Category: News

As per the first six months’ reports of 2018 by the Immigration Department of Nepal, almost one lakh Indians visited the Himalayan Nation, out of the total 5,20,000 foreign tourists. Chinese came second with 71,379 visitors, while US became third 43,816 visitors during the six months. The total number of foreign visitors during this period shows an increase of 13 per cent, when compared to the same period in the previous year. Other foreigners who visited Nepal were from South Asia and European countries, including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden etc. “The number of foreign ... Read more

As part of the tourism development campaigns during the period between September and November 2018, Kerala tourism will take part in six trade fairs and will organize 15 B2B meets with focus on Russia, Japan and China. Kerala Tourism will participate in trade fairs in London, PATA, Moscow, Tokyo, Singapore and in Shanghai Mostly tour operators and hoteliers are the participants of tourism road shows, however this time approved Ayurveda centers will also take part in the meets in Japan and Russia. The tourism department is also planning to have more intensive promotional activities in these countries, as the number ... Read more

Bernadette Romulo Puyat, Secretary, Philippines Tourism  As per the statistics of the Philippines Department of Tourism (DOT), foreign visitor arrivals reached an all-time high of 3.7 million for the first half of 2018. In a statement, the DOT said inbound tourists from January to June this year rose by 10.4 per cent when compared to the 3.3 million arrivals recorded in the same period in 2017. Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat said “Our continuous marketing promotions, belligerent actions to create new air routes and develop new tourism products, travel facilitation, and confidence in tourism investments boosted the industry and resulted ... Read more

At a time when most of the states are taking the help of private channels and medium to promote their destination, Meghalaya is all set to tie up with the national channel Doordarshan to promote tourist places and cultural centres in the state. Following the unrest in the city last month over the Sweepers’ Lane issue, the state highly need a promotion about the destination at different levels. “We lost many tourists in June due to the unrest and we want to make up for the losses,” said Metbah Lyngdoh, Tourism Minister. The minister, along with Chief Minister Conrad Sangma ... Read more

Pachmarhi – Pandava Caves This year’s monsoon season has been in favour of the tourism industry of Madhya Pradesh. As per Hariranjan Rao, Principal Secretary, Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation (MPSTDC), there has been an increase of 15 per cent in hotel bookings in this season. Other than the favourite Pachmarhi, tourists are opting for other destinations like Raneh falls in Chhatarpur, Patalpani and Mandu in Indore etc. “Most of the hotels remain packed at weekends since the beginning of the monsoon the average occupancy of MPSTDC properties shown about 65 per cent,” said Rao. Rane Falls Earlier, the ... Read more

Inland Waterways Authority of India is planning to construct a Rs 169.59 crore multi-modal terminal (MMT) at Varanasi. The MMT built under Jal Marg Vikas project is set to be completed by November 2018, which would be a major landmark for the project. The construction of the Rs 280. 90 crore MMT at Sahibganj is to be completed by May 2019, and the one at Haldia, being constructed at a cost of Rs 517.36 crore, is scheduled to be completed by December 2019. Jal Marg Vikas is a Rs 5,369 crore World Bank aided project on National Waterway 1 (River ... Read more

Considering the footfall of tourists, Andhra Pradesh Tourism Department (APTD) is expecting one lakh room accommodation will be required by 2025. Andhra Pradesh has been actively promoting and exploring the possibilities of tourism in the state since the bifurcation. With APTD being aggressively marketing the tourism activities, the state climbed from fifth place to third this year. “About nine crore tourists visited the state in 2014 and it has now reached 15.37 crore in the state,” said Mukhesh Kumar Meena, Secretary, Andhra Pradesh Tourism Department. Andhra Pradesh, with about 975-km long coastline with plenty of tourist attractions, is aiming to reach number ... Read more

Well-known for its state-of-the-art passenger-friendly amenities, the Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru, came fist in the quarterly ACI-ASQ Arrival Survey. The airport is operated by Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), In the survey conducted by Airports Council International’s Airport Service Quality survey for arrivals during April-June 2018, Bengaluru Airport gained 4.67 points (out of five). Abu Dhabi International Airport was second with 4.53 points, while Toronto Pearson International Airport was third with 4.44 points. First-of-this-kind, the survey focuses on the experience of arriving passengers – helping airports measure, benchmark and enhance service quality levels. Bengaluru Airport is the only Indian airport ... Read more

