Category: India

The Andhra Pradesh Tourism Authority (APTA) is planning to host a three-day air show in the city from November 23. The event, titled Air Show-2018, will be held at Punnami Ghat. Air Show-2018 would be held with the support of Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). About `2.85 crore will be required to host the event, and the state government has released a government order (GO RT 149) sanctioning the same in principle. APTA is planning to conduct 24 events between June 2018 and March 2019. “The calendar of events would be ready by May-end and would be presented to ... Read more

With an aim to boost tourism in the state, the Punjab Heritage and Tourism Promotion Board (PHTPB) has entered into an agreement with Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU). Shivdular Singh Dhillon, CEO of the PHTPB, and Vice-Chancellor of the GNDU Prof Jaspal Singh Sandhu signed the memorandum of understanding (MoU). “No stone is being left unturned to make Punjab a frontline state in tourism sector. The signing of the MoU for both the institutions would forge a long-term partnership. Besides this, a series of activities would also be chalked out to give fillip to tourism in the state,” said Dhillon. “We are happy to ... Read more

The construction of the proposed Jewar International Airport in Greater Noida is expected to begin in 2019. The Uttar Pradesh government had set up a joint venture company tp acquire 1441 hectre of land for the project at a cost of Rs 4000 crore. The project has got a no objection certificate from the home and defence ministries. The project has also received an in-principle clearance for immigration services. The airport will not only bring Kanpur and Allahabad closer to National Capital Region under the regional connectivity scheme Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN) but also benefit locations in neighbouring ... Read more

The Union Government has launched an online “event clearance system” for grant of security clearance to foreigners wanting to visit India to attend conferences, seminars or workshops. Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba has launched the online Event Clearance System (https://conference.mha.gov.in) for grant of security clearance to the conference/seminar/workshop organized in India. This will enable the Indian Missions abroad for issuance of Conference Visa to foreign nationals/delegates intending to attend such events organized by a Ministry or Department of the Government of India, State Governments or UT Administrations, Public Sector Undertakings, Central Educational Institutions, Public Funded Universities or private institutions or ... Read more

High-speed dust storm in Rajasthan’s Bharatpur, Alwar and Dholpur districts have killed 22 and injured over 100 people. Eleven people died in Bharatpur, six in Dholpur, four in Alwar and one in Jhunjhunu. The dust storm left a trail of destruction leaving hundreds of trees and electric poles uprooted. On Wednesday, heat wave was reported in parts of Rajasthan with Kota recording the highest temperature at 45.4 degrees. The weather department had warned of dust storm, heat wave and light rains in different pockets of the state. “A detailed report of the disaster is awaited. Relief and rescue teams have been ... Read more

The Union Government said it is planning to develop the country’s biggest airport, which will be next only to Mumbai, in the Mopa district of Goa. A joint team of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Commerce Logistics Department will visit Goa on 7th-8th May 2018 to facilitate the development of cargo hubs at the new airport to be constructed at Mopa in Goa. The team will meet Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industries to work together in order to leverage the advantages the State offers in terms of connectivity to the coastal belt of Western India. The four ... Read more

A new weekly train no 22895/22896 Durg-Ferozpur-Durg Antyodaya Express was inaugurated by Rajen Gohain, Minister of State for Railways & Dr. Raman Singh, Chief Minister, Chattisgarh. Speaking on the occasion, Rajen Gohain said that the Antyodaya Express has been launched to ensure a facilities equipped journey to all the sections of the society as envisioned by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. This train and all other Antyodaya Express trains running from different parts of the country have multiple facilities at affordable rates. He also expressed satisfaction that the Indian Railways has been working on several projects that will take care ... Read more

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given its approval to for expansion and upgradation of integrated terminals at Chennai, Guwahati & Lucknow Airports, at a cost of Rs 2467 crore, Rs 1383 crore and Rs 1232 crore, respectively. Construction of New Integrated Terminal at Lucknow airport will have an area of 88,000 sqm along with the existing terminal building with 16292 sqm. The airport will have annual capacity to handle 2.6 million international and 11 million domestic passenger traffic. The new terminal building would cater to the requirement of passenger growth up to ... Read more

