Category: News

The century-old boathouse at the end of the Parvathy Puthanar  at Vallakkadavu in Thiruvananthapuram to feature a biodiversity museum, established by the Kerala State Biodiversity Board (KSBB). Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the museum on June 5 to coincide with the World Environment Day. A major highlight of the museum will be the Science on a Sphere (SOS) spherical projection system, the first-of-its-kind in the State, which has been developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in US.It will provide real-time data of climatic parameters, and will also act as an educational tool that projects their correlation with biodiversity. The ... Read more

കേരളത്തിൽ വിനോദ സഞ്ചാരവകുപ്പിന്റെ ക്ലാസിഫിക്കേഷന്‍ സര്‍ട്ടിഫിക്കറ്റ്‌ ഇല്ലാത്ത നിരവധി ഹോം സ്‌റ്റേകള്‍ പ്രവര്‍ത്തിക്കുന്നുണ്ടെന്ന് സംസ്ഥാന ടൂറിസം മന്ത്രി കടകംപള്ളി സുരേന്ദ്രൻ അറിയിച്ചു. ഹോം സ്‌റ്റേ ക്ലാസിഫിക്കേഷന്‍ ഒരു ലൈസന്‍സിന്റെയും പരിധിയില്‍ വരാത്തതിനാല്‍ ഇത്തരം കേന്ദ്രങ്ങള്‍ക്കെതിരെ നടപടിയെടുക്കാന്‍ സാധിക്കുന്നില്ല. ഇതു സംബന്ധിച്ച്‌ ചര്‍ച്ച ചെയ്യാന്‍ അടിയന്തിര യോഗം വിളിച്ചു ചേർക്കാൻ തീരുമാനിച്ചുവെന്നും മന്ത്രി നിയമസഭയിൽ പറഞ്ഞു. കോവളത്ത് വിദേശ വനിത ലിഗയുടെ കൊലപാതകത്തെത്തുടർന്ന് ടൂറിസം പൊലീസിന്റെ നിലവിലുള്ള ശക്തി വര്‍ധിപ്പിക്കാൻ തീരുമാനിച്ചിട്ടുണ്ട്. ടൂറിസം പൊലീസില്‍ കൂടുതല്‍ വനിതകളെ ഉള്‍പ്പെടത്തുന്നതിനുള്ള നടപടികള്‍ ആരംഭിച്ചിട്ടുണ്ട്‌. ടൂറിസം പൊലീസിലെ ഉദ്യോഗസ്ഥര്‍ക്ക്‌ ഭാഷാനൈപുണ്യക്ലാസുകള്‍, അവബോധ ക്ലാസുകള്‍, ഇതര ട്രെയ്‌നിങുകള്‍ എന്നിവ കിറ്റ്‌സ്‌ മുഖാന്തിരം നല്‍കുന്നതിനു തീരുമാനിച്ചിട്ടുണ്ട്‌. സംസ്ഥാനത്തൊട്ടാകെ 178 ലൈഫ്‌ഗാര്‍ഡുകളാണ്‌ ടൂറിസം രംഗത്ത്‌ സേവനമനുഷ്ടിക്കുന്നത്‌. ഇവരുടെ സേവനം നിര്‍ദ്ദിഷ്ട കേന്ദ്രങ്ങളില്‍ ഉറപ്പാക്കുന്നതിനു തീരുമാനിച്ചിട്ടുണ്ട്‌. വിനോദ സഞ്ചാര കേന്ദ്രങ്ങളില്‍ സഞ്ചാരികള്‍ക്കു നേരെയുള്ള മോശപ്പെട്ട പെരുമാറ്റവും ആക്രമണവും ചൂഷണവും തടയുന്നതിനായി വ്യാപാരികള്‍ക്കും ഓട്ടോ ടാക്‌സി ഡ്രൈവര്‍മാര്‍ക്കും തിരിച്ചറിയല്‍ കാര്‍ഡ്‌ നല്‍കും. ടൂറിസ്‌റ്റ്‌ ഗൈഡുകള്‍ക്ക്‌ ... Read more

Though the government has passed a legislation way back in April 2014 stating that every trekker should bring back at least 8 kgs of waste per person including their own, the Himalayas are drowning in trekker’s waste. The legislation has not reached all who travel up the hill. It is in this situation that the Green Stars is taking initiative to launch the ‘Guardians of the Himalayas’ programme on the World Environment Day this year. Green Stars Founder, Alan Bywaters has decided to launch ‘Guardians of the Himalayas’ programme in an effort to engage everyone involved in the trekking and expedition industry ... Read more

Taj Mahal, the 17th century structure which is one of the Seven Wonders of the World, is soon going to be plastic-free, as part of the Taj Mahal Declaration. This World Environment Day, areas in and around the historic Taj Mahal are going plastic-free. The monument is visited by numerous tourists from across the world. In recent times the Taj Mahal has been turning yellow, as the area struggles with the problem of pollution. The Taj Mahal Declaration has been adopted by Mahesh Sharma, Minister of Culture and Tourism and Civil Aviation; Erik Solheim, Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP); and ... Read more

Saudi Arabia has issued its first driver’s licenses to 10 women as the kingdom prepares to lift the world’s only ban on women driving in three weeks. The Saudi General Traffic Directorate began to issue domestic driving licences to women who have international ones. Though the Kingdom has started to grant licenses to women, a number of women who’d campaigned for the right to drive are under arrest and facing charges related to their activism. The 10 women who were issued licenses already held driving licenses from other countries, including US, UK, Lebanon and Canada. They took a brief driving test and ... Read more

