Category: News

International tourist arrivals grew by 7 per cent in 2017 to a total of 1,322 million, according to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer. This strong momentum is expected to continue in 2018 at a rate of 4 per cent-5 per cent. Photo Courtesy: TopYaps@topyaps Based on data reported by destinations around the world, it is estimated that international tourist arrivals (overnight visitors) worldwide increased 7 per cent in 2017. This is well above the sustained and consistent trend of 4 per cent or higher growth since 2010 and represents the strongest results in seven years. Led by Mediterranean destinations, ... Read more

Turkey announced their new year 2018 as ‘The year of Troy’, with respect to celebrating the 20th anniversary of adding the old city of Canakkale on the UNESCO world heritage. Though Turkey has adopted various other possibilities in the field of tourism such as promoting their local cuisine, they have come up with a new approach to waking the global audience through the opening of Troy museum. The movie, which was a 2004 blockbuster and has fans from all over the world, generated with its distinctive characters featuring the history of Trojan War. The Turkish government thus predicts to draw ... Read more

Photo Courtesy: Getty Images The President of Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte has always been in the limelight for the wrong words or usages. This time it has gone to an extent where he called tourists to his country saying virgins are waiting for them. He was referring to the purported Islamic State recruitment method of promising Islamist militants scores of virgins in the afterlife. Duterte, who is in India as part of the 2018 India-ASEAN Commemorative Summit, was speaking at the Philippines-India Business Forum in New Delhi on the eve of the Indian Republic Day celebrations. Telling delegates about his Muslim ... Read more

Actress Parineeti Chopra, the first Indian woman ambassador of the ‘Friend of Australia’ (FOA) advocacy panel by Tourism Australia, has released a series of videos that narrate her holiday experiences in the Australian states. The actress shared her experience in the country in the form of a song. Parineeti released the videos on January 26, the day where India’s Republic Day and Australia Day are celebrated. Adding a personal touch to the video, the actress has sung the background score with lyrics that summarise the vibe of the places she visited. “I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Australia and the ... Read more

Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) has opened an information counter at the first platform of Tirupati railway station. The kiosk was inaugurated by APTDC Chairman V Jayarami Reddy in the presence of Tirupati Station Director K Satyanarayana. “The counter will be of immense use to pilgrims who visit Tirupati. They can get entire information about all tourism destinations in the state from the counter and plan their programmes during their pilgrimage,” Jayarami Reddy said. The display at the counter itself creates interest to the passengers in waiting to know more information. Tickets for all APTDC tours can be booked ... Read more

A new €1.8 million initiative specially designed to boost tourist numbers from Britain to the Wild Atlantic Way has been launched. The Minister of State for Tourism and Sport, Brendan Griffin,  Niall Gibbons of Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland’s Paul Keeley launched the new campaign. A €1.35 million marketing campaign in Britain will be complemented by Fáilte Ireland’s €500,000 programme to support businesses along the Wild Atlantic Way to position themselves to benefit from the campaign, as well as to boost its own marketing campaigns in Northern Ireland. The ‘campaign will be rolled out by Tourism Ireland in Britain in ... Read more

The ASEAN National Tourism Organisations (NTOs) have agreed on concrete initiatives to further expand tourism facilities and infrastructure by focusing on attracting investments to the regional grouping. Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz said the agreement reached by the NTOs was definitely the right direction for ASEAN as it is headed to the future. “With the ASEAN family now consisting of over 600 million people, we need to enhance our collaboration to achieve economic stability,” he said. In line with this collaboration, Malaysia would co-organise the first ASEAN Plus Three Tourism Investment Seminar in association with the ... Read more

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi addressing the Plenary Session of ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit, in New Delhi on January 25, 2018. Stressing upon common cultural links between ASEAN nations and India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed that 2019 be declared “ASEAN-India Year of Tourism”. The PM also mentioned that the Buddhist Tourism circuit could be an important part of this to attract tourists and pilgrims from the region. The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi delivering his opening remarks, at the ASEAN India Commemorative Summit, in New Delhi on January 25, 2018. Addressing the plenary session of the ASEAN-India commemorative summit, ... Read more

Bollywood heartthrob Ranveer Singh, Switzerland’s ambassador in India, has managed to drive a 25 per cent growth rate in the overnights in the Alpine nation. “We couldn’t be luckier to have Ranveer Singh as our brand and country ambassador. He has really boosted the image of Switzerland in terms of tourism to make it younger, fresher, more exciting and more active. This is exactly how we want to position Switzerland in future to place it as the most desirable outdoor destination and he is helping us in doing just that,” said Martin Nydegger, the newly appointed CEO of Switzerland Tourism. ... Read more