Maharashtra will get a new airport at ParuleChipi in Sindhudurg district in 2018. Work on the project is expected to be completed in June this year, before the onset of monsoon and the Ganesh Festival, which will begin in September this year. The airport is being constructed by IRB Sindhudurg Airport Pvt. Ltd. on a design-build-finance-operate-transfer (DBFOT) basis for the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC). Sindhudurg airport will have a 2500-meter runway which has provision for future development. The airport will be built at an approximate cost of Rs 520 crores. Sindhudurg airport will have the capacity to handle 200 ... Read more

The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, has announced that the monthly Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEEs) through tourism in India during the month of March 2018 were Rs.17, 294 crore as compared to Rs. 14, 667 crore in March 2017. The FEEs was Rs 12, 985 crore in March 2016. The growth rate in FEEs in rupee terms in March 2018 over March 2017 was 17.9 per cent, compared to the growth of 13.0 per cent in March 2017 over March 2016. FEEs during the period January- March 2018 were Rs 52, 916 crore with a growth of 15.5 per cent, as compared ... Read more

It was just days back that one of the major cement companies in India, Dalmia Cements, adopting the Red Fort under the Adopt a Heritage project. Though it has created some sparks across the country, the ministry is going ahead with its plans to continue the project to the selected 95 heritage site. Minister for Tourism K J Alphons said the centre has plans to add more sites under the project. However, the minister ensured that it will be done only in consultation with the  public. Sites like beaches and parks beyond the 95 envisaged by the ministry will find ... Read more

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that Government is taking initiatives to develop infrastructure for Buddhist tourism in an attempt to connect Southeast Asia to the important Buddhist sites in the country. “We are developing infrastructure for Buddhist tourism, which is going to connect Southeast Asia with the important Buddhist sites of India. I am also very pleased that the government is a partner in the restoration of many Buddhist temples which also includes the centuries old Anand Temple in Bagan, Myanmar,” Modi said in his monthly radio programme “Mann Ki Baat”. The Prime Minister said the country has inherited Lord ... Read more

India topped the list of Dubai’s source markets for inbound tourism, with 617,000 tourists from the country visiting the Emirate between January-March 2018, registering an impressive 7 per cent year-on-year increase. Dubai welcomed almost 4.7 million international overnight tourists, Dubai posted a stable 2 per cent increase in traffic as compared to last year. Saudi Arabia came in the second position as far as tourist arrivals are concerned. UK and Russia followed the chart , according to a report published by Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism).   India helped level out the relatively stable second-placed Saudi Arabia ... Read more

Morocco is taking steps to open a tourism office in New Delhi in two-three months and is expecting to double the tourist outflow from the country by 2019. “We received 21,850 Indians and people of Indian origin in 2017. We expect to more than double this number by 2019. For this we are taking a number of steps,” Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco, Mohamed Maliki. He also said that the first step towards promotion of Morocco as a desired tourist destination for Indians is to set up the a full-fledged Moroccan National Tourism Office in New Delhi. “We hope the office will be ... Read more

At the recently held Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) Rajesh Mudgill, Managing Director of Planet India Travels made a come back as Hon Secretary of IATO after an interval, whereas EM Najeeb, Managing Director of ATE Group who had lost for a small margin in the previous election, gave a sweet revenge winning the Senior Vice President title this time. Pronab Sarkar (President), Rajiv Mehra (Vice President), Rajesh Kayasth (Joint Secretary) and Ravi Gosain (Treasurer) were elected unopposed. The new active EC members are Raj Bajaj, Tony Marwah, PS Duggal, Deepak Bhushan, and Vinay Tyagi. Sunil Gupta, Zia Siddique, and Vijay Sarthi ... Read more