Category: News

KJ Alphons, Union Tourism Minister for State said on Monday that the government is planning to launch a campaign for promoting Kumbh Mela across the country with a tag line ‘Chalo Kumbh Chalo’. The campaign may include releasing advertisements at major international airports of the country and organising the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2019 in Varanasi to lure the Pravasi Bharatiya delegates. The 49 day event, which happens at Allahabad will begin on 15th January 2019, “The government is also planning to have a designated area for flag hoisting for around 192 countries expected to visit Kumbh Mela. Moreover, identification and ... Read more

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is preparing to exhibit never seen before artefacts, including rare coins, pottery and clay utensils for the public. Archaeological Museums display objects on rotation basis which facilitates visitors to know about all important objects of different historical periods in totality. Four museums are being set up in Colonial buildings in Red Fort in which original antiquities will also be showcased. Work is going on to figure out a schedule and display a map for the antiquities Four museums at the Red Fort will be opening up for public in August 2018. The first museum will ... Read more

Dunn’s River Falls in Jamaica As per a statement released by the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB), the island country’s tourism industry is in a path of growth. The JTB said, Jamaica celebrated an overall market growth of 5.4 per cent for the first six months of the year. Stopover tourist arrivals marked 1.25 million (5.9 per cent more than last year) and cruise arrivals were around one million (4.8 per cent more than last year) The tourism industry earned around USD 1.459 billion from stopover arrivals and USD 100.6 million from cruise tourists. The total revenue from tourism during the ... Read more

Thomas Cook India, the famous travel service provider, announced on 24th July that they have signed an agreement with Seoul Tourism to promote Seoul as a leisure destination for travellers from India. According to the agreement, programmes will be formulated by both parties to propagate Seoul as an exciting leisure destination among various Indian travellers from all walks of life including families, honeymooners, culture seekers and so on. “In a continued effort to bring new destinations and experiences to the Indian travellers, we are pleased to partner with Seoul Tourism to promote the beautiful and culturally rich global city,” said ... Read more

Uttarakhand Tourism Professional Association (UTPA), an association of professionals from the tourism and associated industries in Uttarakhand, has decided to identify lesser known destinations in the state. The UTPA is planning to promote and market those lesser known destinations to take the benefits of tourism to the state’s hinterland. The association feels that it would help in arresting the migration of people from rural areas to the big cities in search of livelihood. UTPA has recently identified a unique trekking route to ‘Ainchwa Devi’ in Tehri district of the state. Ainchwa Devi Trek is an arduous but interesting trek of ... Read more

The Kerala Tourism Development Corporation (KTDC) is all set to open India’s first public sector hotel run entirely by women for women in the state capital of Thiruvananthapuram. Named ‘Hostess’, the hotel will open its doors within six months, close to the main bus stand and the Central Railway Station in the city. Minister for Tourism Kadakampally Surendran will inaugurate the work on the project at the Kerala Transport Development Finance Corporation (KTDFC) Complex at Thampanoor at 4.30 pm tomorrow, in the presence of M Vijayakumar, Chairman, KTDC. “The all-woman hotel is the first-of-its-kind initiative from a government in the country. ... Read more

Music pillars of Hampi, Karnataka Ministry of Tourism has identified 17 sites in 12 clusters in the country for development under Iconic Tourist Sites Development Project, pursuant to Budget Announcements of 2018-19. The seventeen sites are: Uttar Pradesh- TajMahal & Fatehpur Sikri; Maharashtra- Ajanta & Ellora; Delhi- Humayun’s Tomb, Red Fort & Qutub Minar; Goa- Colva beach; Rajasthan- Amer Fort; Gujarat- Somnath & Dholavira; Madhya Pradesh- Khajuraho; Karnataka- Hampi; Tamil Nadu- Mahabalipuram; Assam- Kaziranga; Kerala- Kumarakom; Bihar- Mahabodhi. “The Ministry shall be developing the above sites in a holistic manner with focus on issues concerning connectivity to the destination, better ... Read more

The Roman Amphitheatre in Plovdiv Bulgaria has two major tourist destinations, which add to the tourism potential of the country – Plovdiv and Varna. Plovdiv, Bulgaria’s second-largest city, has got the European Capitals of Culture award for the year 2019, sharing with Matera, Italy whereas Varna is the maritime capital of Bulgaria. Plodiv is one among the oldest continually inhabited cities in Europe, established around the 6th century BC and a tourist destination, which is in its growth path. Currently it is a modern and vibrant city, which serves as the administrative, academic, economic, commercial and transportation centre of the south-central ... Read more

