Category: News

China has issued a travel advisory to its citizens, urging them to “fully assess the risks of travel” to Canada after a Chinese executive was arrested in the North American country. China’s Foreign Ministry said Canada recently “arbitrarily detained” a Chinese national, a reference to Chinese executive Meng Wanzhou. Meng, the chief financial officer at Huawei, a global telecommunications conglomerate, was arrested on December 1 at the request of the United States. Similarly, two Canadian citizens were detained in China after Meng’s arrest. However, China has denied the trials are linked to Meng’s situation. The travel advisory can be seen as one ... Read more

Poland’s state-owned airline, LOT is all set to launch a service from Warsaw to New Delhi in September. The carrier plans plans to fly five times a week beginning September 17, 2019. The flight is expected to take 7 hours to reach Warsaw from New Delhi. The new service will enhance tourist footfalls and, will also help the business travellers. India is the second-largest market for direct investment by Polish businesses in Asia, after Singapore. LOT carried 8.8 million passengers last year, 2 million more than in 2017. This year, the airline is eyeing a new record of 10 million passengers, ... Read more

Granada in Spain is less known to tourists, other than history enthusiasts. When we talk about Spain, the names come into our minds would be Barcelona or Madrid. Granada is an ideal place to visit, if you are looking for a journey of discovery and history. Situated at the foot of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the city is best known for being the home to the Moors, and its overabundance of Spanish-Islamic heritage sites. Granada City Granada located in the Andalusia region of southern Spain; in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It is known for grand examples of ... Read more

At the Maldives Travel Awards Gala 2018 held recently, Cocoon Maldives won in the category of ‘Leading Beach Resort’. Cocoon blends the best of Italian design with the Maldives’ stunning natural beauty, all set against the backdrop of the azure Indian Ocean. Cocoon’s interiors are exclusively designed by Lago, one of Italy’s finest design companies. This 5-star, family-friendly, stylish resort, based on the principle of ‘affordable luxury’, is the perfect destination from which to discover the Maldives, whether you are honeymooning, scuba diving, or just looking for a place to unwind and relax. Inspired by the concept of lightness, Cocoon aims ... Read more

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has announced extension of the visa-on-arrival fee waiver for citizens of 20 countries until 30 April 2019. The decision was announced in the Royal Thai Government Gazette on 11 January, reasoning it as a measure to stimulate and promote tourism as well as to enhance the kingdom’s attractiveness among foreign visitors during the high travel season. “The extension of the stimulus visa-on-arrival measure came at a perfect time as Thailand is set to celebrate Chinese New Year in February and the Thai New Year (Songkran) in April,” said Yuthasak Supasorn, Governor of the Tourism ... Read more

Wayand district is ranked first in the implementation of Swatch Bharat programmes in the country. It was acknowledged by the Central Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation. Wayanad scored more points as per various parameters to win the position. As per reports, eight districts from Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Kerala have implemented to programmes in an efficient manner, where Wayanad topped the list. The ministry has noted that the programmes have been implementing in an effective way by the the district, under the leadership of collector, S Suhas. Among other guidelines, efficiency and transparency were considered the key ... Read more

Ebix Inc., leading international supplier of On-Demand software and E-commerce services to the insurance financial, healthcare and e-learning industries, has announced today  that one of its Indian subsidiaries has signed agreements to acquire the assets of Delhi based Pearl International Tour & Travels and Mumbai based Lawson Travels & Tours. The two companies cumulatively conduct a Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) of approximately USD 140 million. Both these companies will be tightly integrated into EbixCash’s Via travel Division. The acquisition of the assets of the two companies will increase EbixCash’s travel expanse across its two travels brands Via & Mercury, to ... Read more

