Category: India

Indian airline Vistara is in the processes expansion in term of domestic and international flights. As part of their growth plans, they have placed orders for six Boeing Co 787 Jets and 13 Airbus SE A320neos valued at $3.1 billion at list prices. Vistara joins rival Jet Airways and low-cost carriers IndiGo and SpiceJet that have plans to grow their international operations to offset a highly competitive, price-sensitive domestic market. "India`s position as the world`s fastest growing domestic aviation market and its impressive growth in air passenger traffic that has more than doubled over the last decade makes us confident ... Read more

The Archaeological Survey of India has issued orders to allow photography within the premises of centrally protected monuments lifting the photography ban instituted earlier. The decision came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi questioned the logic behind the existing restrictions at an event. Photography will be allowed in all of the monuments and archaeological sites administered by the ASI, except the mausoleum at Taj Mahal, the Ajanta Caves and the Leh Palace, the order said. The Archaeological Survey of India administers and manages 3,686 ancient monuments and archaeological sites, and remains of national importance. “Inspired by the vision of hon’ble PM ... Read more

Amaravati in Andhra Pradesh to conduct International power boat racing championship in Krishna River in November. The event will be conducted on November 9, 10, and 11. Nine teams and 19 drivers from 12 countries will contest in the championship along with team Amaravati. The government of Andhra Pradesh, represented by Himanshu Shukla, CEO, AP Tourism, F1H2O Promoter Management and India Xtreme Adventure Activities have entered into a memorandum of understanding to conduct the 6th round of F1H2O power boat racing in Krishna River in November. The F1H2O World Championship will take place in Amaravati with the support of United Internationale Motonautique. ... Read more

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and his Bangladeshi counterpart Asaduzzaman Khan Kama inaugurated the world’s largest integrated Indian Visa Application Center at Jamuna Future Park in Dhaka. The ministers launched the new integrated state-of-the-art Indian Visa Application Centre (IVAC), by handing over passports with Indian visas to a couple of visa applicants. Rajnath Singh handed over a five-year multiple entry tourist visa to Mohammad Nazrul Islam (freedom fighter category), while Asaduzzaman Khan Kama handed over a five-year multiple entry tourist visa to Amal Chandra Natta (senior citizen category).  Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka Harsh Vardhan Shringla handed over a one-year ... Read more

The Delhi government is all set to re-brand the city for tourists with an aim to double its revenue through tourism. The emphasis would be on creating specialised itineraries and conducting regular cultural events around the history of the capital. Currently, a traveller spends 1.8 days on an average in Delhi, and the aim is to increase this to 3.6 days.  According to World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), Delhi is the largest and busiest international airport, handling 58 million passengers in 2016-17. Research by the WTTC also found that the city generated Rs 320 crore in tourism in 2016, but ... Read more

A two-day Travel and Tourism Fair (TTF) featuring domestic and outbound destinations began at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC) on Friday, 13th July 2018 The first day of the show was reserved only for travel trade while the second day is open for all, including general public. The two-day travel trade show brings together State tourism boards, national tourist offices, hoteliers, airlines, tour operators and travel agents, online travel companies, railways and cruise lines under one roof, according to a press release.

The nine-day-long renowned festival of Jagannath Rath Yatra has commenced today in Puri. Lakhs of devotees participate in the festival which mainly consists of pulling the sacred chariots of Hindu deities, Lord Jagannath, Balaram, and Subhadra. Tight security arrangements have been put in place to ensure smooth conduct of Rath Yatra. It is considered that, by pulling the chariots devotees will get blessings and their wishes will be fulfilled. On this auspicious occasion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi  wished the nation through twitter, “With the blessings of Lord Jagannath, may our country scale new heights of growth. May every Indian be ... Read more

Following the announcement of National Water Ways by the Union Ministry, the West Bengal government has initiated a project to enhance its river transport and tourism potential with a $151 million (Rs 1,021 crore) World Bank assistance. Rs 5,369 crore worth Ganga Jal Marg project of the Union Ministry will facilitate cargo movement along the National Waterway-I from Varanasi to Haldia. Accordingly, the state government aims at optimizing the potential of river transport both for cargo and human movements. Ro-Ro service (Roll-on/roll-off) is one of the popular means of transport in Kolkota for shipping wheeled cargo, such as cars, trucks, ... Read more

