Category: Top Three Stories

Tamil Nadu bans ‘one-time use and throwaway plastics’ in the state, with effect from the new year day of 2019. It was announced by Edapadi K. Palanisamy , Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu in the Legislative Assembly. Orders have already issued to the concerned people on this regard. In order to create awareness of the ban on plastic, Chief Minister has launched a logo, website, mobile app and awareness videos for Plastic Pollution Free Tamil Nadu Campaign. Actor Vivek was appointed as Brand Ambassador for the campaign. In continuation Deputy Chief Minister and Ministers of the respective Districts along with ... Read more

Philippine Airlines (PAL) is planning to resume services to Delhi in early 2019 with an aim to attract more Indian visitors and lead to faster growth in what is now the largest unserved market for the Philippines. PAL, which has not been serving any destination in India since 2013, is planning to resume its operations to Delhi by March 31, 2019. The Philippines-India market has been growing rapidly in recent years, and even faster growth is likely as nonstop services are introduced. Manila-Delhi will be the fifth long haul narrowbody route for Philippine Airlines, along with Manila to Brisbane, Port Moresby, Sapporo and ... Read more

The Remutaka (Rimutaka) Cycle Trail is one of New Zealand’s Great Rides, and a part of Nga Haerenga – The New Zealand Cycle Trail. Situated on the doorstep of New Zealand’s ‘coolest little capital’, Wellington, the trail connects the city with the expansive Wairarapa Valley. It is suitable for a range of ages and abilities, and can be ridden in sections over one, two or three days. On the Remutaka Cycle Trail, riders uncover traces of New Zealand’s rich heritage; ancient Maori settlement sites, European colonial history and the legacy of stone and steel from the days of steam-powered rail. ... Read more

The Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) seeks assistance the of tourism ministry to find an amicable settlement of their dispute with online travel aggregators (OTAs) Go-Ibibo and Make My Trip (Go-MMT), and hospitality chain OYO Hotels. FHRAI has written to the Minister of State for Tourism, K J Alphons in this regard. It was informed by FHRAI in a media statement that they have written to the minister outlining the major issues of concern to the industry because of the OTAs’ unfair and arbitrary business practices. It claimed that a number of FHRAI’s members are experiencing ... Read more

The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has envisaged a plan for replacement of all the level crossing on National Highways by Road Over-bridges (ROBs) or Road Under-bridges (RUBs). The works will be carried out under the ‘Setu Bharatam’ scheme, which include replacement, widening and strengthening of weak and narrow bridges to ensure safe and smooth flow of traffic and to reduce road fatalities by 50 per cent by 2020. Mansukh Mandaviya , Union Minister of State for Road Transport & Highways, Shipping and Chemical & Fertilizers, said that the ministry has signed an MOU on 10th November, 2014 to ... Read more

Lemon Tree Hotels said it will be operating 85 hotels with 8,674 rooms across 57 cities by 2021, said Rattan Keswani, Deputy Managing Director, Lemon Tree Hotels and Director, Carnation Hotels. “This year, we have enjoyed very high occupancy, close to 79 per cent. We have opened a few properties this year, including Dehradun, Pune, Siliguri and Morjim. We should be able to open an owned hotel in Mumbai, followed by Kolkata. Then we should be able to open a managed property in Kalina, Mumbai,” he said.

Venice The local government in Venice is planning to charge day-trippers for access to the city’s historic center, as a way to help defray the considerable costs of maintaining the popular tourist destination. It is as per the new budget law of Italy. Venice Mayor Luigi Brugnaro has tweeted on Sunday that the new ‘visitors tax’ would allow them to manage the city better and to keep it clean.  “It will allow Venetians to live with more decorum,” he added. The City Council will be responsible for setting the charge and determining the collection method. The mayor’s office said it ... Read more

