Category: News

Ministry of Tourism, Government of India has launched a scheme, ‘Viability Gap Scheme’ for exploiting and encouraging private investment in Tourism Sector on Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode. It was informed by the Secretary, Tourism Department, Jammu & Kashmir on Tuesday . “Private companies intending to make investment under PPP mode can contact the office of Directorate of Tourism Jammu/Kashmir and Chief Executives Officer of various Development Authorities of Tourism Department,” said the Tourism Secretary. The scheme would involve investment in infrastructure used by tourists and earning revenue through levy of fee or user charges on the visitors. Revenue generating tourism ... Read more

Dubai International Airport (DXB) has retained its position as the world’s number one international airport for the fourth consecutive year in 2017 with annual passenger traffic exceeding 88.2 million passengers. The airport connects 240 destinations around the world through about 140 airlines and is expected to serve 90.2 million passengers in 2018, said Dubai Airports’ CEO Paul Griffiths, providing an update on the first half of 2018. Of the two runways of DXB, one needs a total refurbishment and during a 45-day period starting in April 2019, the runway will be closed for a full redevelopment programme. “We are working ... Read more

The Indian Railways is planning to give a new name to replace its existing name Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). The decision to change the name surfaces after the Railways department feel that the name it has now is not attractive and the abbreviation is not cute enough. Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal has asked the the higher officials of the railways to find an attractive name. The ministry has asked to keep the brand name small, attractive and easy to remember. The ministry has conducted an online competition earlier in January through its website seeking suggestions to ... Read more

The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) is planning a three-city roadshow in India, along with partners and stakeholders, to help promote the emirate and encourage more Indian visitors to explore Abu Dhabi. The delegation includes UAE’s national carrier Etihad Airways, Jet Airways, Yas Experiences, Dusit Thani, Royal Arabian, Air Travel Enterprise, Sofitel and Rotana. The delegation will be visiting India from September 17–21. The roadshow will commence in New Delhi, and then proceed to Chennai and concludes in Bengaluru. “India is a vital tier one source market for us, which is providing more and ... Read more

The big floods have had a blow on the tourism in Kerala, especially the hilly destination Munnar. Hardly a couple of weeks after the floods, Munnar is coming back as the Neelakurinji started blooming in many parts. In a bid to revive the tourism sector in the flood-hit Munnar, the associations of Hotels, Resorts, Tour Operators, Merchant’s Associations, and Activity organisers are coming together to conduct a car and bike rally. The rally, conducted in association with The Department of Tourism, will start from Kochi and reach Munnar, covering major town in Kochi and Idukki districts. The rally will begin from ... Read more

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is offering you insurance coverage of up to Rs 10 lakh for financial protection against train accidents and other untoward incidents, including robbery, at a near-zero premium of 68 paise. IRCTC have been providing travellers free and mandatory travel insurance each time you book a ticket through its website or mobile app. Effective September 1, the service provider charge you 68 paise for the insurance coverage. While booking tickets on the IRCTC website, you can find an option on “Travel Insurance” where you can choose whether you want travel insurance or not. The ... Read more

Vancouver East The Canadian government has revised its travel advisory for Pakistan and removed Islamabad from the list of “avoid non-essential travel” cities. “It has been observed that there is a decrease in risk level for Canadians to travel to Islamabad,” said a release from Global Affairs Department. The Pakistani high commissioner had impressed upon the Canadian authorities to revise the advisory for Pakistan as the security situation in the country had improved significantly. In the first step towards that direction, the Canadian government informed about excluding Islamabad from the “avoid non-essential travel” category and said that further steps will ... Read more

The Parliamentary Committee has extended its helping hands and offered help to the flood affected Kerala. The Committee gave the assurance during a meeting of Kovalam-based tourism/hospitality operators held on September 10. The tourism fraternity from Kerala has requested the Committee to include the state in the promotional videos of Government of India. The Tourism Department has assured that Kerala would get good visibility in the next set of promotional videos brought out by the ministry. The state tourism professionals have also requested the Committee to include Kerala in the Leave Travel Concession of central government employees. The team has ... Read more

