Category: News

The Fern Hotels & Resorts, India’s leading environmentally sensitive hotel chain have opened a second property under The Fern Residency Brand in Nepal. This takes the tally to 63 hotels managed by the company, across 46 locations in India, Nepal and Seychelles. “It is a moment of great satisfaction and pride for us. Our Fern brand has been well received in Kathmandu and that has given us the confidence to open the second property. The property will operate as an eco-sensitive hotel, offering guests a central location at great value, for their corporate and leisure stays,” said Suhail Kannampilly, CEO, ... Read more

Early in July 2019, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hollyhock House, an iconic architectural masterpiece in the heart of Barnsdall Park in the East Hollywood district of Los Angeles was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List. The first Los Angeles landmark to be designated a World Heritage Site, Hollyhock House is part of a UNESCO group officially titled the 20th-Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright, which includes eight major works spanning 50 years of the famed architect’s career. Oil heiress Aline Barnsdall commissioned the house as the centerpiece of a cultural arts complex on Olive Hill, which was to include a ... Read more

Seychelles Tourism Board, along with TravelGyaan, will conduct a destination training webinar for tour operators across India on 31st July 2019 at 3pm to enhance understanding of the destination in the India market. This one hour of live training session will provide operators with detailed information on the Seychelles islands, unique activities, must visit locations along with the various categories of hotels and transport options available between islands. “Webinar has been an effective marketing tool to reach out to wider audience in one go; particularly for B2B activities with the approach and format reinventing and changing in many ways over ... Read more

The Association of Tourism Trade Organisations (ATTOI), in association with Department of Tourism, Government of Kerala, is all set to host the International Conference on Tourism Technology (ICTT) in Kochi to address the challenges related with technology faced by Indian tourism and hospitality industry. The two-day long event will begin on September 26, 2019 and will be concluded on September 27, on the World Tourism Day. Around 500 delegates including tour operators, hoteliers, resort owners, homestays, SEO (search engine optimization) companies, software firms, social media marketing companies and bloggers, are expected to attend the conference at Le Meridian hotel, Kochi. ... Read more

Happy news to passengers travelling to the UAE on the new Air India flight from Indore. The passengers to and from Indore can now carry 10 kgs more in their check-in luggage as the airline has, with immediate effect, increased the baggage allowance from 30 kgs to 40 kgs. The move is in line with the increasing demand by the travel community for an enhanced baggage allowance on the route. The allowance for hand-baggage, however, continues to be the same at 7 kgs. “As demanded by the people, Air India will allow passengers to carry 40 kgs as luggage in ... Read more

Travelbag have surveyed over 2,000 members of the British public to find out how important their social media presence is to them, and whether their posts are reflective of their travel experiences. A new poll by long haul tailored travel specialist Travelbag has shown that three-quarters of social media users confess that not all the photos they post are reflective of the experience they were having on their holiday, even though the majority of people claimed to update their social media in order to share those experiences. This urge to ‘do it for the ‘gram’ is, the company believes, causing ... Read more

Protea Hotel Fire & Ice! by Marriott Durban uMhlanga Ridge officially opened this month, making it the first Fire & Ice! by Marriott hotel in KwaZulu-Natal and the fourth in South Africa. A highly anticipated addition to the brand’s fast-growing portfolio, it joins Fire & Ice! by Marriott hotels in Melrose Arch (Johannesburg), Cape Town and Menlyn (Pretoria). A short drive from King Shaka International Airport, Protea Hotel Fire & Ice! by Marriott Durban uMhlanga Ridge is nestled along the picturesque KwaZulu-Natal coastline in the sought-after seaside town of uMhlanga, just north of Durban. In close proximity to the breathtakingly ... Read more

Eminent classical musicians Padma Parassala B Ponnammal and Padma Bhushan Dr. T V Gopalakrishnan have been selected for the inaugural Nishagandhi Sangeetha Puraskaram, instituted by Kerala Tourism to honour artists who have made outstanding contributions to music. Kadakampally Surendran, Minister for Tourism, Cooperation and Devaswom made the announcement at a press conference here on Wednesday. The honour carries Rs 1.5 lakh, citation and memento. Nishagandhi Monsoon Ragaas, the five-day music festival organized by the Kerala Tourism Department, will be inaugurated by Hon’ble Governor of Kerala Rtd Justice P Sathasivam on July 20, at 6.15 PM at Kanakakunnu Palace. Minister for ... Read more

