Category: News

In order to bring the offbeat destinations of the country to the limelight, the ministry of tourism is seeking association from travel bloggers. It is reported that the ministry has selected 8 bloggers, to write about eight destinations, which will be selected by next week. As per an official from the tourism department, the write-ups will be published in the blogger’s personal blogs, and promoted on other social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram. Later, they will also be published on tourism ministry’s website incredibleindia.com. “We had a meeting with around 17 travel bloggers a few days back. We have ... Read more

To give a boost to the flood-ravaged tourism industry of the state, the Union Ministry of Tourism will organize a ‘Cultural Festival of India’ at Thekkinkadu Maidanam, Thrissur and Amal Jyothi Engineering College, Kanjirappally. The festival at Thrissur, the cultural capital of Kerala, will be held on February 23, 2019. Art forms of 10 states, including Kerala will be staged on the occasion, in which around 150 artists from different parts of the state are expected to participate. The cultural festival of India event will be held at Amal Jyoti College on February 24, 209. “The tourism industry in Kerala ... Read more

The 150-km long Gavi – Vagamon – Thekkadi tourism project, which was sanctioned in 2015, is all ready and will be inaugurated on February 17, 2019. “The work on the Gavi – Vagamon – Thekkadi tourism project has been completed at a cost of Rs 76.55 crore and its inauguration will be held on February 17. A project for a spiritual circuit connecting 133 shrines across the state will be launched on February 16,” said Union Minister for Tourism K J Alphons. The circuit will have a host of new facilities such as trekking, archery and rock climbing. In Vagamon-Thekkady area, there ... Read more

With an aim to boost the Kerala Tourism, the state tourism minister has requested the Union Minister for Tourism Alphons K J to include the flood-affected state in the Incredible India campaign. “In order to boost the Kerala tourism industry what actually is needed is to give maximum publicity and marketing highlighting the well placed state of post flood Kerala Tourism. For this purpose, I request you to include Kerala Tourism in Tourism Ministry’s Incredible India campaign,” reads the letter written by Kerala Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran addressing Union Tourism Minister Alphons K J. The Kerala Budget presented in the ... Read more

Union Minister of State for Tourism Alphons K J has laid the foundation stone for the first phase of Swadesh Darshan development works at places associated with Sree Narayana Guru. Alphons has inaugurated the Sivagiri Tirthankar Circuit at a function held at the Sivagiri Mutt in Varkala. The Sivagiri Mutt will have a tourist facilitation centre, enquiry room, waiting room, first aid, kiosks, clock room (236 Sqm), community dining hall with kitchen and audio-visual hall to be constructed at a cost of Rs 14.92 crore. Chempazhanthy Gurukulam will have tourist facilitation centre, enquiry room, waiting room, first aid, kiosks, clock room, cafeteria and ... Read more

Strengthening its presence in the Indian market, Austria has registered 8.6 per cent growth in the number of tourists from India in 2018. The country welcomed 1.9 lakh visitors in 2018. The Vienna Tourism Board added that it had also received 7.7 per cent more Indians in 2018. Of its inbound tourism numbers, Vienna saw 7.5 million arrivals from across the globe, 6 per cent up compared to the previous year. According to the board, about 63,000 Indians visited across its 428 hotels. The Austrian National Tourist Office (ANTO) is looking to focus on families this year. “40 million tourists ... Read more

Machu Picchu, the city built nearly 8,000 feet above sea-level atop Peru’s Andes mountains, is now wheelchair accessible. The city, which boasts sprawling terraces, steep stairs and narrow lanes, have always been inaccessible to people on wheelchairs. But, the travel company Wheel the World have worked hard to make it accessible for everyone. More than 1 million tourists make the challenging trek through Machu Picchu each year. Now with people in wheelchairs will also get a chance to experience the place, this world wonder will sure garner the attraction of many. Wheel the World will soon offer the first-ever wheelchair-accessible tours ... Read more

