Category: Top Three Stories

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Emirates Airlines of UAE has signed MoU with Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City of Vietnam to boost tourism and trade. The agreement was inked during the visit of Nguyen Thanh Phong, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee, to UAE with a delegation. Emirates Airlines signed three MoUs to facilitate tourism and trade in Vietnam’s largest and most visited city, stated the Dubai government-controlled airline. “Vietnam is a very important destination within Emirates’ network,” said Badr Abbas, Emirates’ Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations for the Far East Emirates Headquarters “Since we launched ... Read more

Oyo Rooms have now started offering houses on rent at an affordable price beginning from Rs 7999 per month. Launched under the name, Oyo Living label, the company has over 2,000 beds in Noida, Gurgaon, Bangalore and Pune to begin with. OYO Living aims to expand to the top 10 metros by the end of 2019 and will offer over 50,000 beds. “OYO Living is conceptualized based on the feedback and demand from customers and asset partners. We saw this as a huge opportunity and decided to leverage our hospitality experience to offer a first of its kind end to end ... Read more

WOW Air has announced flights to Vancouver from New Delhi that will operate thrice-a-week (Wednesday, Friday and Sunday) commencing from June 2019. The ultra low cost airline from Iceland will operate flights with basic fares starting from Rs 21,999 and WOW premium starting from Rs 63,160. The offer will be valid on select flights only when booked on a round trip. The airline will also be offering convenient connecting flights to and from Vancouver for passengers travelling between New Delhi and Iceland. Also, the flight from Vancouver will have the lay-over in Iceland for 3 hrs 20 minutes and flight to ... Read more

As part of its efforts to reduce pollution in the area, China has announced its plan to ban polluting tourist vehicles at the Mount Everest base camp in Tibet from next year onwards. Eco-unfriendly tourist transport vehicles will be banned from base camp and permit electric golf-style buggies to raise the income of the locals, China-Tibet Online reported. Locals, who live below the poverty line, will be employed as tour guides and drivers of new electric golf-style buggies to and from the camp. “It will help reduce pollution in the area and raise the income of locals,” the state-run Global Times ... Read more

Indonesian Tourism Minister Arief Yahya says growth in the Indonesian tourist industry may excel that of Thailand within the next five years. “We can beat ‘Amazing Thailand’ and ‘Malaysia Truly Asia within about five years’,” said Arief in a discussion at the State Secretariat in Jakarta. “In 2014, Indonesia ranked 70th in the world tourist Industry, but leaped to the 20th spot in 2017,” he added. Indonesia has hosted around 14 million foreign tourists in 2017, adding to the state revenue around USD 15.2 billion; while Thailand had 35 million foreign tourists in the same year with total revenue of ... Read more

Sikharchandi, located near Chandaka Industrial Estate in Odisha, is all set to get a makeover. The state government is planning to develop the region into a tourist hub. The Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) and the Department of Tourism have joined together to develop the place into a tourist hub, making it more vibrant with recreational activities. “We have forwarded a proposal to the development authority to develop a plan for Sikharchandi in consultation with them,” said an official of the tourism department. At present, Sikharchandi is more of a picnic spot than a tourist site. Sikharchandi is the presiding deity of the ... Read more

Photo Courtesy: Star of Mysore Air India’s Alliance Air has initiated a special flight services “Akasha Ambari” between Bengaluru and Mysuru  during Dasara holidays. S R Mahesh, Tourism Minister, has taken part in the maiden flight from Mysuru to Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru. The flight service has been envisaged to facilitate travel of national and international tourists for the Dasara festivities. The Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation (KSTDC) and the State Tourism Department are collaborating with Air India for this initiative. As per Tourism Department, the lowest fare is Rs. 999 (plus taxes). Depending on demand, flight tickets are ... Read more

