Category: Top Three Stories

Offering a chilled escape from the hubbub of the Trivandrum city, the aesthetically curated Avoki Resort, is home to 25 rooms, which includes 5 suite rooms.The hotel, which is located in a truly enviable location, is perfect for business and leisure holidays. The airy, open lobby with abundance of natural light and cool air, immediately gives the feeling of the environment around. Avoki Resorts, located at the Kinfra Film and Video Park in the Kerala capital, features 2 restaurants, a fitness centre and game zone. “The hotel is also planning to build a conference hall. The hall will be ready in ... Read more

SpiceJet has announced a daily direct flight on the Kolkata-Lilabari route under the regional connectivity scheme, UDAN. Reiterating its focus on regional connectivity, the airline also announced a new direct flight connecting Kolkata with Jabalpur and an additional frequency on Hyderabad-Jabalpur route. All new flights and frequencies are scheduled to commence from January 15. “SpiceJet is celebrating the launch by announcing an introductory promotional fare starting at Rs 3,700 on Kolkata-Lilabari and Lilabari-Kolkata routes, Rs 3,969 on Kolkata-Jabalpur and Rs 3,949 on Jabalpur-Kolkata, routes,” according to a statement released by SpiceJet. “Lilabari is our first destination in Assam under the ... Read more

With an aim to boost eco-tourism in the state, the West Bengal Forest Development Corporation (WBFDC) is taking a slew of measures for the development of eco-tourism. It is also planning to incorporate as many as 15 eco-tourism centres spread across the state in its booking portal by January 2019. “We have chalked out an elaborate plan to promote ecotourism and also giving a major overhaul to infrastructure development in areas where we have our eco-resorts,” said Ravinder Pall Saini, managing director, WBFDC. WBFDC currently runs eco-tourism resorts in 19 locations of which 13 are located in North Bengal and ... Read more

The Tourism ministry of Oman reopens Al Khaboura Fort in the Governorate of North Batinah, announced the Ministry of Tourism. The fort, according to officials, was earlier closed due to maintenance work. In a statement online, the Ministry of Tourism said, “The Ministry of Tourism reopened the Al Khaboura Fort in North Batinah Governorate to visitors after completion of the maintenance work [that was being] carried out by the Ministry of Heritage and Culture.” The fort will be open to visitors from 7:30 am to 2:30 pm. The Ministry added, “[We] wish that visitors [get to] a spend good and useful ... Read more

The venue of Statue of Unity in Gujarat’s Narmada district is becoming a favoured tourist destination of the state, within two months after it’s unveiling by PM Narendra Modi. In order keep the statute and the surrounding area in the limelight, the authorities are planning to have a series of national and state-level government events on the premises in Kevadia Colony. A conference of state election commissioners to review the preparedness for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections will be hosted in the premises in February 2019. The meet is likely to be in the second week of February, though the ... Read more

After the extravagant Dussehra, Mysuru is all set to woo tourists with its winter festival. With aim to attract the year-end crowd, the state tourism department has inaugurated the winter festival on December 22. The festival is organised by the Mysuru District Administration, Karnataka Tourism Department and the Mysore Palace Board, in association with the city-based hotel, tourist taxi associations. The district tourism administration is expecting a footfall of more than 3 lakh during this big holiday season. The winter festival or Maaghi Utsav is a 10-day event, with the majestic flower show held at the iconic Mysore Palace premises ... Read more

The upcoming huge Shiva Panchayan Mandir near Chewa Bhanjyang along the Indo-Nepal border in Sikkim, is expected to boost religious tourism in Sikkim. The construction of the temple is in the final stages and is hoped to attract tens of thousands of devotees from both India and Nepal. The temple is expected to be an important religious center for devotees and boost the tourism prospect in the state. The construction of this temple at Sopakha under Maneybong-Dentam in West Sikkim has been going on in war-footing pace. The temple is situated at the height of 8,500 feet at Sopakha just below ... Read more

