Category: Top Three Stories

With an aim to promote India as a heritage tourism destination, MakeMyTrip has signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) for convenient and hassle-free online booking for 116 historical monuments and sites across India. The agreement entails listing and offering an online booking gateway to world heritage and well-known monuments under the protection of ASI including Taj Mahal, Red fort, Qutub Minar, Humayun’s Tomb, Khajuraho Temple, Charminar, Golconda Fort among others. MakeMyTrip aims to empower travel enthusiasts to meticulously plan their itinerary, with detailed information about the monument including its history and significance and other ... Read more

Air India will launch the Delhi-Toronto direct flight on the occasion of World Tourism Day on September 27. The airline is also planning to launch a direct flight to Nairobi, Kenya sometime in October. “We will launch Delhi-Toronto non-stop flight from September 27 on the occasion of the World Tourism Day,” said Ashwini Lohani, Chairman & MD, Air India. The new flights will commence shortly from Kolkata, Hyderabad, Kunnoor and Kochi during winter session which starts from October 10. (Source: TOI)

The pilgrims visiting Saudi Arabia for Umrah will now be free to visit anywhere in the Kingdom during their stay, the Saudi Cabinet decided on Tuesday. “The Cabinet has decided to exclude people coming to perform Umrah and to visit the Prophet’s Mosque (in Madinah), of the prohibition of movement outside Makkah, Madinah, and Jeddah. A royal decree has been prepared to this effect,” the acting media minister, Issam bin Saeed, said in a statement to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA). Previously, Umrah pilgrims were restricted to the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah and the port city of Jeddah ... Read more

Hospitality veteran Raki Phillips has been appointed as CEO of Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (RAKTDA). Phillips, who took over since June 2019, brings to the table wide-ranging industry experience, which will aid Ras Al Khaimah’s goal of becoming one of the fastest growing destinations in the world. According to RAKTDA, Phillips’ appointment heralds the beginning of a new phase of tourism development for the Emirate. He will be responsible for implementing the authority’s recently announced Destination Strategy 2019-2021, which aims to attract 1.5 million visitors to the Emirate by 2021 and 3 million by 2025. In his new ... Read more

Hong Kong-headquartered, Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts is targeting to open five more hotels in India by 2024. Shangi-La has two hotels in the country, in Delhi and Bengaluru and is scouting for various locations including Mumbai, Goa, Kolkata and Hyderabad, said its Executive Vice President for the Middle East, India & Indian Ocean, John Northern. “The important thing for us is to find the right partner. Out two hotels in India are also under the management contact,” he added. “Of our 102 hotels around the world, 18 per cent are resorts. Goa could be a great place for a resort. ... Read more

The time-frame for issuing a normal passport has been reduced to 11 days, while passports under the ‘tatkal’ category are issued within a day’s time, informed V Muraleedharan, Minister of State, Ministry of External Affairs. The minister stated that in India, people are getting a passport within 11 days under normal circumstances. The statement also said that a tatkal passport is issued within a day’s time. The central government has also described the passport as a tool of empowerment. In its effort to cut down on corruption and delays in obtaining passports, the central government has launched an application in ... Read more

Nepal Tourism Board has formally launched its ‘Visit Nepal 2020’ campaign in Mumbai during the third leg of its four-city roadshow in India and interacted with key outbound agents here. NTB has come up with an ambitious plan to increase the inflow of Indian tourists to Nepal by 30 percent between 2019-20. The special tourism campaign is organized to draw 2 million visitors to Nepal, especially Indians. “India is very close to us and to me personally. It is a major market for us and we have seen a steady increase in Indian tourist arrivals since 2015 after Nepal experienced ... Read more

As per a recent order of the General Administration Department of Government of Jammu & Kashmir, Navin Kumar Choudhary (IAS), Principal Secretary, Industries and Commerce department, will now also hold the charge of Administrative Secretary – Tourism department. In a joint statements, Adventure Tour Operators Association of Kashmir (ATOAK) and J&K Ski and Mountaineering Association (JKSMA) said Choudhary being one of the senior most and experienced administrative officers in the government, tourism in Kashmir which is in distress since last many years will show significant improvement in coming days due to his appointment. “By appointing Navin Choudhry for the top ... Read more