The expert team comprising of 11 foreigners, who have landed in the Kollam Port in a luxury ship named MY Bravado, on January 11, is all praising the God’s own country and its immense tourism possibilities. “You have everything in your state – lakes, beaches, forests, mountains – to be the best tourism destination in the world,” said cruise expert team. MY Bravado team is expected to be in Kerala for 10 days, and is scheduled to be sailing back on January 21 after conducting a feasibility study and the possibilities of cruise tourism in Kerala, especially in Kollam. “We ... Read more

The Navi Mumbai Airport in Maharashtra is expected to be inaugurated by 2020. “We hope the airport will be ready by late 2019 or early 2020,” said Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister of the state, while speaking at the Global Aviation Summit in Mumbai. Union Minister for Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu, said that Nagpur would soon be developed as a global maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) hub in India. He was also speaking at the summit. The Navi Mumbai International Airport is being developed under a public-private partnership (PPP) model between GVK Group subsidiary Mumbai International Airport (MIAL) and City and ... Read more

Aditya, the first solar powered ferry in the country, has completed two years of operation today. It was a major step from the part of the state government in public transport. With the introduction of Aditya, The Department of Water Transport has accomplished the concept of utilizing modern ideas in a beneficial way. It was announced by the Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in his Facebook post. Aditya could reduce the problem of environmental pollution and the consumption of fuel. Aditya has already traversed a distance of 38,000 km carrying around 6.5 lakh passengers so far. A typical boat requires around ... Read more

To commemorate the momentous occasion of 70th Republic Day, AF Station Thoise conducted a trekking expedition in the daunting terrain of Ladakh region. This arduous expedition on the frozen Zanskar river was undertaken by the air warriors of Air Force Station, Thoise. The team leader and overall coordinator of this adventurous expedition was Wg Cdr Vikrant Uniyal, a qualified mountaineer from Army Mountaineering Institute, Siachen. The expedition team comprising seven air warriors covered a total distance of 65 kms in five days through a treacherous route on the frozen Zanskarriver. The Chadar Trek is one of the toughest and most ... Read more

Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) has stopped physical stamping of boarding passes by security personnel for domestic passengers. Passengers travelling within the country from Terminal 2 can authenticate their boarding pass at the pre-embarkation security check points by scanning its barcode or QR code with their mobile phones at the e-gates reader, using Live Passenger Dataset. This makes the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport the first in the country to introduce the latest technology, proposed by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS). This authentication will eliminate the responsibility of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel to stamp ... Read more

The country is planning to have a total of 200 airports by 2040, against the 99 at present. “We would also be adding 1000 aircrafts in the next 7-8 years and one billion trips in the next 15 years,” said R N Choubey, Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation. He was speaking at the Global Aviation Summit organized by FICCI in Mumbai today. “The domestic aviation has been growing at 20 per cent every year, for the last four years and, this growth has been the highest in the world and it has sustained,” he said. “This growth will be inclusive ... Read more

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the project “Development of Spiritual Circuit: Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple-Aranmula-Sabarimala” being implemented under the Swadesh Drashan Scheme of Ministry of Tourism, Government of India in the presence of Palanisamy Sathasivam, Governor of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan Chief Minister of Kerala, K J Alphons, Union Minister of State (I/C) for Tourism, in Kerala today. The project ‘Development of Spiritual Circuit: Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple-Aranmula-Sabarimala’ was sanctioned by the Ministry of Tourism in 2016-17 for Rs 92.22 crores. Majority of work under this project has been carried out at the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple. The Sree Padmanabaswamy Temple is ... Read more

Union Minister of State (I/C) for Tourism, K J Alphons announced that the Ministry of Tourism has sanctioned projects worth Rs 85.23 crore for the development of Spiritual Circuit III for Kerala under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme. The sites identified under the circuit are spread across all 14 districts of the state and cover 133 religious places. He said the districts where the projects would be implemented are : Kasargode, Wayand, Kannur, Kozhikode, Palakkad, Malappuram, Thrissur, Ernakulam, Idukki, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Pathanamhitta, Kollam and Thiruvanathapuram . The Minister said the destinations have been selected keeping in view the inherent historic, cultural ... Read more