to envisage Kerala as the Yoga Capital of India. The ministry has decided to allot fifteen acres of land in Karinthalam village of Kasargod as lease to construct Yoga and Naturopathy Post-graduate Institute. The proposed institute will have facility to accommodate 100 patients. Central Council for Research in Yoga and Naturopathy will oversee the construction.

Next time you visit Bhavani Island, there will be two new attractions, a Bird Arena and a Sea Lion Park. The project will be carried out by Ocean Aquarium, a Turkey-based company for a total project cost of Rs 9.99 crores. While announcing the project, Executive Engineer of Bhavanai Island Tourism Corporation G Uma Maheswara Rao claimed, “There have not been such shows in the country so far and this would make Bhavani Island a global tourism hub”.

The Himachal Pradesh government has got approval from the Central government for projects worth Rs 1,800 crore for tourism development, informed the state Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur. The minister added that efforts would be made to develop lesser-known areas from the tourism point of view. “The Gada Gushaini area would be developed from eco-tourism point of view,” he said. The state government has also made a provision of Rs 50 crore for the tourism sector. MP Ram Swaroop Sharma said that the Union government has also approved development projects worth Rs 4,500 crore for the state. He also announced Rs 2 ... Read more

The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, has inaugurated the Bahadurgarh-Mundka Metro Line via video conference. Congratulating the people of Haryana and Delhi on the commencement of this new section of the Delhi Metro, he said he was happy to see Bahadurgarh connected with the Delhi Metro. This is the third place in Haryana, after Gurugram and Faridabad to be connected like this. The Prime Minister spoke of how the Metro in Delhi has positively impacted the lives of citizens. Noting that Bahadurgarh is witnessing tremendous economic growth, the Prime Minister said that there are several educational centres there, and students from there even ... Read more

Offering some great relaxation to beer aficionados, the Beer Spa Granada, has just opened its doors in the historic city of Granada in Southern Spain. The guests can plunge into beer baths and enjoy massages, facials and other beauty treatments as in any other spa. The only difference is that the major ingredient is beer. The bath include ingredients common in beer such as yeast, hops and barley, as well as natural enhancers such as cinnamon. “Beer has medicinal and therapeutic properties that make it the ideal ingredient for any spa treatment,” says the spa’s website. The beer circuit includes a ... Read more

The Minister for Civil Aviation Suresh Prabhu has said that the Kannur airport will be provided with all possible help to make it fully operational by September this year. After meeting with Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Prabhu has directed Chairman, Airport Authority of India and other officials from the Ministry to take all possible steps to make Kannur Airport as a point of call for foreign airlines. During the meeting, the Kerala Chief Minister has requested for the intervention of Civil Aviation Minister for granting permission to foreign airlines to operate from Kannur and direct Indian airlines to operate ... Read more

Nearly 12,000 Chinese tourists have visited Tunisia between January and May 2018, registering a growth of 56.8 per cent year on year, according to the statistics of Tunisian Ministry of Tourism. With a history of over 3,000 years, Tunisia, lying at the north point of the African continent, is renowned for its rich tourism resources. From 2017 February onwards Tunisia has decided to give visa-free entry to Chinese tourists for stay of no more than 90 days in the country. Since then, China has become one of Tunisia’s fastest-growing markets, with tourist arrivals rising to 18,000 in 2017, compared to the ... Read more

It’s from her father that Salila Sukumaran started taking the basic lessons of yoga. Later, she started taking the lessons as part of her corporate management training while she was taking her hotel management training in Delhi. “Yoga came to my life, uninvited. But, once I started practicing yoga in a consistent way, it made me feel strong internally and physically that I knew there’s something amazing about yoga that I had tapped into without knowing that I was tapping into it,” said Salila while she was touring Kerala during the Yoga Ambassadors Tour 2018. Yoga Ambassadors Tour was an ... Read more

Elissa Chrisson from Australia, says yoga has changed her life in a very positive way. Elissa was the star performer during the Yoga Ambassadors Tour, organized by ATTOI. Elissa was one of the delegates touring Kerala with the Yoga Ambassadors Tour. The event was organized in association with the Ministry of AYUSH and Kerala Tourism. The event, aimed to propagate Kerala as a global destination, is taking around 60-plus Yoga professionals from across the world to different destinations in Kerala to experience yoga and learn more about yoga. The 10-day educational tour concluded on International Yoga Day  June 21. The ... Read more

World renowned tourist destinations of eastern Himalayas, Dareeling and Sikkim awaits a positive festive season with large portion of its capacity already booked even four months before the beginning of season. On contrary to last year, the current signs bringing cheers to the face of all in the tourism industry, one of the main income generators in the region. “We are expecting an upbeat tourist inflow this year festive season,” said Gautam Deb, Tourism Minister of the state. “To ensure better accommodations even in remote areas, we are restructuring all home stay initiatives. Transport infrastructure is also being renovated,” he ... Read more

The Uttarakhand high court has banned paragliding, white water rafting and other water sports until the government enact a policy to regulate them.  The move aimed at safeguarding both the environment and people engaging in these daring activities.

 “Government has been taking necessary steps to start a Yoga naturopathy center with international standards”, said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. He was inaugurating the event organised by the state government in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday, to observe International Yoga Day “Yoga is a form of exercise that helps in keeping several diseases away. It does not belong to any religion. There were efforts underway to hijack Yoga and colour it with religious connotations.  Such efforts should be discouraged”, he added.