Category: News

Aimed at creating a healthy environment for campuses and communities, Puducherry has released a Green Protocol, which will serve as a guide for universities, colleges, schools, industries, tourism sector, hotels, hospitals and other organisations to carry forward the stated missions of the programme. Chief Minister V Narayanasamy released the protocol in the presence of Minister for Environment M. Kandasamy and Pondicherry University Vice-Chancellor Gurmeet Singh. The Comprehensive Green Protocol (CGP), which has been formulated to become a touchstone of sustainable development for the Union Territory, condenses into a booklet the knowledge shared among a consortium of experts from various organisations such as the ... Read more

Indian Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC), along with Jamia Millia University had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), for starting Bachelors of Vocation (B.Voc) courses of 3 years. The courses offered are a Bachelor programme on ‘Food Production and a 1-year Diploma in Hospitality, arranged by the Ashok Institute of Hospitality and Tourism Management (AIH&TM) under ITDC. The new programme hopes to fit under the Department of Tourism, Hotel, Hospitality, and Heritage Studies (DTHHHS).  Additionally, the department also offers professional certificate, diploma and degree programmes at undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral levels in tourism, hospitality and allied areas. Meanwhile, the programmes offered are ... Read more

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), as part of ensuring food safety for its passengers, is all about to launch ‘Menu on Rail app’ exclusively for the passengers. The mobile application enables the users to choose dishes according to their choices. Additionally, the service would vary based on the category of the train such as Mail, Express, Humsafar trains, Rajdhani Express, Shatabdi Express, Duronto Express trains, Gatimaan Express train and Tejas Express train. “IRCTC is the only authorised agency to take and deliver orders through e-catering in trains. Beware of unauthorised entities such as, Travelkhana, Railyatri, Omitra, and Yatrachef. ... Read more

Conrad Maldives resorts are on a new mission to build world’s first undersea villa located at the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island in the Maldives. The $15 million invested two-storeyed villa named as ‘Muraka’ is housed 16.4 ft below the Indian Ocean. Additionally, the property consists of a gym, bar, ocean view bathtub and an underwater bedroom floor. The top layer of the structure has a relaxing space that measures over 550 sq meters. “We are excited to present Muraka’s unique sleeping under the sea experience to our future guests, providing them with an extraordinary seascape of the Maldives from an ... Read more

The II UNWTO World Conference on Smart Destinations, promoted by the UNWTO together with the Kingdom of Spain and the Government of the Principality of Asturias, call for creative videos from entrepreneurs and companies in line with the themes of innovation, technology and sustainability in tourism. The last date for the submission is April 30, 2018. The Conference will serve as a forum to debate academically research work on future tourism models, based on Innovation and Technology, which allow Accessibility and Sustainable Development of tourism and the territories in the 21st century. “The Conference recognizes the key role of entrepreneurs and ... Read more

Government of Kerala has reconstituted the State Tourism Advisory Committee headed by Kadakampally Surendran, Minister for Tourism, for the period of 2018-2020. The new committee has four new members from Thiruvananthapuram along with the existing 18 members from the Travel and tourism industry in the outgoing committee constituted in 2016. The state Tourism Advisory committee was constituted in 2012 to advise and formulate the policy for Destination development, Product development, marketing strategies, market research etc. Rani George IAS, Secretary, Tourism will be the Vice Chairman and P Bala Kiran IAS, Director of Kerala Tourism will be the Convener of the 28 ... Read more

Mount Rinjani, an active volcanic mountain located at Lombok Island in Indonesia has been recognised as National Geopark by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). “Alhamdulillah (Praise to Allah) I just received the news that the Unesco executive board had recognized Geopark Rinjani as the latest member of its Unesco Global Geopark,” said Chairul Mahsul, Rinjani Geopark General Manager. The mountain has a length of over 3,726 metre which ranks 38th in terms of its height. The top end part of the mountain consist of a lake named Segara Anak Lake with hot springs. As per certain religion, ... Read more