The wildlife sanctuaries and eco-tourism spots in Andhra Pradesh are declared to plastic-free zones from today onwards.  The Forest Department has decided to take up different activities in response to the theme — Beat Plastic Pollution — given by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change. “We have decided to declare all wildlife sanctuaries and eco-tourism spots in the State as plastic-free zones. We are going to take up special campaign from Tuesday, including organising workshops, elocution contests for students and awareness programmes through films to trainee forest beat officers and other staff. The Forest Department has decided to ... Read more

The Andhra Pradesh government is planning for a Rs 115 crore tourism development in Amaravati. Amaravati Development Corporation Ltd (ADCL) is asked to identify private firms for development of two family entertainment centres (FECs) for Rs 30 crore each, one sports and recreation club for Rs 25 crore, and a resort for Rs 30 crore. One of the family entertainment centres will come up in Sakhamuru village in two acres, and the other will be built in another two acres at Inavolu village. Inavolu will also house the resort and sports and recreation club in three and four acres respectively. While the ADCL has ... Read more

Tibet’s recent tourism statistics show that it has seen dramatic growth in tourism revenue in the first five months this year. From January to May, Tibet welcomed 5.6 million tourists, up 38 per cent Compared to the previous year. Total revenue also rose 41.4 per cent to 7.1 billion yuan (about 1.1 billion U.S. dollars), according to the regional Tourism Development Commission. Though the destination faced bitter weather this winter, the government’s intervention has saved it big way. The regional government came up with discounts, charter flights and train services to attract more domestic and overseas tourists in January this ... Read more

The Delhi government has decided to hire a ‘social media agency’ to project Delhi as a tourist-friendly destination on social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The tourism department of the capital state has prepared a plan under which it will undertake several initiatives – one of them is hiring of a professional social media agency. The department has plans to hire an agency by September 2018. The work of this agency would be to brand Delhi as a tourist friendly destination on social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. Delhi has several tourist destinations which include monuments, ... Read more

Emirates has launched a new non-stop service between Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) and Dubai from 1 June 2018, adding to its existing daily flight which operates with a stop in Athens, Greece. The new non-stop service is operated with an Emirates Boeing 777-300ER, offering 8 suites in First Class, 42 seats in Business, 306 in Economy Class, and 19 tonnes of belly-hold cargo capacity. Flight EK223 departs Dubai at 03 am and arrive in Newark at 09 am. The return flight EK224 departs Newark at 1150am, arriving in Dubai at 08.20 am the next day. Emirates’ non-stop service to ... Read more

British Airways has launched a new weekly service to Manchester. Welcoming the new service, Vincent Harrison (Dublin Airport Managing Director) said, “We are delighted to see British Airways expand its route network from Dublin Airport and I have no doubt this new service will be popular for both Irish and UK-based passengers.” “We’re thrilled to be able to grow our summer schedule from Dublin Airport, offering our customers access to our new Manchester route. Manchester is a city known for being unique and eclectic with plenty of restaurants, shops and museums for visitors to enjoy, our new flight is ideal for travellers ... Read more

Etihad Airways has announced the introduction of a new scheduled service linking Abu Dhabi, capital of the UAE, and Barcelona, Spain, effective 21 November 2018. The route will initially be operated five times a week by a two-class Airbus A330-200 before becoming a daily operation from 31 March 2019. Barcelona will become the second city in Spain served by Etihad Airways, complementing the airline’s existing daily service to the capital Madrid. The new link will provide business and leisure travellers with convenient timings to travel between Abu Dhabi and Barcelona, also providing seamless onward connections through Abu Dhabi to major ... Read more

Kadakampally Surendran, Minister for Tourism, Cooperation and Devaswoms, has welcomed Indian Medical Association (IMA) president Dr Ravi Wankadekar’s statement that Kerala has nothing to worry about the Nipah virus scare and that the state is absolutely safe from the virus. Stating that Kerala is indeed a safe destination, Kadakampally Surendran said that around 300 doctors who have arrived to Kerala from various parts of India for the IMA conference organised in Kovalam stands testimony to this. The arrival of the renowned doctors to Kerala has immense significance, he said. The Minister also conveyed his salutations to the doctors who have ... Read more

In what can be called a huge relief to Keralites, IMA President Dr Ravi Wankedekar, who is in Kerala for the IMA conference, has stated that the Nipah virus outbreak doesn’t hold any threat in Kerala. Lauding the doctors in Kerala who had been prompt enough to spot the virus as soon as it appeared, Dr Wankedekar said that the Kerala government and the healthcare agencies did a great job by putting up resistance to the virus. Though the doctors didn’t have any forewarning or experience about the virus, they were able to detect the virus and act fast to ... Read more

Ministry of Tourism, Government of India has decided to hold the Global Travel Mart India between September 16 and 18, in Delhi. “It has been a demand from the tourism industry so many years and therefore Ministry will be organising the first edition of the Mart in partnership with FAITH, the umbrella body representing all the industry associations in the country. Explaining the format of the Mart, the Secretary said that it will have components like B2B meetings on the first day, Investors Meet and Workshops on the consecutive days,” said Rashmi Verma, Secretary – Tourism, Government of India. Verma said that ... Read more