Category: News

While Kerala has been facing the mishaps of incessant rain during this monsoon season, there is happy news for the tourism industry. As per the recent report by the online booking agency ‘MakeMyTrip’, Kerala tops the favourite place for tourists during this monsoon. According to MakeMyTrip, there have been 100 per cent growth in bookings for the major tourist places of Kerala – Thekkady, Alappuzha and Munnar, during this monsoon season. Furthermore, the report says Bakel fort in Kasargod is emerging as an offbeat destination for tourists. The report is formulated based on MakeMyTrip bookings till May 2018 for travel ... Read more

Tourism Minister of Israel Yariv Levin, said Lufthansa AG will begin operating four weekly flights to southern Israeli beach town Eilat. He was speaking at a conference on tourism and technology held by Calcalist in Tel Aviv. Lufthansa later confirmed the service, saying it will begin operating October 28. Levin celebrated the rising popularity of the southernmost Israeli city, which is located at the northern tip of the Red Sea. International tourism to once-popular Israeli vacation town is booming again, thanks to a 2012 reform that removed restrictions on foreign carriers offering service to Israel and a marketing campaign centered ... Read more

Lake Palace, Udaipur Udaipur has been voted as the favorite city in Asia by the readers of Travel + Leisure readers at the 2018 World’s Best Awards. Every year for the World’s Best Awards survey, T+L asks readers to weigh in on travel experiences around the globe — to share their opinions on the top cities, islands, cruise ships, spas, airlines, and more. Readers rated cities on their sights and landmarks, culture, cuisine, friendliness, shopping, and overall value. Udaipur, known as the City of Lakes, is located around azure water lakes and is hemmed in by lush green hills of Aravallis. The ... Read more

Kerala Tourism is listed in The Guardian’s 10 great road trips around the world. The Guardian has selected from the best of their reader’s trips and Kerala stands along with Transylvania, Romania; Amur highway from Chita to Vladivostok; Cajun country, US; Stargazing in Chile; Real Montenegro; Ring Road, Iceland; Far-west Cornwall; La Palma adventure, Canary Islands and Waterfall Way, Australia. The writer has travelled to Munnar, Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary, Kumily Wildlife Sanctuary, Varkala, Alappuzha and Kochi. Chris B, the writer even describes the Kumily Wildlife Sanctuary as it resembled the location of Jurassic Park. The writer also mentions about his experience of a backwater cruise in Alappuzha and ... Read more

Flipkart has announced the addition of two new tabs to its mobile application: Recharges and Travel – Flights. The online retailer has partnered with payments platform, PhonePe to enable customers to recharge their phones through its website, while for air ticket booking, it has partnered MakeMyTrip. Flipkart is offering a 25 per cent instant discount on phone recharges subject to a maximum discount of Rs 50 as an introductory offer. Customers can also avail a discount of up to Rs 1,500 on flight tickets booked using select debit/credit cards and via net banking. The offer on flights is applicable until July ... Read more

The Government of India has announced a three-year visa for Bangladeshi students who are willing to study in the country under a newly signed bilateral agreement. The students will immediately get a minimum three-year visa, said Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh. Shringla said Bangladeshi students wishing to study in India and their parents will get three-year visas immediately after their enrollments. A good number of Bangladeshi students take admissions in Indian universities every year for studies at different levels and in varied courses. “India is an important destination for higher education. It has more than 800 universities and 3,800 ... Read more

Rolls-Royce has revealed its plans to develop a hybrid electric vehicle, dubbed the “flying taxi”, which takes off and lands vertically and could be airborne within five years. Rolls-Royce showed off the plans at the Farnborough Airshow for the first time and said it hoped to manufacture a prototype version of its electric vertical take-off and landing (EVTOL) vehicle within the next 18 months, and could potentially take to the skies in the early 2020s. The Rolls-Royce EVTOL plane will seat four or five people, with a flying range of 500 miles (805 kilometres) and a top speed of 200 miles ... Read more

