Category: News

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa China and New Zealand is to jointly celebrate year 2019 as the China-New Zealand Year of Tourism.  As the first step towards the eventful year to come, a new website is launched and initiated funding for a major exhibition at the national museum. “With the new website, we have provided a platform for organizations to get involved with the 2019 China-New Zealand Year of Tourism, whether it is by promoting events, or accessing resources and useful information on the China visitor market,” said Kelvin Davis, Tourism Minister of New Zealand. The concept of ... Read more

“The Walled City of Jaipur, Rajasthan, India” is the next proposed site for UNESCO World Heritage recognition, informed Dr Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State (independent charge) for Culture and Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate change . The site namely “The Walled City of Jaipur, Rajasthan, India” has been proposed for World Heritage. As per Operation Guidelines 2017, only one site can be nominated by the state party each year. The recognition of World Heritage is a matter of great pride. It impacts the local economy by giving a boost to domestic and international tourism leading to increased employment ... Read more

The Ministry of Tourism has sanctioned Rs 426.02 crores for Tribal and Rural Circuit under Swadesh Darshan Scheme, said K J Alphons, Minister for Tourism. Tribal and Rural Circuits are among the fifteen thematic circuits identified for development under Swadesh Darshan Scheme. “The projects under the scheme are identified for development in consultation with the State Governments/UT Administrations and are sanctioned subject to availability of funds, submission of suitable detailed project reports, adherence to scheme guidelines and utilization of funds released earlier,” said the minister. Based on above, Ministry has sanctioned projects under Tribal and Rural Circuit theme of Swadesh Darshan ... Read more

More than 1.6 lakh people visited India for cruise tourism in 2017-2018, Tourism Minister K J Alphons. The Ministry of Tourism is working towards attracting five million cruise tourists to India by 2040, he said. A Task Force on Cruise Tourism has been formed jointly by the Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Shipping with representatives of all major ports and stakeholders for coordinated efforts to create an enabling ecosystem for the development of Cruise Tourism in India. The Task Force meets regularly and the last meeting of the Task Force was held on 21.05.2018, the minister said. During the ... Read more

India and Nepal will jointly promote the Ramayana and Buddhist tourist circuits, informed Tourism Minister K J Alphons. The second meeting of tourism Joint Working Group (JWG) between India and Nepal was held in Kathmandu on 06.07.2018. In this meeting it was agreed to set up the Indo Nepal Tourism Forum with representation from government and private sector from both sides for mutual consultation and promotion of tourism in both countries. “This JWG also decided to officially recognise two circuits, Ramayana Circuit and Buddhist Circuit by both governments for joint promotions through common branding and marketing exercises,” the minister said. Earlier, ... Read more

Deogarh Under the PRASHAD Scheme, 26 religious cities/sites in 19 States have been identified for development. The cities/sites are Amaravati and Srisailam (Andhra Pradesh), Kamakhya (Assam), Patna and Gaya (Bihar), Dwarka and Somnath (Gujarat), Gurudwara Nada Saheb (Haryana), Hazratbal and Katra (Jammu & Kashmir), Deogarh (Jharkhand), Chamundeshwari Devi (Karnataka), Guruvayoor (Kerala), Una (Himachal Pradesh), Omkareshwar (Madhya Pradesh), Trimbakeshwar (Maharashtra), Puri (Odisha), Amritsar (Punjab), Ajmer (Rajasthan), Kanchipuram and Vellankani (Tamil Nadu), Varanasi and Mathura (Uttar Pradesh), Badrinath and Kedarnath (Uttarakhand) and Belur (West Bengal). The Ministry of Tourism provides Central Financial Assistance to State Governments/Union Territory (UT) Administrations under the schemes of ... Read more

About Rs 12.68 crore was allocated for conservation, preservation and environmental development works at the Taj Mahal in the last three years, said Union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma at the Rajya Sabha. “The essential conservation, preservation and environmental development work at Taj Mahal is attended regularly to keep the monument in good condition,” the minister said. The expenditure incurred by the government on the monument’s conservation, preservation and environmental development was around Rs 4.12 crore during 2017-18. In the previous two years, close to Rs 3.6 crore (2015-16) and Rs 4.6 crore (2016-17) have been spent by the government, Sharma said. ... Read more