The 12-member inter-ministerial committee, set up to “frame guidelines describing circumstances and occasions on which the national anthem is to be played or sung”, is likely to suggest that cinema halls should not play the national anthem before screening a film. The committee, headed by Special Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, Brij Raj Sharma, is likely to suggest that the playing of 52-second long anthem before screening will interrupt the screening of the film, and create disorder and confusion instead of adding dignity to it. The panel, set up on December 5, 2017, was given six months’ time to come up with statutory ... Read more

Oman is attending the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2018 with Responsible Tourism, including current sustainable travel trends as its theme for this year. ATM 2018 will be held at the Dubai World Trade Centre from April 22 to 25. The Sultanate’s delegation will be led by Maitha Saif Al Mahrouqi, Undersecretary in the Ministry of Tourism. “As part of the Sultanate’s National Tourism Strategy 2040, the Ministry of Tourism seeks to introduce the most recently launched services, projects and facilities, such as the opening of the new passenger terminal at Muscat International Airport and the launching of the electronic visa. It also aims ... Read more

Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has launched Tourism Information and Service Hub, an online platform that allows businesses to contribute and access content, including travel software services for use on digital channels. The new platform, which was announced last year, is the first of its kind and acts as a one-stop tourism resource for businesses. Businesses can upload their operating hours and events to gain exposure, while businesses here and abroad may download such information and have updates automatically reflected on their linked websites and mobile applications. ‘The platform addresses an industry need to have more up-to-date information about tourism offerings and to ... Read more

Around three lakh tourists arrived by air to Nepal in the first three months of 2018. The latest figures on tourist arrivals by air route were released by the Department of Immigration. As per the data, 286,882 tourists arrived in Nepal via air route in January, February and March. The highest number of tourists arrived from China with forty thousand Chinese tourists arriving in Nepal via air in these three months. Similarly, 34 thousand Indian tourists have arrived by air over this period. The first three months of 2018 posts a 11.4 per cent increase compared to the number of ... Read more

Darjeeling’s much-famed toy train will soon be taking tourists to the many tea gardens across the hill stations. It has entered into an agreement with the West Bengal Tourism for offering the new rides. The main objective of this initiative is to offer tourists with an immersive experience of Darjeeling’s tea gardens through toy train tours, in style as that of the Palace on Wheels of the Indian Railways. The trains will also halt at tea gardens and let tourists stay a day or two at tea estates of their choice, which will help interested travellers to learn about tea ... Read more

The international tourist arrivals recorded a growth of 14.1 per cent last year in Bhutan whereas the number of regional tourists visiting the country in terms of percentage saw a dip by more than 50 per cent in 2017 compared to the previous year. A total of 183, 287 regional visitors visited Bhutan in 2017, recording an increase of 24.9 per cent as compared to 2016, which saw a total of 146,797 visitors. The percentage increase of regional tourist decreased in 2017 by more than 50 per cent. Bhutan saw an increase of 50.43 per cent in 2016 compared to ... Read more

Air Deccan has launched Mumbai – Kolhapur flights, which is scheduled to formally begin services from April 22 under the regional connectivity scheme Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN). Air Deccan officials said that they have already started operations and have opened flight bookings offering a promotional fare of Rs 1299 for the 90-minute flight. The airline has also resumed operations to Nashik and Jalgaon which had briefly stopped following maintenance issues with its Beechcraft 1900 D aircrafts. The flight to Kolhapur will take off from Mumbai at 1.15 pm and depart from Kolhapur at 3.05 pm on Sundays, Tuesdays ... Read more

The Walhe village in Purandhar Tehsil, located 56 km away from Pune, will soon be added to the list of tourist destinations. Walhe, with a Rs 5.6 crore development sanctioned by the Maharastra government, will have a samadhi dedicated to sage Valmiki, also known as adi kavi, who has penned the Ramayana. The place is also famous for seven pots hills (Sat Ranjan). According to Indian mythology, Valmiki, in his earlier birth as Ratnakar, used to rob the travellers in the Walhe area to earn his livelihood. After committing each sin, he used to drop a stone in these pots. After meeting ... Read more