കനത്ത സുരക്ഷാ സന്നാഹങ്ങള്‍ക്കിടയില്‍ രാജ്യം ഇന്ന് 69-ാം റിപബ്ലിക്ക് ദിനം ആഘോഷിക്കുന്നു. രാവിലെ 9 മണിക്ക് രാഷ്ടപതി രാംനാഥ് കോവിന്ദ് ദേശീയ പതാക ഉയര്‍ത്തിയതിന് ശേഷം രാജ്യത്തിന് വേണ്ടി വീരചരമം പ്രാപിച്ച ധീരജവാന്മാര്‍ക്ക് പ്രധാനമന്ത്രി നരേന്ദ്രമോദി ഇന്ത്യാ ഗേറ്റിലെ അമര്‍ ജ്യോതിയില്‍ പുഷ്പചക്രം അര്‍പ്പിക്കുന്നതോടെ റിപബ്ലിക്ക് ദിനാഘോഷം ആരംഭിക്കും. പത്തു രാഷ്ട്രത്തലവന്‍മാരാണ് രാജ്പഥില്‍ നടക്കുന്ന ദിനാഘോഷങ്ങളില്‍ അതിഥികളായി എത്തുന്നത്. അശോകചക്ര അടക്കമുള്ള സേനപുരസ്‌ക്കാരങ്ങള്‍ രാഷ്ട്രപതി സമ്മാനിക്കും.തുടര്‍ന്ന്. കര-നാവിക-വ്യോമ സേനകളുടെ പരേഡ് രാജ്പഥില്‍ നടക്കും. The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi in a group photograph with the ASEAN Heads of State/Governments, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on January 25, 2018. രാജ്യത്ത് ആദ്യമായാണ് ഇത്രയേറെ രാഷ്ട്രത്തലവന്‍മാരെ പങ്കെടുപ്പിച്ച് കൊണ്ട് റിപബ്ലിക്ക് ആഘോഷിക്കുന്നത്.കംബോഡിയ,ബ്രൂണെയ്,സിംഗപ്പൂര്‍,ലാവോസ്,ഇന്തൊനീഷ്യ,മലേഷ്യ,മ്യാന്‍മാര്‍,ഫിലിപ്പീന്‍സ്,തായ്‌ലാന്‍ഡ്,വിയറ്റനാം എന്നീ രാഷ്ട്രങ്ങളുടെ തലവന്‍മാരാണ് ഡല്‍ഹിയില്‍ എത്തിയിരിക്കുന്നത്. ചരിത്രത്തിലാദ്യമായി ബി.എസ്.എഫിലെ 27 വനിതകളുടെ സാഹസികപ്രകടനം നടക്കുന്ന പരേഡാവും ഇത്തവണത്തത്‌. സീമാഭവാനി ... Read more

A record number of 43.7 million tourists visited Toronto in 2017, led by Americans, Chinese and British tourists. According to the latest statistics released by Tourism Toronto, tourists pumped $8.8 billion into the local economy in 2017. Toronto also recorded a $700 million spike in booked hotels, attractions and restaurants compared to 2016. International visits surpassed the 5 million mark for the first time. With nearly 3 million American overnight visitors spending $1.8 billion, visits from grew for the seventh year in a row. Second to US, the biggest international source markets were China with 319,000 visitors and the UK with ... Read more

Photo Courtesy: Dubai Tourism Chinese arrivals to GCC predicted to go up by 21 per cent to 2.5 million visitors by 2021, according to the data released ahead of the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2018. The ATM is scheduled to be held at Dubai World Trade Centre from April 22 to 25, 2018. Currently, GCC attracts 1.9 per cent of China’s total tourist outbound market. The upward trend is expected to continue as 154 million Chinese tourists are expected to travel abroad in 2018, followed by 244 million in 2022, according to a release issued by ATM. F ATM exhibition ... Read more

Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) and Huawei Consumer Business Group (CBG) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to unite their efforts in positioning Dubai as the destination of choice for tourists from Middle East, Africa, and China. The MoU was signed by Issam Kazim, Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DCTCM) and Gene Jiao, President of HUAWEI CBG, Middle East & Africa to support the strategic tie up between DTCM and Huawei CBG to various activities. Under the terms of the MoU, HUAWEI will work with DTCM to create awareness of ... Read more

Dubai’s most recognised airline service provider Fly Dubai has recently added two international destinations to their fleet. The newly added spots are from Thessaloniki in Greece and Aquaba in Jordan. The new flight schedules will come into effect in June 2018. Aqaba Port Aquaba, a city in Jordan, is unique for its coastal significance as well as historic importance. The city is administered by the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority, which has turned Aqaba into a low-tax, duty-free city, attracting several mega projects like Ayla Oasis, Saraya Aqaba, Marsa Zayed and expansion of the Port of Aqaba. White Tower, Thessaloniki, Greece ... Read more

The Cochin Bikers Club (CBC), in association with CGH Earth is also all set to celebrate the 69th Indian Republic Day, with a great ride to remember. The ride will be flagged off from Casino Hotel, Willingdon Island, and the destination would be about 50 km down south the coast, at the Marari Beach Resort-CGH Earth, which would be the turn-around point as well. The ride, dedicated to CBC’s supporter, Michael Dominic and Casino Group of Hotels for their invaluable support rendered since the inception of CBC, would be a funding rising charity ride. The amount generated through the registration ... Read more