Category: News

Surfing, one of the oldest water sports adventure, was marked with a new award in the name of Rodrigo Koxa. The award named ‘Biggest Wave Award Big’ is the title given for the largest wave ever surfed by a contestant. Rodrigo Koxa, a professional wave surfer hailing from Brazil, achieved the title back in 8th November at Nazare beach in Portugal. He surfed at over 80 ft that overtook the previous record put by Garrett McNamara in 2011. Meanwhile, the Best Women’s Overall Performance award was given to Paige Alms, a Mauian surfer for the third time. “Thank you to my ... Read more

After setting the cricket pitch afire with super star batting in IPL, the West Indian star performer Chris Gayle is cooling down in the tranquil backwaters of Kerala. Enjoying a holiday with his family at The Raviz Kollam, he was trying his hands in fishing in the Kerala backwaters. Gayle is accompanied by his wife, daughter, and mother-in-law. He did check in to the hotel on April 29 and would be staying in the hotel for a couple of days. The cricketer and his family went for a joyride with his family on a houseboat in the backwaters. He is also ... Read more

AccorHotels has signed an agreement with Mövenpick Holding and Kingdom Holding to acquire Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts, for an amount of CHF560 million (€482 million). “With the acquisition of Mövenpick, we are consolidating our leadership in the European market and are further accelerating our growth in emerging markets, in particular in Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific. The Mövenpick brand is the perfect combination of modernity and authenticity and ideally complements our portfolio. Its European-Swiss heritage is a perfect fit with AccorHotels. By joining the Group, it will benefit from AccorHotels’ power, particularly in terms of distribution, loyalty-building and development. This ... Read more

Oman Air has unveiled its new and exclusive premium lounge at the Muscat International Airport. Oman Air passengers travelling in First Class and Business Class can now take advantage of the airline’s new premium class lounge. Spread over a two story, the lounge offers guests a wide array of food and beverage services, including dining areas and bars, luggage room, entertainment area, a smoking room, prayer rooms, business centre, kid’s room, nap area, shower facilities, baby changing facilities and a wellness area. Covering 429.35 square metres with an overall capacity of 100 people, the area designated for First Class guests ... Read more

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that Government is taking initiatives to develop infrastructure for Buddhist tourism in an attempt to connect Southeast Asia to the important Buddhist sites in the country. “We are developing infrastructure for Buddhist tourism, which is going to connect Southeast Asia with the important Buddhist sites of India. I am also very pleased that the government is a partner in the restoration of many Buddhist temples which also includes the centuries old Anand Temple in Bagan, Myanmar,” Modi said in his monthly radio programme “Mann Ki Baat”. The Prime Minister said the country has inherited Lord ... Read more

With an aim to bring more tourists from India,  Japan  is planning to conduct an exhibition, ‘Japan Calling’ in Gujarat. The event is organised by Ahmedabad Management Association (AMA) in association with Indo Japan Friendship Association (IJFA) and Japan Innovation and Study Centre (JISC). “Bilateral ties between India-Japan and Gujarat-Japan have grown over the years on the business and cultural front. This is for the first time that a full-fledged exhibition focused on Japan tourism is being organized in Ahmedabad,” said Mukesh Patel, president, IJFA. The main objective of the exhibition is to promote the culture and heritage of Japan, ... Read more

Do you wish to enjoy rain all throughout the year? Then, The Rain Room at Al Majarah, near Buhaira Corniche in Dubai, is your perfect destination. The Rain Room by Random International, uses 1,200 litres of self-cleaning recycled water that provides an immersive experience of continuous rainfall. His Highness Dr Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, inaugurated the Rain Room,  in the presence of Sheikha Hoor bint Sultan Al Qasimi, president of Sharjah Art Foundation (SAF). The Rain Room, is built on an area of 1,460 square metres, will not get you drenched in the rain. ... Read more

Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), as part of raising the inbound tourism arrivals to the nation, had opened new tourism office at Toronto in Canada. The main propaganda put forward by TAT is to increase the number of Canadian visitors to Thailand. Previously, there were 238,000 Canadian tourist arrivals were marked annually, in which the authorities aim to increase the number to over 5,00,000 for the coming years. Meanwhile, it is the 28th overseas office of TAT besides America and Europe. Back in 2017, Thailand received over a million visitors from the US, with the continuous efforts from TAT officials. ... Read more

India topped the list of Dubai’s source markets for inbound tourism, with 617,000 tourists from the country visiting the Emirate between January-March 2018, registering an impressive 7 per cent year-on-year increase. Dubai welcomed almost 4.7 million international overnight tourists, Dubai posted a stable 2 per cent increase in traffic as compared to last year. Saudi Arabia came in the second position as far as tourist arrivals are concerned. UK and Russia followed the chart , according to a report published by Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism).   India helped level out the relatively stable second-placed Saudi Arabia ... Read more

Good news for Dubai residents! the free-to-use Artificial Intelligence (AI) pods to be installed installed in various places across the Emirate will do quick health scans and give immediate results. Bodyo, the company that has conceived and assembled the health pods in the UAE, would be installing at least 44 pod units by mid-August. The health pods will be set up across at malls, clinics, corporations or other places with a high footfall. “These are the first such kind of AI pods designed in the UAE. Only the RnD had been done by the biomedical scientists in France,” Tariq Hussain, ... Read more

Saudi Arabia, as part of enriching tourism, is planning to open the new state of the art entertainment resort, Qiddiya. The new architecture’s foundation stone ceremony was done by Saudi King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Qiddiya, located near Riyadh is spread across 8,400-acre, that makes it twice as big from the size of Disney World. The park consists of six theme park, motor sports, water park, and mice tourism. As per the officials, around 1.5 million tourists are expected to visit the site during the launch of its first phase in 2022. “Today, we invite investors, creators, and ... Read more

Morocco is taking steps to open a tourism office in New Delhi in two-three months and is expecting to double the tourist outflow from the country by 2019. “We received 21,850 Indians and people of Indian origin in 2017. We expect to more than double this number by 2019. For this we are taking a number of steps,” Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco, Mohamed Maliki. He also said that the first step towards promotion of Morocco as a desired tourist destination for Indians is to set up the a full-fledged Moroccan National Tourism Office in New Delhi. “We hope the office will be ... Read more

Dubai had a record international overnight visitation in 2017, which totalled 15.8 million, up 6.2 per cent over the previous year.  The Emirate’s top 10 source markets contributed a share of 59 per cent of total tourist volumes, with the remainder made up of highly diversified markets across the globe, according to the Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing’s (Dubai Tourism) Annual Visitor Report 2017. As per the report, three out of four visitors were families and couples, with individuals making up 14 per cent, friends 8 per cent, and colleagues 3 per cent of total visitation. Around 73.8 per cent ... Read more

Mumbai Port Trust, in association with private tour operators, is about to start a new cruise service from Mumbai to Goa. As per media reports, all necessary verification processess are completed by Mumbai Port Trust and are waiting for the government approval. “We have developed the domestic cruise terminal building. Operator is yet to get few permission and also delivery of vessel which operator has ordered from abroad got delayed. But we are hopeful that soon first Domestic cruise will start from Mumbai to Goa,” said Sanjay Bhatia, Chairman, Mumbai Port Trust. The cruise service is said to start from ... Read more

Eco-friendly tourism concepts are attracting more vacationers worldwide, with the core principles of sustainability. According to a data published by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) around 10 per cent of the world’s economy is based on tourism activity with more bookings on eco- friendly hotspots. To qualify for a sustainable destination, Global Sustainable Tourism Council issues a list of benchmarks. It includes encouraging local business practices, conservation, community participation, LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification etc. Meanwhile, locations like Vial and Yellowstone national park in US are putting up efforts with the government entities to make ... Read more