The Palm Beach Hotel, a sister concern of LeSutra, Mumbai, opened the doors to its heritage wing, ‘Andhra Arts and Crafts Hotel’ recently in Vishakapatnam. Talking of being different, their new wing, a ‘Microcosm of Andhra’ boasts of around 70 sculptures and 50 art installations. Photo courtesy: DBPost The hotel, designed on the three qualities namely, Tamas, Rajas and Satva, aims to preserve and bring forth the local craftsmanship of Andhra Pradesh. It is also the world’s first Indian art hotel and tribal art home. Designed exclusively by Andhra national award winning artisans, interior designers, craftsmen and sculptors the property for the ... Read more

Abhimanyu Kale, Maharashtra State Tourism Development Corporation, has asked the district collectors and other officials to launch an awareness programme to prevent tourists from taking selfies at accident prone spots. Devan Bharti, Joint commissioner of police, said that they have identified around 25 such spots in the state. “We have identified the 25 dangerous spots in the city and launched a massive awareness camp; utmost vigil will be maintained around such spots,” said Bharti. It was reported that around a dozen people were killed in the state by accidents, while taking selfies at dangerous places. Earlier, Shiv Sena MP Rajan ... Read more

Qatar Airways has introduced a new online payment scheme for bookings made on its website exclusively for customers with credit cards issued by Indian banks. The new payment option now makes it possible for passengers to pay for their booking through monthly installments of 3, 6, 9 or 12 months respectively. The new service aims to ease and enhance passengers’ travelling experience by making their booking transactions much more affordable and flexible. It also makes it easier for travellers planning to fly with family and friends, with only a minimum installment fee needed to be paid to complete the purchase. ... Read more

Following the success of the ‘Open Bus’ rides introduced during Dasara celebrations, Karnataka state government has now decided to put double-decker buses in Mysuru. A double-decker bus from the fleet of BMTC in Bengaluru was procured during the Dasara festivities to promote tourism, and take tourists around the city for sight-seeing. This initiative was well-received. This was perhaps the driving force behind the announcement, the stakeholders say. The bus service will be implemented with the fund received under Mahatma Gandhi City Development Plan announced by the Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy. The CM has allocated ₹5 crore for launching six double-decker ... Read more

Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Shipping and Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Nitin Gadkari said at Prayagraj Kumbh that water of river Ganga will be completely clean by March 2020. Talking to media persons at Kumbh, he said the flow of the river will also be undisrupted. “The quality of water of river Ganga at Sangam at this Kumbh is much better in the comparison to previous years and this is the result of completion of only 30 per cent projects being implemented by the Government under Namami Gange programme for rejuvenation of the Ganga. All ... Read more

Tamil Nadu government is planning to launch a massive tourism promotion project with an objective to attract more domestic and international tourists to the state. Specific circuits and regions will be identified to implement the projects. It was announced by O Paneer Selvam, Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. Basic infrastructure like logistics, hotels and restaurants in the tourism destinations will upgraded to international standards under the Public Private Partnership model. The project also expected to generate employment opportunities in the State. Detailed Project Reports will be prepared using the project preparation fund under the Tamil Nadu Infrastructure Development Board ... Read more

Around 197 million people visited China to take part in winter tourism between November 2017 and March 2018, says an annual report released by the China Tourism Academy. The cost associated with winter tourism has been decreasing while the public shows increasing interest in participating, said Han Yuanjun, editor-in-chief of the report. Winter tourism is conducive to rural vitalization and local economic transformation, the report said. Winter tourism has been booming in China since Beijing won its bid in 2015 to host the 2022 Winter Olympic Games. Local governments of Beijing and the provinces of Hebei, Jilin and Heilongjiang have ... Read more

Uganda’s new beauty pageant ‘Miss Curvy Uganda’ has been creating mixed responses in the social media. The pageant was unveiled in Kampala on Tuesday by the State Minister for Tourism, Godfrey Kiwanda, as part of tourism promotion. Tourism Minister launches the pageant While announcing the event in Kampala, the tourism minister said, a beauty pageant ‘Miss Curvy Uganda’ has been launched to select sexy curvaceous women and the finalists will be selected in June. “We have naturally endowed nice looking women that are amazing to look at. Why don’t we use these people as a strategy to promote our tourism ... Read more