Humayun’s Tomb, Delhi An amount of Rs 41,127.86 lakh (Rs 411.27 crore) was allocated for conservation of 3,687 protected monuments during 2018-19 under the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), informed  Minister of State for Culture, Mahesh Sharma. “The conservation work on protected monuments of National importance in the country, under ASI, is attended regularly as per the requirements of different sites and availability of resources and they are in a fairly good state of preservation. Similarly museums are also maintained properly,” the minister said. ASI has already formulated comprehensive conservation policy for conservation of protected monuments, the details of which ... Read more

As part of their mega ‘Destination Uttaraghand’ programme, the state government is planning various events to attract investment for the development of the state, especially in the tourism sector. An Investors Summit is scheduled in Dehradun on 4th and 5th October 2018. It will organize sector-specific Mini Investors Conclaves in different parts of the State in August. Out of the four Mini Conclaves, two conclaves specific to tourism sector will be held in Tehri and Nainital on August 7 and August 10 respectively. While the Tehri conclave will discuss tourism and wellness, the Nainital Conclave will focus on investment opportunities ... Read more

Kavita Singh, 2004 batch IAS officer has been appointed the Director of Tourism and Cultural Affairs in Punjab. The appointment was as part of a big reshuffle in the government’s administrative set up. Kavita was working as the Director for Social Security and Development of Women and Children. Earlier in 2014, she was appointed as Managing Director of Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Development Corporation Ltd (CITCO). Kavita Singh, originally hailing from Maharashtra, had also served as Additional Deputy Commissioner in Roop Nagar and Hoshiarpur and as Deputy Commissioner in Kapurthala, all in Punjab. In 2011-12, she was the MD of ... Read more

The Kerala state Tourism department has announced Rs 25 lakh cash prize for the winners of Champions Boat League tournament. “The boat races in the state will be promoted as a major attraction for International tourists visiting the state,” said Kadakampally Surendran, Minister for Tourism. The Champions Boat League is organized with the intention to generate more excitement to this sporting event and for the promotion of boat races, he added. “Promoting boat races will attract more international and domestic tourists to the state,” said the minister. Kadakampally also said that the past glory of the boat races has got ... Read more

Friends of Assam and Seven Sisters (FASS) is organizing a panel discussion on “Saving the Rhinos – A Campaign for Conservation of Wild-life Population from Extinction” at Nehru Centre, cultural Wing of The High Commission on Friday, 10, August 2018. Destruction of wild life and environment has become pervasive in most of the countries and remedial actions to be taken for their conservation. In Assam, large-scale poaching and killings are going on along in Kaziranga with the destruction of the animals’ habitats resulting in man- animal conflicts. The purpose of this event is to assist Govt. of Assam to find ... Read more

The Telangana State Tourism Development Corporation Limited has announced special packages to Bogatha, Kuntala and Pochera waterfall sites as part of its monsoon tourism campaign. All the three sites have some stunning waterfalls set in the green canopy and has become all the more beautiful after being blessed by abundance of rain in the region. The state tourism corporation has done a survey of facilities to ensure that visitors can have breakfast, lunch and dinner en route to the location and back. A special bus will start from the city at 7 a.m. for Bogatha in Bhupalpally district, which will ... Read more

Food lovers will soon to have the spicy flavours for ‘bongu biriyani’ and ‘bongu chicken’ (dishes made in bamboo logs), in Kadapa and Tirupati. As an initiative by the Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC), Chefs from both private and public sector restaurants in the districts had a training programme to cook ‘bongu biryani’ and ‘bongu chicken’, delicious dishes popular in local Andhra Pradesh. The event took place at the State Institute of Hotel Management, Catering Technology and Applied Nutrition (SIHMCTAN), in Tirupati. “Bongu Biryani is prepared by stuffing rice and chicken mixed with required spices in a bamboo log, ... Read more

The Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will launch the first tourist-friendly three-wheeler service in Sri Lanka on July 30 at the Galle Face Green in Colombo. The project is being implemented by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) under the direction of the Minister of Finance and Mass Media Mangala Samaraweera in keeping with the budget proposals presented last year. The Budget 2018 proposed a tourism training and certification programme for three-wheeler drivers who are above 21 years of age, in tourist areas. The tourism authority has developed a basic curriculum for a two-day training course and test, ... Read more