An aerial view of the heritage site Gobekli Tepe, Turkey Gobekli Tepe, the world’s oldest temple and considered the birthplace of early civilizations, will be the highlight of the Turkish tourism policy next year. As part of the tourism promotion drive of the government, the government has declared 2019 as the ‘Year of Gobekli Tepe,’ one of the most ancient archaeological sites of the world. It was announced by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during his speech at the Justice and Development Party’s parliamentary group meeting yesterday. Highlighting the tourism performance in 2018, Erdogan said the government is preparing more initiatives ... Read more

Pakistan’s medical tourism sector has been losing clients from Afghanistan, as they are moving to India for treatment. It was acknowledged by the Ministry of Commerce in a written reply to a question from minority lawmaker Mahesh Kumar Malani regarding reasons for the decline in exports to Afghanistan over the past four years. The reason for the shift is reported to be due to the border management policy of Pakistan, increasing difficulties faced by Afghanis in getting Pakistani visa, compulsory police reports and security clearances and unnecessary security checks at border crossing point. Another bunch of factors listed by Pakistan’s ... Read more

Federation of Hotels and Restaurant Association of India (FHRAI) told ET that it is planning to approach the Competition Commission of India and the tourism ministry and that all four regional associations under FHRAI – North, South, East and West – are in line with its stance of nationwide protests if their demands are not met. Two weeks before FHRAI has warned of action against room aggregator OYO for large-scale breach of contracts, jeopardizing the safety of consumers and violation of laws. The move comes a week after the apex body issued a notice to online travel aggregators (OTAs) – ... Read more

As per a recent report by a parliamentary panel, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) introduced by the Center has a negative impact on the tourism sector of Jammu and Kashmir. The panel suggests reconsidering the indirect tax system in the tourism related activities of the state. The committee was headed by Rajya Sabha member Kanwar Deep Singh, who expressed concern at the declining tourism in the picturesque State, has asked the Government to hold talks with the countries which have issued advisories against travel to J&K. “It (GST) must be done in a cautious and phased manner in order ... Read more

Tanjug Lesung Beach Indonesian Tourism Minister Arief Yahaya has given directive to stop promoting Tanjung Lesung and surrounding areas as tourist destinations for now, following the tsunami that hit areas close to the Sunda Straits, killing more than 280 people. The tsunami devastated the region’s tourism facilities, which is branded as one of the new Balis. “In this emergency situation, I have instructed that all promotional activities at the destinations affected by the disaster must be stopped,” said the minister in a press statement issued on Sunday. The minister also conveyed condolences on behalf of the ministry and its staff ... Read more

Cambodia government envisages a new programme to facilitate cooperation between the government and members of the private sector to enhance tourism development. The government has formulated a Board on Tourism Marketing and Promotion, which seeks to strengthen the promotion of Cambodia as a tourism destination abroad. The new body is composed of 15 members and is chaired by Thong Khon, Minister of Tourism. Half of the members will be from government agencies and the other half from the private sector. Five year will be tenure of a member. Samdech Hun Sen, Prime Minister of Cambodia “The Board on Tourism Marketing ... Read more

The Central Council for Research in Unani Medicine (CCRUM), launched a 50-day countdown for Unani Day 2019. During the next 50 days, the CCRUM and its regional institutes / centres would organize a host of activities and events as a run up to Unani Day which is celebrated on 11th February every year. The countdown activities would include marathons, writathon, quiz competitions, public health talks, daily health tips for the general public, workshops, etc. The 23 institutes of the CCRUM would start their functioning with a five-minute public talk on the role of Unani Medicine in the management of different ... Read more

GoAir, in partnership with Thailand Yacht Show & RendezVous 2019, is offering 50 per cent discount on flights to Phuket from India for yachting enthusiasts registering to visit the Thailand Yacht Show (TYS) 2019. Thailand Yacht Show, which is scheduled to take place from 10-13th January 2019, will be held at the award-winning Royal Phuket Marina. GoAir’s 50 per cent discount offer is especially for the Indian yachting enthusiasts and everyone who register from India at the Thailand Yacht Show’s website to visit TYS 2019. GoAir will start direct daily flights to Phuket from Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru. By the end ... Read more