Category: India

The Uttar Pradesh government is all set to upgrade facilities at Pilibhit Tiger Reserve (PTR) in order to attract more tourists in the coming years. One gate would be constructed at the junction point of Pilibhit-Basti national highway, the second one would be near Mustafabad forest guest house and the third on the Pilibhit-Mahof forest range road, IANS said in a report. After repairs of tourist huts at Chuka are completed, UP tourism and PTR officials would finalize 3-4 picturesque sites around the place to develop into tourist destinations with state-of-the-art facilities. This venture would ensure compliance of National Tiger ... Read more

The Himachal Pradesh government has decided to reopen businesses, including restaurants and hotels, as part of ‘Unlock 1.0’, but the state’s hotel and tourism sector stakeholders are not looking at commencing operations immediately. The industry has decided to keep out of business until at least September, given that the inter-state borders, the principal gateway to Himachal, are still closed for tourists and outsiders. It is also concerned about operational safety. Kullu-Manali, the state’s tourism hotspot, has been hit badly due to the coronavirus crisis. The impact has been so widespread that more than 100,000 people have been rendered jobless in ... Read more

Air India Express is inviting applications from Indian citizens fulfilling requirements as on June 1, 2020, for the posts of manager (finance) grade M-4 and manager (finance) grade M-3. The jobs are located in Mumbai. Manager Finance Grade M-4 There are three posts available. Qualifications required: CA with minimum 10 years of post-qualification experience in the finance department of a large organization. Experience in finalisation, consolidation of accounts, tax audit and knowledge of SAP accounting system are musts. Exposure in coordinating with the government, audit exposure in managing and overseeing the daily operations of the accounting department, handling revenue accounting ... Read more

India’s global tourist destination Taj Mahal, which witnessed a daily footfall of thousands of people, now stands secluded after it was shut to the public exactly three months ago due to the COVID-19-induced lockdown, an IANS report has said. Taj Mahal is Uttar Pradesh’s main attraction and a major source of revenue for the state’s tourism industry. According to the Archaeological Survey of India, as many as 15,000 to 20,000 foreigners and Indians used to visit the historical site daily. Superintendent Archaeologist, Vasant Kumar Swarnkar, told IANS that foreign tourists were charged Rs 1,300 each while domestic tourists paid Rs ... Read more

Two more repatriation flights to Goa will leave from Dubai on June 21 and 25 respectively, Air India has announced. Special flights that will depart Dubai at 12 noon will arrive at the Dabolim airport in Goa at 4.40pm. The flights are being operated as part of the Vande Bharat Mission to repatriate stranded Indians from the UAE, said a spokesperson of Air India. Both flights will be ferrying 149 passengers each and priority will be given to those registered for repatriation with the Indian missions in the UAE, said Gulf News in a report. The first direct repatriation flight to Goa ... Read more

Air India has reintroduced its Coimbatore-New Delhi flight. The flight will be operated four days a week from June 22. The flight – number 547/548 — will depart from New Delhi at 7.40 am and land in Coimbatore at 11 am. The same flight will leave Coimbatore at noon and land in New Delhi at 3 pm.

In a new initiative to attract international tourists to Telangana, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Union Ministry for Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF) and Telangana Forest Department are working closely to identify potential vacation spots to form a tourism circuit. The districts where tourism spots are being explored include Sangareddy, Siddipet, Medak, Kamareddy and Adilabad. The USAID, which selected Medak district under its Forest Plus 2.0 to improve greenery in the forest area, has identified immense tourism potential in Telangana. USAID, MoEF and Telangana Forest Department have together roped in a tourism consultant, Deepu Karthikeyan, who ... Read more

The Karnataka government on Wednesday launched caravan tourism, an initiative under which tourists can book a fully-equipped vehicle that will take them places, and also serve as beds for the night. The initiative has been started by the tourism department to revive the sector badly hit by the coronavirus crisis. Each caravan has seats that convert into beds, allowing four people to sleep in one car. The vehicles are equipped with a shower, a modern toilet, a smart television and a music system. They also have a kitchenette that includes a refrigerator, freezer and microwave. The caravan bus has 1,400-watt solar ... Read more

India will take a decision on resumption of international passenger flights in July if coronavirus behaves in a “predictable manner” and if the entire aviation ecosystem and state governments are onboard, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has said. The country resumed domestic passenger flights from May 25 after a gap of two months amid the coronavirus pandemic. Scheduled international passenger flights, however, continue to remain suspended in India. “I am often asked, when can you start international civil aviation? If you leave it to me, and if the ecosystem works, and if we have the predictability in terms of ... Read more

A new tourist attraction is set to come up in Maharashtra. The state Water Resources Department (WRD) has decided to use 28 acres of unused land in the vicinity of Khadakwasla dam to set up an amusement park, water sports, multipurpose pavilion, a village theme, a restaurant and a resort. The irrigation department has sought proposals from interested organisations to use the land, to be developed as a tourism destination on Built Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis, according to a report in The Indian Express. As per the plan, the basic idea of the proposal is the beautification of Khadakwasla ... Read more

The Assam government is planning to promote ‘Monsoon Tourism’ to woo tourists from across the country, in a move expected to give some impetus to the state’s tourism sector hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. The trip can be a quick relief for many in the north of India, suffering from the extreme heat. Assam Tourism will promote Chandubi in Kamrup district, Chandrapur in Kamrup metro district and Pabitra and Mayong in Morigaon district as part of the plan. There will be thematic promotional activities about monsoon tourism within and outside Assam. Appropriate packages will be developed, keeping COVID-19 safety ... Read more

A total of 168 Indian nationals are returning from Maldives today via an Air India flight. The flight will land in two cities – Thiruvananthapuram and Bengaluru. Passengers had started gathering at Male airport since morning and thanked Indian government for its efforts to evacuate the Indian nationals, All India Radio (AIR) said in a report. Another two flights are scheduled in the next two days for Delhi, Kolkata and Bhubaneswar. The repatriation is being carried out in coordination with the Indian High Commission in Male. With this evacuation, over three and half thousand people would be brought back from Maldives ... Read more

The Bombay High Court has allowed domestic and international airlines to fill up middle seats, providing some relief to the carriers. The high court, however, sought strict compliance with the May 31 circular of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) requiring passengers to wear wrap-around gowns in addition to a face shield and a mask. A division bench of Justices S J Kathawalla and S P Tavade on Monday passed the judgment through video-conference on a plea filed by Air India pilot Deven Kanani, who alleged that national carrier Air India had violated social distancing norms while evacuating Indians ... Read more

Saving lives is Goa’s primary concern at the moment, and not tourism, the state’s deputy chief minister Manohar Ajgaonkar has said. Ajgaonkar, who is also the tourism minister of the state, has said that the pandemic-induced economic slowdown, would help Goa build and promote tourism in a legal manner in the future. “First, we have to save our lives, and tourism is not the immediate concern,” Ajgaonkar told reporters at the State Secretariat on Monday. The Minister said Goa had been designated as a green zone, but COVID-19 cases began to surge after the Central government eased travel restrictions to ... Read more

At least 8,000 families connected with elephant tourism in Jaipur have been left in the lurch, as tourism revenues continue to run dry. The families have been dependent upon 103 elephants in Hathi Gaon and in areas near the precincts of iconic Amer Fort in Jaipur. These families — which include those of mahouts, caretakers, farmers who provide fodder for elephants, tourist guides — have been adversely affected because of lack of tourists, according to a report in India Today. Before the coronavirus-induced lockdown came into effect, hundreds of tourists used to throng the area, taking elephant rides through Hathi ... Read more