Colombo, Sri Lanka Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said his government is considering easing the air traffic system including visas for tourists to enhance the island’s tourism industry. Speaking at the Hotel Show Colombo 2018 in the capital of Colombo on 21st July, Wickremesinghe said that easing visa regulations would be a brave step for the swiftly developing tourism industry in the country. He reiterated the importance of increasing the number of tourists visiting the country, as tourism becoming one of the major contributors of revenue for the island country. Tourism will be the future of Sri Lanka, in ... Read more

Jog Falls Unlike the monsoon seasons earlier, this year the tourism sector of Karnataka is experiencing a boom, instead of shortfall in the number of tourists. Incessant rains these days have revived the rivers and waterfalls, which lure a number of tourists during this off season. “Earlier, June and July were considered off-season. Now there is a change in the trend. People like to travel during monsoon. Our properties, especially opposite Jog Falls have seen 90-95 percent booking during this time, which is unlikely,” said Kumar Pushkar, Managing Director, Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation (KSTDC). Other than Jog Falls, Madikeri ... Read more

S K Mishra, Chairman, ITRHD with Amit Khare, Secretary, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting “Conservation of rural heritage will help to promote tourism and development in rural India,” said Amit Khare, Secretary, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting. He was speaking at the inauguration function of the seventh Annual General Body Meeting of the Indian Trust for Rural Heritage and Development (ITRHD). He lauded the conservation efforts of ITRHD, which is devoted to the preservation of Indian heritage and culture in rural India. Khare highlighted the ITRHD’s conservation works of 17th -19th century village of terracotta temples in Maluti, Jharkhand. He said such conservation efforts will help not ... Read more

  Tourism Minister Kadakpalli Surendran inaugurated the amenities and safety measures implemented at the Kovalam Beach under the ‘Safe Tourism Programme’ on 21st July 2018. The works at the beach were completed as per the Kovalam Master Plan announced last month. As per the master plan a number things have been done on the beach to make it safe and beautiful. The works carried out under the programme include, installation of surveillance cameras, solar lamps, police aid posts, beautification of walkways, electrification in required areas, safety warning signs etc. The tourism industry is looking forward to the forthcoming tourism season ... Read more

Rock Beach Seven beaches in Puducherry will have a face-lift with an estimated cost of Rs  44.07 crore. It was informed in the Assembly by the Health and Tourism Minister Malladi Krishna Rao. The works are about to complete in March 2019. He further stated that the development of the heritage area in Puducherry was in progress at an estimated cost of Rs 80 crore and would be completed by December 2018. Promenade Beach Works are going on to develop two temples and a spiritual park at Thirunallar in Karaikal. The Kirumampakkam lake would be developed as a tourist destination ... Read more

Giving a much needed relief to the tourism sector, the GST Council has slashed the rates as per the demands of the industry. The GST of those hotels which has tariff rates upto Rs 7500 is reduced to 18 per cent. For hotels with the tariff rate of Rs 7500 plus, the GST will remain as 28 per cent. The council also decided that GST for hotels to be charged on the actual price that the customer pays and not on the declared tariffs. The GST Council in its 28th meeting, chaired by interim Finance Minister Piyush Goyal, has decided ... Read more

Navjot Singh Sidhu, Tourism and cultural affairs minister of Punjab has finalised a plan to develop Virasat-e-Khalsa, a museum of the Sikhs. The proposal was announced on 20th July, which will make the Virasat a ‘strategic tourist spot’ in the state. It also propose to improve the basic amenities and infrastructure at Anandpur Sahib, the birthplace of Khalsa. “Since Virasat-e-Khalsa is attracting a number of tourists every year, it is high time to develop tented accommodation, budget hotels, food courts and souvenir shops in its vicinity,” said Sidhu, who was presiding over a meeting of Anandpur Sahib Foundation. “The Union ... Read more