Travel Tours, the leisure travel brand of FCM Travel Solutions – Indian subsidiary of Flight Centre Travel Group Australia, further expanded its presence by inaugurating its ninth retail store in Maharashtra and the fourth in Pune. The store was inaugurated by Shantilal Suratwala – Ex Mayor – Pune and  Bhanupratap Barge – Asst. Commissioner of Police – Pune who were the chief guests on the occasion along with Ashish Chitnis, AVP & Head of Operations & Distribution, Travel Tours. The opening of the store marks Travel Tours’ reach to 37 stores across India, out of which 9 are now located ... Read more

Marriott International and Emirates announced the relaunch of Your World Rewards a partnership between Marriott Bonvoy and Emirates Skywards. The partnership which originally launched in 2014, allows Marriott Bonvoy and Emirates Skywards members who register for the program to elevate their earnings and benefits when they fly with Emirates or stay at Marriott International Hotels around the globe. Your World Rewards enables members of both loyalty programs to enjoy the best in travel from take-off to check-out with rich benefits, personalized services and extensive access around the world. Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite, Platinum Elite, Titanium Elite and Ambassador Elite members ... Read more

With an aim to promote India as a heritage tourism destination, MakeMyTrip has signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) for convenient and hassle-free online booking for 116 historical monuments and sites across India. The agreement entails listing and offering an online booking gateway to world heritage and well-known monuments under the protection of ASI including Taj Mahal, Red fort, Qutub Minar, Humayun’s Tomb, Khajuraho Temple, Charminar, Golconda Fort among others. MakeMyTrip aims to empower travel enthusiasts to meticulously plan their itinerary, with detailed information about the monument including its history and significance and other ... Read more

Air India will launch the Delhi-Toronto direct flight on the occasion of World Tourism Day on September 27. The airline is also planning to launch a direct flight to Nairobi, Kenya sometime in October. “We will launch Delhi-Toronto non-stop flight from September 27 on the occasion of the World Tourism Day,” said Ashwini Lohani, Chairman & MD, Air India. The new flights will commence shortly from Kolkata, Hyderabad, Kunnoor and Kochi during winter session which starts from October 10. (Source: TOI)

The pilgrims visiting Saudi Arabia for Umrah will now be free to visit anywhere in the Kingdom during their stay, the Saudi Cabinet decided on Tuesday. “The Cabinet has decided to exclude people coming to perform Umrah and to visit the Prophet’s Mosque (in Madinah), of the prohibition of movement outside Makkah, Madinah, and Jeddah. A royal decree has been prepared to this effect,” the acting media minister, Issam bin Saeed, said in a statement to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA). Previously, Umrah pilgrims were restricted to the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah and the port city of Jeddah ... Read more

Akshardham Temple, Gujarat The Gujarat government is planning to come up with a heritage tourism policy, while focusing on attracting foreign tourists, said Jenu Devan, Managing Director & Commissioner of Tourism, Gujarat Tourism. The state has registered 14 per cent growth in the number of tourists in 2018-19. In 2016-17, tourists’ inflow was 4.48 crore and the same went up to almost 5.8 crore in 2018-19. The annual growth rate was 14 per cent. With the trend of increasing tourists’ footfalls, we are expecting that tourist inflow should cross six crore in the current fiscal. About six lakh foreign tourists ... Read more

Hospitality veteran Raki Phillips has been appointed as CEO of Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (RAKTDA). Phillips, who took over since June 2019, brings to the table wide-ranging industry experience, which will aid Ras Al Khaimah’s goal of becoming one of the fastest growing destinations in the world. According to RAKTDA, Phillips’ appointment heralds the beginning of a new phase of tourism development for the Emirate. He will be responsible for implementing the authority’s recently announced Destination Strategy 2019-2021, which aims to attract 1.5 million visitors to the Emirate by 2021 and 3 million by 2025. In his new ... Read more