Great news for FIFA 2018 Fan ID holders! Holders of FIFA fan ID will be granted visa-free entry to Russia until the end of this year. Furthermore, family members and friends of the cardholders travelling with them may also be exempted from the requirement of visa to enter the country. This was declared by the Russian President, Putin at a meeting with World Cup volunteers, as reported by the Russian news agency TASS. The bill is now with the Federal Assembly for their consideration. The legislation comes as part of Russia’s desire to increase tourist inflow, said Olga Golodets, Deputy ... Read more

Skål International, Bombay Club (144) at its 62nd Annual General Meeting on July 18, 2018, elected Kuldeep Bhartee, Area Manager – West, ITC Hotels and General Manager, ITC Maratha as its President unopposed. The meeting, held at West End Hotel in Mumbai, was well attended by more than 80 members. The new committee members of Skål Club of Bombay are Sunil Chopra (Vice President), Vaibhav Kedia (Vice President), Sunil Acharya (Hon. Secretary), Kunal Sampat (Hon. Jt. Secretary) and Arvind Tandon (Hon. Treasurer). Other committee members of the Club include Suresh Gulrajani, Rosita Haribal, Jyot Jhaveri, Vinayakk Laud and Sujata Mariwala, ... Read more

The holy annual Amarnath Yatra has been suspended on Baltal route due to inclement weather conditions. The route of Amarnath Yatra from Baltal has become slippery and muddy due to continuous rain last night. The yatra on Phalgam route, however, is unaffected and is going on as per schedule. An organization providing free food, night shelter and blankets to the Amarnath yatra pilgrims suggested to Shrine board headed by Jammu and Kashmir Governor NN Vohra, the Shri Amarnathji Barfani Langer Organisation, to limit the annual pilgrimage to 30 days. The 60-day long annual yatra to the holy cave shrine of Amarnath in ... Read more

The Mumbai-Goa cruise ferry service, which is set to start after the monsoon, will also have its halts in towns like Ratnagiri, Malvan, Vijaydurg and Raigad. The Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT), the executing authority of the project has already appointed an operator who will run the cruise services. Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB) is currently working on the feasibility of having additional jetties for the cruise service. “The jetties can be used by all the vessels, and are being constructed as part of coastal tourism plan which means it will also boost tourist activities in the Konkan region. The jetties are ... Read more

Anjnapura Dam, Shikaripur, Shimoga District, Karnataka The Anjanapura dam garden in the Shikaripur Taluk of Shimoga to become one the favourite tourist attractions of Karnataka in the coming days. The dam was declared a public tourist place only recently.  The State government had sanctioned Rs 6 crore to develop a garden in the vicinity of the dam area. Cement sculptures of Dollu Kunitha artistes at Anjanapura dam garden (Photo Courtesy: Hindu) The garden will be set up on a 6.5 acre land and has extensive lawns, a music fountain, pergola, walking path and fruit-bearing trees. The Esur freedom struggle – ... Read more

Minister of Tourism for Government of Uttarakhand, Satpal Maharaj has sought support of Central Tourism Ministry to develop new tourism circuits around Buddhist travel and destinations associated with Ramayana and Mahabharata in the state. Satpal Maharaj called on Union Tourism Minister, KJ Alphons in Delhi to seek support for the state and thank him for financial support of Rs 85 crore under Swadesh Darshan and PRASAD which are currently under progress in the state. Maharaj said that projects worth Rs 65 crore have already been completed in the state. The minister said that a marathon meeting is being scheduled in ... Read more

Sony has introduced world’s first 48MP sensor that will debut in September this year with a unit price of 3,000 yen ($27 or a little over Rs 1,800) each. The stacked CMOS image sensor “IMX586” features a pixel count of 48 effective megapixels and an ultra-compact pixel size of 0.8-micron pixels, the company said in a blog post. “These days, high-end smartphone models require even greater imaging quality from their cameras. The new Sony sensor features 48 effective megapixels — a pixel count which rivals that of high-performance SLR cameras, making it possible to capture beautiful, high-resolution images even with ... Read more