AirAsia is all set to launch direct flight between Manila and Shenzhen starting December 1. The carrier had earlier started its Cebu-Shenzhen flights last April. “China is an important market for us and we are looking to expand our network further and connect Filipino travelers to new and exciting business and leisure cities,” said AirAsia Philippines CEO Dexter Comendador. The carrier will fly direct to Shenzhen every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Direct flights from Cebu to Shenzhen are also on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Petrol pumps in Delhi shut today over state government’s refusal to cut value added tax. All petrol pumps along with linked Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) dispensing units are shut on today in protest. The protest started from 6 am today and will remain till 5 am on Tuesday. Delhi has a higher VAT than neighboring states. In comparison to Delhi, fuel rates in bordering states like Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are cheaper, the Delhi Petrol Dealers Association (DPDA) said in a statement. On October 4, the Central government announced a cut of Rs 2.50 a litre each for petrol and diesel ... Read more

Uday Samudra Resorts in Kovalam, Thiruvananthapuram, has celebrated World Food Day at their hotel by organising a painting competition on October 16. The objective of the competition was to promote awareness and action for those who suffer from hunger and for the need to ensure food security and nutritious diets for all. “World Food Day is a chance to show our commitment to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) to achieve #ZeroHunger by 2030,” said Raja Gopaal Iyer CEO, UDS Group. Adv. M Vincent inaugurated the painting competition by cutting the ribbon and painting the logo of the World Food Day. Around 40 students ... Read more

Alphons KJ, Union Minister for Tourism has announced Rs 32 crores worth tourism development projects in Kanyakumari. The project envisages different enhancement activities in the tourist center including a bridge between Vivekananda rock and Thiruvalluvar statue. Alphons has visited the site along with Pon Radhakrishnan, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Shipping. Later Alphons has explained to the media, the various development activities planned for the coastal areas worth Rs 100 cores, under the ‘Swedeshi Darshan’ scheme of the Union Ministry and said the development activities in Kanyakumari will be part of these works. Kanyakuamri ... Read more

All the private celebrations of Dasara in the Mysore Palace stood suspended following the unexpected demise of two members of the royal family. The unfortunate events were on 19th October 2018. The first person was Puttarathnammanni (98), mother of Pramoda Devi Wadiyar, wife of late Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar, who passed away early in the morning. She died at a private hospital and later her body was brought to the Summer Palace adjoining the Mysuru Zoo, where it was kept for viewing to very close members of the royal family and others close to the family. Puttarathnammanni was ailing for quite ... Read more

(Photo for representative purpose only) China’s presence in the 30th Montreal International Tourism and Travel Show, which kick started on 19th October 2018, was said to be impressive with their theme for the show ‘China beyond imagination’. More than 400 exhibitors from nearly 100 countries and regions have been participating in the three-day show, the largest tourism exhibition in Canada. The Chinese delegation, gathering members from the tourism development commission or bureaux of various local provinces, is among the largest participating teams in the show. Bright and colorful pictures depicting Chinese landscapes and local culture as well as handcrafts like ... Read more

The government of Malaysia is seeking possibilities to reduce the cost of visa for Chinese tourists in order to enhance the inbound tourists from China. “We will have to decide on a visa cost, which is not too high and ways on how to speed up the visa issuance process,” said Mahathir Bin Mohamad, Prime Minister of Malaysia. He was answering questions in the parliament. Mahathir acknowledged that there was a drop in the number of Chinese tourists visiting Malaysia recently. “Drop in Chinese tourists had not only affected Malaysia, but also other countries. During their national holidays between Oct ... Read more

Late night meanderers of Andhra Pradesh need not starve any more. The state government has given approval to extend the last closing time of eateries until midnight. Currently, eateries have to close shop by 10.30 pm Order has been issued by the Labour Department to this effect. It is expected that the move will encourage nigh life in the state and will contribute to tourism development. The extension in closing time is only for eateries and not applicable for bars. It has been a request from the restaurants and hotels of the state to extend the closing time. The request ... Read more