Kozhikode south beach, one of the popular beaches in north Kerala, is beckoning tourists after the recent face-lift. The beach has been the dumping yard of wastes for the past few years. With the revamping works, the beach has become beautiful and is with lots of amenities to the visitors. Tourism minister Kadakampalli Surendren will inaugurate the renovated beach on 19th July 2018. Around 800 meters from the south sea bridge has been refurbished with four view spots. Tiled walkways, decorative siting places, antique type lamp posts etc. are arranged for the visitors to spend their leisure time at the ... Read more

The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) is planning to focus on the secondary cities in India to enhance its tourism revenues. STB has conducted a road show in Coimbatore on 18th July 2018, to propagate their different packages to the travel and tourism industry and to the general public. As per statistics, Singapore has been witnessing a steady growth of 16 to 17 per cent during the past years in terms of tourist arrivals from India. STB records says 6.1 lakh tourists from India had visited Singapore from January to May 2018. However, most of these tourists are from the metro cities. That ... Read more

Winner – Coveted Airline of the Year, World’s Best First Class Airline, Best Airline in Asia and the Best First Class Airline. Singapore Airlines filled the board at this year’s Skytrax World Airline Awards, by sweeping the Coveted Airline of the Year, World’s Best First Class Airline, Best Airline in Asia and the Best First Class Airline awards. Skytrax World Airline Awards in the aviation industry, which is considered to be equivalent to the Oscars, was started in 1999. EasyJet bagged the Best Low Cost Airline in the UK award, while the Best Airline in Europe went to Lufthansa.  Lufthansa was the only ... Read more

The holiest shrine of Sikhs, the Golden Temple in Amritsar, is all set to get a brighter shade of yellow with an additional 160 kg gold worth Rs 50 crore. The dome of its four deodis (entrances) will be gold-plated. Each of the four deodis will be covered by 40 kg of gold. “Gold-plating of the main deodi near Ghanta Ghar is underway since April through kar sewa (voluntarily service). Work on the rest will be taken up after the gold-plating of the first entrance is completed,” said Diljit Singh Bedi, the spokesperson and additional secretary of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak ... Read more

The 10th Kerala Travel Mart, which is to held from 27 to 30 September 2018 at Bolghatty Grand Hayatt, Kochi, will focus on Malabar Tourism. The four day programme aims at making the tourism sector of the state to be a sustainable source of income. The main attraction of KTM-2018 will be the Buyer-Seller meet, which is to held from 28th to 30th September. There will be B2B meetings held in coordination with Kerala Travel Mart Society and the Kerala Tourism Department, which will provide the opportunity to meet and discuss with the exponents of tourism and enhance business relationships to the comprehensive ... Read more

Photo Courtesy: News Vision Director General for African Affairs at China’s foreign affairs ministry Wan Li, told a visiting delegation from Uganda that China will encourage more investors to set up businesses in Uganda, if the county would create a better environment to attract more investors. “China and Uganda had a long history of cordial relations for more than 56 years. We are good friends, partners and brothers,” said Li. He praised the hospitality of Ugandan people and said he felt at home, when he was there. Wan Li was responding to the request from the Government spokesperson and head ... Read more

Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq) has opened the gates of their brand new amusement offering, the ‘Pearls Kingdom’ water park, at Al Montazah Parks, Sharjah. This premiere tourist and family destination has invested over AED 100 million in developing this waterpark along with a new amusement park, ‘Island of Legends’, and invites visitors across the UAE to bring themselves to a brand new experience being offered at their favourite destinations in the country. With its theme inspired by the myth of ‘Princess Pearls’ who has envisioned a brand new water world using her astute knowledge of the precious sea ... Read more

Photo Courtesy: rd.com After Ayurveda and backwater tourism, Kerala is all set to attract globetrotters to its jails. If you wish, you can also spend a day in the jail, wear the jail clothes and taste the meals served to the prisoners at the Viyyur Jail in Kerala. You don’t have to commit any crime to land up in the jails, just pay the rent and avail the facilities there. The Kerala Prisons Department have submitted a proposal to the state government in this regard. The project is proposed as part of the Jail Museum project in the central prison ... Read more