Tag: India

Key Highlights: Tourism Ministry provides financial assistance to States/UTs/Central Agencies for development of tourism infrastructure and facilities in the country under Swadesh Darshan and PRASHAD Schemes. Assistance of Rs. 37.81 crore sanctioned for development of Trimbakeshwar in 2017-18 under PRASHAD Scheme. Promotion and development of Tourism is primarily undertaken by the State Governments/Union Territory Administrations. However, Ministry of Tourism under its schemes of Swadesh Darshan and PRASHAD provides financial assistance to State Governments/UT Administrations/Central Agencies for development of tourism infrastructure and facilities in the country including Maharashtra. Submission of projects proposal by the State Governments and its sanctioning is a ... Read more

Key Highlights: National Medical & Wellness Tourism Board constituted to promote Medical/Wellness Tourism, AYUSH A draft National Strategy and Roadmap for Medical and Wellness Tourism formulated ‘E- Medical Visa’ introduced for 166 countries Assistance provided under Market Development Assistance (MDA) Scheme to medical/wellness Tourism Service Providers &Centres Medical & health tourism promoted at World Travel Mart (London), ITB, Berlin, Arabian Travel Mart etc.  Ministry of Tourism has taken several steps to promote India as a Medical and Health Tourism Destination. In order to provide dedicated institutional framework to take forward the cause of promotion of Medical Tourism, Wellness Tourism and ... Read more

Sri Lanka bans travelers from India. The Director General of Sri Lanka Civil Aviation has said that passengers from India will not be allowed to land in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is currently experiencing an increase in covid-19 cases. About 2,000 new cases have been reported in the last five days. From early to mid-April, an average of 200 cases were reported here. Health officials said the current wave was from the fastest spreading UK variant. Meanwhile, Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga said that President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa had given instructions to allow Sri Lankan migrant workers to return home. Sri Lanka ... Read more

The corona virus is spreading in the country in a more dangerous way than ever before. The country is actively implementing Covid vaccination to prevent the spread of the disease. Google Maps has come up with a new feature. The new feature will show covid vaccination centers in India, those who use Google search or Google map. The aim is to make more people aware of when and how to get vaccinated through Google Maps. The difficulty of getting to a place of residence and the distance to vaccine centers often puts people in crisis. But it would be more ... Read more

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has lifted restrictions on e-visas for foreigners from 156 countries, allowing nationals from 156 countries to avail of e-medical visa, e-business visa, e-medical attendant visa, and e-conference visa, according to reports. The MHA order will allow nationals except those from China, Canada, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, and the UK to travel to India under e-visa schemes. Travel restrictions for these countries are set to be reviewed this month. However, the ban on tourist visas is still in place. All these visas were suspended last March as the COVID-19 pandemic started ... Read more

No scheduled international commercial passenger aircraft should be allowed to land in India from March 22, for a period of one week, a statement from the Press Information Bureau said. All state governments should issue appropriate directions so that all citizens above 65 (other than for medical assistance) remain at home. Exemptions will be made for public representatives, government servants and medical professionals. Similarly all children below 10 should be advised to stay at home and not venture out. Railways and civil aviation will suspend all concessional travel except students and patients. States are being requested to enforce work from ... Read more

The Director General of Civil Aviation has stated that it would be appropriate if airlines support their passengers in this tough time by waiving off cancellation/rescheduling charges. In light of the hardship faced by passengers, airlines may like to consider and take an appropriate call, DGCA said. The aviation industry has been facing serious challenges, in view of the unfolding impact of COVID-19. Flights are being curtailed, cancelled and disrupted almost on a daily basis. Consequently, the travel plans of the passengers have got hit badly.

Tinder, the world’s most popular app for meeting new people is dedicated to you living your best single life, and they know the city you live in might make a difference. So, they crunched some numbers, pulled some data and did some digging to find the cities in India with one thing in common: the most active community on Tinder. Since they were doing the digging, they also decided to check which cities Swipe Right the most. And the results are in. The first list is the list of cities with the most activity on Tinder (this means they are ... Read more

Moving up six places up, India now ranks 34th position on world travel and tourism competitiveness index. The growth has been driven by the rich natural and cultural resources, alongside strong price competitiveness. “India, which accounts for the majority of South Asia’s T&T (travel and tourism) GDP, remains the sub-region’s most competitive T&T economy, moving up six places to rank 34th globally. India showed the greatest percentage improvement to its overall Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) score, which has helped it become the only lower-middle income country in the top 35,” said the report. China, Mexico, Malaysia, Thailand, Brazil, ... Read more

The Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEE) from tourism stood at USD 28.9 billion (Rs 1.97 trillion) in 2018, which accounted for 5.4 per cent of the total exports, according to a latest FICCI-Yes Bank report. The contribution is further expected to increase by 6.8 per cent in 2019 and rise by 5.6 per cent p a by 2029 to reach Rs 3.63 trillion. However, India ranks 14th in terms of absolute FEE and 122nd in terms of share of visitor exports in total export. India is also the third largest globally in terms of investment in travel & tourism with an investment ... Read more

India is indubitably bee’s knees for nature lovers, foodies and metrosexuals- no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Well, if I am being brutally honest, India has got everything to cater to the needs of every kind of traveller. Be that as it may, the thing that inspires most of the tourists about this incredible country is the diverse culture it possesses and the hospitality her people offer. Backpacking any country can be really, really exciting but security and safety are two most important things that should be kept in view before arranging the rucksack. Same goes for India (as ... Read more

The President, Ram Nath Kovind with the President of the Republic of Croatia, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given its ex-post facto approval on the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Croatia in the field of tourism. The MoU in the field of Tourism will help the two parties in creating an institutional mechanism for enhancing cooperation in the tourism sector. The MoU has been signed on 26 March, 2019 during the visit of President of India to Croatia. “Croatia’s popularity in India has increased manifold following Croatian team’s outstanding performance ... Read more

Fifteen major tour-operators from India and 35 Vietnamese tour operators held meetings at a tourism promotion event in HCM City. The event, titled ’Visit Incredible India in 2019’, invited Vietnamese to experience Indian culture, cuisine, bountiful nature, and religious places. “Leaders of both countries have focused on strong tourism co-operation and people-to-people relations as a key element of our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership,” said K Srikar Reddy, the Indian consul general in the city. India’s Minister for Tourism K J Alphons attended the Seventh Meeting of Tourism Ministers of ASEAN and India held in Ha Long City this January. At the meeting, the ministers ... Read more

Air Canada has suspended flights to Mumbai and New Delhi after two Indian fighter jets were shot down by Pakistani military in an escalating crisis between India and Pakistan. As per media reports, the airline diverted a flight en route to New Delhi over the Atlantic Ocean and landed back in Toronto. A second flight from Vancouver to New Delhi was also cancelled. However, a flight from Toronto to Mumbai is still scheduled to run tonight because it takes a different route from the New Delhi flights. The suspension of flights comes after Pakistan shot down two Indian warplanes over ... Read more

The Government of Canada has issued travel advisories for India and Pakistan due to the continuing threat of terrorist attacks throughout the country at all times. “Travellers should exercise a high degree of caution in India due to a continuing threat of terrorist attacks throughout the country at all times,” reads the Indian advisory. The advisory also warns to avoid all non-essential travel to parts of Northeastern India, and to avoid all travel to areas near the western border with Bangladesh and Jammu and Kashmir. Canadians are also advised to avoid all travel in areas bordering Pakistan. The advisory for Pakistan asks to ... Read more