Category: News

Outbound tourism from emerging markets, “especially India and Russia”, but also from smaller Asian and Arab markets is expected to continue to grow strongly, predicts World Tourism Organization. Based on current trends, economic prospects and the UNWTO Confidence Index, UNWTO forecasts international arrivals to grow 3 per cent to 4 per cent next year, more in line with historic growth trends. As a general backdrop, the stability of fuel prices tends to translate into affordable air travel while air connectivity continues to improve in many destinations, facilitating the diversification of source markets. Trends also show strong outbound travel from emerging ... Read more

Travellers can experience Abu Dhabi without entering the emirates now; leading media company Lonely Planet and the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) has signed a first-to-market agreement. As per the agreement, lonelyplanet.com will host the ‘Abu Dhabi Adventure Builder’ video player at www.lonelyplanet.com/abu-dhabi-adventure-builder For the next 12 months, enabling travellers to sculpt their own personal, visual itinerary from afar. Featuring 15 bespoke videos of experiences in and around Abu Dhabi, visitors can add up to five videos to the player at any one time, allowing them to explore the city and its surroundings in ... Read more

Preferences of Chinese tourists have been undergoing changes and more destinations are in their preferred lists, other than Paris and Eiffel Tower, said a tourism official from France. “Chinese tourists prefer to travel in smaller groups or alone. As per records around 48 per cent of Chinese tourists have been to Paris at least once during the past five years. Currently they prefer to visit lesser-known destinations and experiencing local culture as the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre no longer enough,” said Christophe Decloux, managing director of Paris Region Tourism Board. China is the third biggest tourist source country for ... Read more

MasterCard Global Destination Cities Index has published a survey on the dining and shopping (GDCI: Indulgences) spending patterns of tourists in various cities around the world. Bangkok was ranked third on the list of the Top Global Cities for Dining and sixth on the list of Top Global Cities for Shopping. The GDCI: Indulgences survey is a part of the MasterCard Global Destination Cities Index (GDCI). It ranks cities that tourists visited in the past one year. In 2018, the result indicated that Bangkok was the #1 Global Destination for the third consecutive year with Phuket and Pattaya ranked 12th ... Read more

Emirates Skywards, the award-winning loyalty programme of Emirates and flydubai, has opened its new Emirates Skywards Centre in Terminal 3 at Dubai International Airport (DXB). The centre was inaugurated by Dr Nejib Ben Khedher, Senior Vice President, Emirates Skywards and Nick Moore, Senior Vice President, Passenger Services, Emirates. The Emirates Skywards Centre at DXB will function as a one-stop customer touchpoint for all new and existing members of the Emirates Skywards loyalty programme and will provide assistance across a wide range of services including programme enrolment, profile creation and luggage tag printing. Emirates Skywards staff will also be available onsite ... Read more

According to an estimate published by the World Tourism Organization, the number of international tourist arrivals rose by 6 per cent last year to 1.4 billion. The increase was driven by travel to southern Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said the report, citing economic growth and cheaper air travel as key factors. Although arrivals to the Americas grew by a modest three per cent – four for North America – Europe, Africa and Asia-Pacific performed better, with rises of six, seven and six per cent respectively. In 2010, the WTO had forecast that international tourist arrivals would only hit ... Read more

Terminal 2 of the Cochin International Airport has undergone a face-lift recently. The terminal, which was renovated with around Rs 240 crore, now boasts of state-of-the-art facilities along with traditional Kerala architecture. ‘Kerala Art Arcade’ installed near the security check area in level 2 has become the main center of attraction in the airport. The terminal is set up on the theme of ‘Ettukettu’ – a traditional style house in Kerala – and the art arcade is designed with a ‘nadumittam’ (center courtyard) with a ‘Koothambalam’ replica and mural paintings. It also displays the state’s traditional dance forms which include ... Read more

Giving stimulus to the tourism industry, Visakhapatnam port to receive a cruise liner from Trincomalee (Sri Lanka) carrying around 100 foreign tourists. The seven starred cruiser – Silver Discoverer- will reach the port on Thursday morning for a dawn-to-dusk halt. “It will be a special day to remember for all of us. The arrival of such a big cruise liner will also give impetus to our plan to construct a world-class cruise terminal between the Visakha Container Terminal Private Ltd and Channel Berth,” said P L Haranadh, Visakhapatnam Port Deputy Chairman. The proposed cruise terminal will be built with cost ... Read more