Tomb of Mehu Egypt has allowed the public to visit a 4000-year old tomb in the Saqqara necropolis near Giza on Sunday, 9th September, for the first time, as part of tourism promotion. The tomb was discovered in 1940 by Egyptologist Zaki Saad, which is said to be belongs to an ancient Egypt high-ranking official named Mehu who was related to the first king of the 6th dynasty. “It is a beautiful tomb, and it was discovered in 1940. We are making sure to persistently to showcase our cultural contents for tourists. This is why we open tombs for visitors ... Read more

With an aim to tap the tourism market in the Middle East, Taiwan Tourism Board has partnered with Musafir.com, the UAE’s first premium-experience travel website. The partnership is aimed to raise awareness about Taiwan as a compelling leisure destination in the Middle East. Under the new agreement, Musafir.com and Taiwan Tourism Board will collaborate and conduct joint marketing campaigns in order to diversify the tourism culture in the UAE. In an effort to push the limits of destination marketing, both Musafir.com and Taiwan Tourism Board aim to position the island nation as the top destination amongst travellers out of the ... Read more

SpiceJet is all set to launch its dedicated air cargo services from September 18. The carrier said it would operate the cargo services under the brand name ‘SpiceXpress’ and has a detailed plan for domestic as well as international routes. SpiceJet would be the first schedule domestic airline to start dedicated air cargo services in India. A Boeing 737-700 plane has been inducted as the first freighter aircraft. The airline would launch SpiceXpress operations on September 18 and the first flight would be from the national capital to Bengaluru. The aircraft, taken on operating lease, has capacity for 20 tonnes of cargo. “To begin ... Read more

The Bengal forest department is going to open eight aviaries at the South Khayerbari Nature Park in Alipurduar district to enhance tourism. The nature park was inaugurated in 2005, which has lost its gleam after the leopard safari has stopped seven years ago, as the battery-run vehicles which were used to carry tourists to the enclosure went out of operation. “Even though the safari had stopped, at least 200 people visit the site during the tourism season. At present, there are seven leopards and one royal Bengal tiger at the nature park. It also has four cottages and boating facility ... Read more

The Indian Heritage Hotels Association (IHHA) has come up with a new concept in tourism to attract more people to Rajasthan.  The new concept – Battlefield Tourism- was announced during its 7th Annual Convention in Bharatpur. The idea is to reinstate the famous battle fields in the history to become tourist attractions. There have been several important battles in Rajasthan such as the Battle of Jalore (1310-11) in which Alauddin Khalji defeated Kanhad Deo after a long war, Battle of Sammel (1544) in which Sher Shah Suri had a pyrrhic victory against the army of Jaita and Kumpa; and the ... Read more

Lakshmi Menon with Chekkutty, the doll A group of designers are making soft dolls out of the stained and torn handloom cloths, the remains of the rain and floods that affected many lives in Kerala. The handloom cloths are collected from the flood affected Chendamangalam in Eranakulam, a region famous from its handloom products. During the floods, handloom sarees worth lakhs were damaged. Normally the damaged cloths would be burned, as the stains would not be fixed by washing. At this point of time the volunteers come forward with the idea of making dolls out of the stained cloths and ... Read more

Tremors were felt in Delhi and the National Capital Region today morning after mild earthquake in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said. The earthquake measuring 3.6 on the Richter scale struck 6 km from Kharkhauda in Meerut, at 6.28 am, it said. No loss of life or damage to property have been reported so far. Another medium intensity quake hit Haryana’s Jhajjar district and the tremors were also felt in Delhi. The earthquake occurred at 6.28 am today at a depth of 10 km and had a magnitude of 3.7. On Sunday morning, an earthquake of 3.8 magnitude ... Read more