High Commission of Malaysia, H. E. Dato’ Hidayat Abdul Hamid at the National Tourism Conclave Department of Tourism and Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation, Government of Rajasthan, along with Elets Technomedia Pvt Ltd, has organized National Tourism Conclave in the pink city of Jaipur. The conclave, kick-started today, acted as a platform for interaction between Government and Industry and other stakeholders on innovative practices for Tourism development and promotion. Jagdish Chopra, Chairman, Haryana Tourism Development Corporation Ltd; Vijai Vardhan, Additional Chief Secretary, Haryana Tourism, Government of Haryana; K B Singh, IPS, Chairman & MD, Orissa State Road Transport Corporation; S K Agarwal, Additional Chief Secretary Transport Department, Government ... Read more

The government of Gujarat is planning to promote Ayurvedic tourism, learnt from the success story of Kerala in the sector. A campaign launched by the Tourism Ministry promoted by Bollywood super star Amitabh Bachan, in this line was very promising. The government will start 10 wellness centers this year with a cost of Rs 5 crores. The centers will offer both preventive and curative treatments to the tourists. “We will be holding meetings with the forest and tourism departments shortly and will start the project on a PPP (Public private partnership) basis. We will be targeting popular eco-tourism destinations and ... Read more

Six wetlands in five districts in the Konkan region of Maharashtra to be declared ecotourism destinations. It is with the intention to highlight the ecologically important areas and to increase awareness to conserve them. Conserving wetlands becomes very crucial these days as thousands of acres of wetlands have been disappeared from our country due to human activities. Wetlands are important parts of our nature as they help take out carbon dioxide from the air, act as an important buffer between land and sea and are home to several species of marine animals.

With an aim to attract nature lovers to state, Odisha has laid focus on development of eco-tourism and sustainable practices in nature-based tourism. At a time when the state has introduced an eco-tourism policy, Forest Department has been declared as the nodal agency for development of eco-tourism in the State. “An eco-tourism scheme has been approved with the financial implication of Rs 56 crore for five years for its sustainable development and promotions,” said Tourism Secretary Vishal Kumar Dev. He was speaking at a workshop on ‘Sustainable Eco-tourism’ jointly organised by Department of Tourism and Forest and Environment in collaboration with Ecotourism Society ... Read more

Rock Fort Temple, Tiruchi The tourism development of Rock Fort temple and 5 other spots in Tiruchi under the Smart City proposals has got clearance by the high power committee. The committee, headed by Finance Secretary K Shanmugam, met in Chennai accepted the proposal drafted by the Tiruchirappalli Smart City Limited. A sum of Rs 45.23 crore will be spent for the tourism development plan in the city. Main Guard Gate, Rock Fort temple, Rock Fort temple tank (Teppakulam), War Memorial, Purathana Park, and Municipal Chathiram are the other tourist spots, which have been selected for providing facelift under the Smart City ... Read more

Photo Courtesy: The Hindu With the aim to boost the tourism sector in Tamil Nadu, the state has organized a partnership meet in Hyderabad on Wednesday, 11th July 2018. The state is looking for more tourists from Telangana. Tamil Nadu Tourism Deputy Director Thiru Venugopal said, “We are striving to keep our position in the tourism industry of India and looking for new markets.” Tamil Nadu has been one of the favourite tourist destinations in India, for domestic and foreign tourists and this initiative is targeting to promote less known places in the state and thus attract more tourists. “Telengana ... Read more

A Miniature Govardhan Hill, Mathura Govardhan, one of the key pilgrimage centers in the Mathura District of Uttar Pradesh, will be developed as a top-notch tourism destination, as informed by Union Minister of State for Tourism K J Alphons. The minister was reviewing the feasibility of six proposals sent by the Uttar Pradesh government.  He declared that the Center government has sanctioned Rs 50 crore as the first installment to develop Govardhan as one of the “finest tourism spots”. As per the Hindu mythology, Govardhana Hill located in Govardhan, is believed to be lifted by Lord Krishna on his little finger ... Read more