Kalaripayattu (sometimes shortened as Kalari) is an Indian martial art and fighting system that originated in Kerala. Some practitioners claim that it is the oldest martial art in existence, with its origin dating back to the 3rd century BCE. According to ancient folklore, Sage Parasurama, who was an avatar of Lord Vishnu, is believed to be the founder of martial arts in India. Kalari has Two main styles, namely Vadakkan (Northern) & Thekkan (Southern). While the Vadakkan style focuses more on the forms & postures due to the more ancient spiritual aspect and teaches the Weaponry & Combative aspect after finishing it, while Thekkan is more combat ... Read more

The Apeejay Surrendra Group, which owns The Park Hotels, is planning to double its inventory to 4,000 keys over the next five years. It is also planning to add niche offerings that include management of heritage properties and making them commercially viable. The Park and The Park Collection will target the luxury and super-luxury segments, while the Zone by The Park will cater to the upscale category. The company currently has an inventory of 1,770 keys, through 19 properties. Nearly 65 per cent of the rooms are located across own properties. According to Vijay Dewan, Managing Director, Apeejay Surrendra Park ... Read more

Emirates, the world’s largest international airline, celebrated a hat trick win at the 2018 Business Traveller Africa Awards. Emirates received awards for Best Business Class – for the second consecutive year, Best International Long-Haul Airline and Best Airport Business Lounge, underpinning its brand promise to offer a ‘better’ flying experience. The Lounge award is for Emirates’ dedicated lounge at Johannesburg’s O.R. Tambo International Airport, in the international departures terminal. Emirates also operates an airport lounge in Cape Town. Over the years, Emirates has been honoured multiple times in these categories. “To be recognised by our industry peers as well as ... Read more

Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL), has announced the opening of Vivanta Kathmandu, the company’s second property in Nepal.  This will be the company’s first property was Meghauli Serai, a Taj Safaris Lodge in Chitwan National Park. Vivanta Kathmandu is located in the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Patan Darbar Square. The hotel is a perfect gateway to explore the land of yaks and yetis, snow peaks and ancient temples. “We are thrilled to embark on this exciting new venture in Kathmandu which will complete the tourist circuit by providing a stopover to UNESCO listed Chitwan National Park. Nepal offers medieval cities ... Read more

The Indian Railway Catering Tourism Corporation Ltd (IRCTC) is all set to open pod hotels near the Mumbai Central Railway station, for which they have already sent a proposal to the Western Railways, and approval is awaited. Pod hotels/capsule hotels were first developed in Japan and had attracted the world’s attention with their compact accommodation system which includes top-of-the-class amenities that one would find in any hotel room. India’s first such hotel opened in Andheri (Mumbai) in 2017. With these pod hotels,which is set to be spread over 4000 square feet, IRCTC is planning to provide a stopover option that is ... Read more

Singapore’s low-cost airlines, Scoot, is all set to strengthen its presence in India with the addition of new services to Coimbatore, Trivandrum and Visakhapatnam. Scoot will be the only airline operating direct non-stop flights from Trivandrum and Visakhapatnam to Singapore. Flights from Trivandrum to Singapore will commence on May 7, 2019, and flights from Coimbatore and Visakhapatnam will start from October 27, 2019, subject to regulatory approval. In India, Scoot already operates seven existing routes from Amritsar, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Lucknow, and Tiruchirappalli. To commemorate the new routes, Scoot has introduced a major limited-time sale on flights from all ... Read more

TRILL, the world’s most robust curated content marketplace for travel, is announcing its official launch. TRILL’s platform features ‘Instagrammable’ travel experiences powered by user-generated content. It allows users to search by destination, hashtag, and experience, build actionable itineraries and book hotels, activities and restaurants directly from its 1000+ creators’ Instagram content. “From my perspective, millennials pick experiences and destinations based on their Instagram-ability, which is fueled by a desire to replicate the incredible experiences they see on their social feeds, said TRILL’s co-founder and chief executive officer, Eric Shepard. “’70 per cent of all Instagram content is travel related,’1 it’s ... Read more