GoAir is all set to add seven new routes to its international network, which will include three new destinations – Bangkok, Dubai, and Kuwait from July 19 onwards. The daily flights, subject to final approval, will include Delhi-Abu Dhabi, Delhi-Bangkok; Kannur-Dubai, Kannur-Kuwait; Mumbai-Abu Dhabi, Mumbai-Bangkok, and Mumbai-Muscat services. “I am very pleased to announce these planned launches which will strengthen GoAir’s presence in the Middle East and Southeast Asian countries. The network expansion is in sync with our vision to expand our footprint in strategic markets and to grow our business profitably. This time, we are entering new destinations – ... Read more

Travel Money, the flagship Foreign Exchange brand of FCM Travel Solutions and Travel Tours, the leisure travel brand of FCM Travel Solutions – Indian subsidiary of Flight Centre Travel Group Australia, further expanded their presence in Maharashtra by inaugurating their eighth retail store in the state, and their very first store in Thane, on 01st July 2019. The stores were inaugurated in the presence of Rakshit Desai, Managing Director, FCM Travel Solutions, Indian Subsidiary of Flight Centre Travel Group, Gagan Malhotra, Brand Leader, Travel Money, Foreign Exchange Brand of FCM Travel Solutions and Anand Menon, Brand Leader, Travel Tours, Leisure ... Read more

By 2020, the government plans to operate two new international airports in Pokhara and Lumbini which will help boost tourism from India to Nepal and vice-versa. Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) has recently conducted its destination presentation in New Delhi on 8 July at The Park hotel. The event showcased the country’s many tourism offerings, as the Board targets a 25 per cent growth in arrivals from India. NTB will conduct the presentation in Ahmedabad at Courtyard by Marriott today, at The St. Regis Mumbai on July 11, and then move to Bengaluru on July 15 where it will be conducted at ... Read more

Following Kerala Tourism, who has entered into a partnership with TikTok recently, the Ministry of Tourism, Dubai has also announced its partnership with mobile video application TikTok for their #ThisisDubai social media campaign. As part of the partnership, the app created “AR stickers with exclusive Dubai themed music”. Participants were asked to capture unique aspects of the city to tell the story of Dubai. Over 9,800 videos were created for the campaign. Two winning entries will receive an exclusive holiday package, with the first prize winning a two-night stay at Kempinski Mall of the Emirates, and both first and second prize ... Read more

VFS Global, the leading visa outsourcing and technology partner for several governments and diplomatic missions worldwide, has achieved another milestone by processing a record 200 million visa applications. Set up in 2001, the company touched its first 100 million applications milestone in May 2015. Since then, the next 100 million applications were processed over a record four-year period. In 2018 alone, VFS Global processed 26.7 million applications globally – the most number of visa applications processed in any single year, registering a 16 per cent increase year-on-year. “We take pride in this achievement of processing our 200 millionth visa application, ... Read more

30th National Road Safety Week, will be launched  in New Delhi on Monday, 4th February 2019. The event will take place at Gandhi Smriti and Darshan, Rajghat, New Delhi. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari and Union Minister of State for Road Transport & Highways Mansukh L Mandaviya will inaugurate the event. A host of school children, NGOs, and stakeholders in road safety from Government and industry will attend the function. From previous year’s programme Various programmes will be held during the Road Safety Week, including ... Read more

As per reports, more than 30 million visitors came to Japan in 2018, part of a prolonged tourism boom that has brought around USD 41 billion a year to regions across the country. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has promised to bring 40 million overseas visitors to Japan by 2020. Though boom in tourism has brought fortune for the country, the residents are worried about the rising prices, unruly behaviour of the tourist and other disturbances come along with more overseas visitors. In some places the revenue earned from tourism is critical. Some 40 per cent of visitors go to the Kansai ... Read more