At present there are 21 Central Institutes of Hotel Management (CIHMs) in the country including one in Odisha as well as a State Institute of Hotel Management (SIHM) at Balangir, Odisha. The Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management (IITTM) under the Ministry of Tourism at Gwalior also has a center at Bhubaneswar in Odisha. This was informed by K J Alphons, Union Minister of State for Tourism, in the Lok Sabha. The Ministry of Tourism has been extending Central financial assistance to State Governments/Union Territory Administrations for establishment of Institute of Hotel Management (IHM), Food Craft Institute (FCI); broad-basing of ... Read more

Japan Tourism is targeting LGBT tourists from abroad to take advantage of their tendency to spend more than average tourists. Tourism industry all over the world strive to attract LGBT travellers, who have considerable purchasing and spending power. It was opined by Shintaro Koizumi, chief executive of Out Japan Co., a Tokyo-based marketing firm conducting seminars and other programs to support corporate clients seeking to learn how to handle issues involving lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. As per statistics available, LGBT tourists spend about twice as much as average travellers, which encourage hotels and other accommodation facility providers in ... Read more

While the entire world is about to bid adieu to year 2018, the people of Kerala are also getting ready to celebrate the last night of the year and to welcome 2019. Probably December 31st will be the liveliest night in Kerala, where the party may continue even after midnight. Thousands of foreign tourists have have also arrived in Kerala and getting ready to celebrate New Year in different popular destinations. While everyone getting ready for the New Year frenzy, the police department have been taking all the necessary arrangements to ensure safe and peaceful New Year celebrations across the ... Read more

After a slowdown, following the flood during August, the tourism sector of Ernakulam is going to gain momentum in the coming year. Lots of tourism projects are in progress and some in pipeline. Ernakulam Children’s Park is among the projects to be completed in 2019, expected to be completed before summer vacation. As per records from the tourism department, 8 tourism-related projects are in the implementation stage. “The development and renovation of a number of tourist places will be completed in 2019,” said S Vijay Kumar, Ernakulam DTPC secretary. “The prime project is the on-going renovation of the Children’s Park ... Read more

The Belum caves, one of the longest caves on the plains of India, are located approximately 275 Kms from Bangalore, in the Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh. With total length of approximately 3,300 meters, the caves have long passages, spacious chambers, fresh water galleries and siphons. The constant flow of underground water helped forming caves that have their deepest point at 150 feet. Belum, which is said to be derived from the Sanskrit word bilum, which means hole, were formed by the action of water flowing on limestone deposits over millions of years, forming stalactites, stalagmites, siphons, sink holes, and ... Read more

As part of the new funding scheme of ‘Strengthening the Establishment and Operation of New Small and Medium-sized Tourism Enterprises’ 2014-2020, an amount of  411.5 million euros will be allocated to 2,527 small and medium-sized tourism enterprises in Greece. It was announced by the Greek Economy and Development Ministry. The awardees of the fund were selected after evaluating 7,297 investment plans for various objectives like hotel ventures, furnished rooms or apartments etc. Out of the 2,527 SMEs, 1,786 are part of the ‘Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation’ operational program and 741 are part of the regional operational programs. The program was ... Read more

Photo Courtesy: CGTN A three-storey highway bridge is built near Taiyuan city in China. It is located in Tianlong Mountain, 1370 meters high in Shanxi province of north-western China. Bridge height is 350 meters. The total length of this bridge in the circle is 30 kilo meters in the mountain. Photo Courtesy: CGTN This highway bridge with box girder has 7,000 tonnes of steel. Its construction is almost complete. Soon it will be opened for general traffic. Several stages of the trial have been completed here. At present, this bridge has become a new hot spot for the locals, where ... Read more

A magnitude 5.8 earthquake hit the eastern Indonesian province of West Papua today, causing nervous residents to panic about a week after a tsunami killed hundreds further west in the archipelago. Though the US Geological Survey gave a 5.8 magnitude, Indonesian authorities measured the quake with a magnitude of 6.1 and said it was “felt quite strongly for several seconds”. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage. The region in Papua, which makes up half the island known as New Guinea, is sparsely populated. The epicentre of the quake was on land near the city of Manokwari at a ... Read more