Category: News

Kothamangalam, a small town in the eastern part of Ernakulam District of Kerala, has not been considered a tourism hotspot, among other popular destinations. Located at the foot of the Western Ghats and popularly known as the gateway of the high range, Kothamangalam is turning out to be a stopover for many tourists travelling to Munnar and Thekkady. Bhoothathankettu Dam The authorities have been envisaging a number of developmental activities in Kothamangalam. Bhoothathankettu dam and Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary at Thattekad are the established tourist spots in the town. Now two new sites are going to become the major tourist ... Read more

Forget about going to Antarctica to experience the life in an Igloo. Two youngsters, Vikas Kumar and Tashi Dorje, have built snow huts near the Hamta Pass at Sainthen village in Kullu district to attract tourists in the region. The concept of igloo tourism (stay in snow houses) was conceived by the youth in 2017 to give fillip to winter tourism in Kullu-Manali. The igloo tourism is gaining momentum. They had built one igloo on a trial basis. When the response was encouraging, they decided to move forward in an organised way. This year they have developed three igloos, especially ... Read more

Jammu and Kashmir’s Sericulture and Tourism departments are planning to introduce ‘Seri-Tourism’ as a joint venture to promote both the sectors for enhancing the livelihood opportunities, a senior government official has said. Under the first phase, model mulberry gardens of highly improved Japanese mulberry plants would be established at the Jammu Tawi Golf Course (JTGC), Sidhra and the Royal Springs Golf Course (RSGC) in Srinagar during this season, said Secretary, Tourism, Rigzin Samphael at a meeting here on Saturday. The meeting was attended by Director Sericulture Gulzar Ahmad Shabnum, Secretary of the JTGC, Sidhra Hitesh Gupta and other senior officers ... Read more

FIBEGA Miami 2019, the leading gastronomy tourism fair, has announced the 1st Annual Gastronomy Tourism Awards to be presented during the opening dinner of the fair on Friday, May 10, 2019. The awards will recognize destinations, companies and professionals that, through their leadership and innovation, have made a positive impact and generated greater awareness to the growing gastronomy tourism sector. “Gastronomy plays a significant role in driving travel to a destination, especially due to tourists seeking experiential travel deeply rooted in the culture of the places they visit. FIBEGA aims to generate awareness on the importance of gastronomy tourism, its ... Read more

The Tokyo Convention and Visitors Bureau  has announced that it will represent The City of Tokyo, Japan as an exhibitor at the New York Times Travel Show (NYTTS), running from January 25th to 27th. TCVB will showcase the current “Tokyo Tokyo Old meets New” campaign, which highlights how visitors to Tokyo can take a deep dive into the city’s fascinating duality – uncovering enchanting and deep-seated customs while also taking pleasure in a state-of-the-art way of life. The high-level travel professionals, journalists, and consumers at NYTTS will be introduced to several facets of Tokyo and learn what traveling to Japan’s ... Read more

The Japan National Tourism Organization has announced that more than 30 million overseas travelers visited Japan in 2018, an all-time record and an 8.7 per cent increase over 2017 (the previous record year). “Tourism to Japan from the United States – about 5 per cent of the total – soared 11 per cent,” said Naohito Ise, Executive Director of the Japan National Tourism Organization in New York, “with more and more Americans seeking beyond the classic tourism destinations of Tokyo and Kyoto to discover lesser-known parts of the country.” In 2018, America’s two most influential travel magazines gave travel to ... Read more

Jordan Tourism Board has recently announced that it has witnessed the growth of 30.40 per cent in 2018 from the Indian market. “The Jordanian-Indian relationship has witnessed a tremendous positive shift throughout 2018,” said Dr. Abed Al Razzaq Arabiyat, Managing Director of the Jordan Tourism Board. “His Majesty King Abdullah II Ibn Al-Hussein’s visit to India in February 2018 has had a cascading effect on the whole dynamics that connect both countries. Granting Indian visitors an upon-arrival visa was one of these changes that helped increase the number of Indian tourists visiting Jordan for its remarkable religious and historic sites, such as ... Read more

There are people who just don’t live their lives, but try to make a signature on whatever things they do. They will always have their own way of dealing with things. Raja Gopaal Iyer, CEO of Uday Samudra Leisure Beach Hotel and Spa, Kovalam, is such a soul. Raj, as he is known among people, always has a different outlook on doing things. His way of managing people is also unique. According to Raja Gopaal Iyer, Managers should not be just bosses, but leaders. He is a true leader who inspires others to dare to dream and excel better. Phentermine without ... Read more

Marriott International has unveiled Marriott Bonvoy, the new loyalty brand replacing the current loyalty brands – Marriott Rewards, The Ritz-Carlton Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) – and reflecting the unmatched benefits, single loyalty portfolio and experiences announced last year. Marriott Bonvoy is built on the belief that travel enriches us all and has the power to enrich the world. Marriott Bonvoy launches on February 13 when the logo and branding begins rolling out across all consumer touchpoints, including on property, marketing and sales channels, digital, mobile and co-brand credit cards, bolstered by a multimillion-dollar global media campaign starting in late ... Read more

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that film industry has an enormous role in promoting tourism, which has the added benefit of employment generation. He was inaugurating the National Museum of Indian Cinema in Mumbai on Saturday, 19th January 2019. The PM took a tour of the Museum, after which he addressed a gathering of the film fraternity. Speaking on the occasion, he congratulated everyone for the inauguration of NMIC, which he said showcases the entire history of Indian cinema in one place. He also congratulated the film fraternity, under whose guidance Indian cinema has been continuously making new strides. Talking about ... Read more

Spartan Middle East and Africa Championship, the regional version of the US originated series of obstacle races, has announced that it will return to Mleiha, Sharjah, next month with newly introduced Age Group categories and a competitive Kids heat. The Championship to be held on Friday, 15 February 2019, will see more than 4,500 attendees with an estimated 2,500 racers from the region who will compete in three race types and six race categories, in the historic tourism destination of Sharjah. Organized in partnership with the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq), and the Mleiha Archaeological and Eco-tourism project, the ... Read more

Azerbaijan Tourism Board (ATB) has launched ‘Take another look’ campaign as part of its strategy to present a new portrait of the country, enhance its destination value and double the current in-bound tourism by 2023. The brand positioning and identity is an invitation to attract travellers to consider Azerbaijan from a unique point of view and discover its untold stories and secrets. With a new brand and the ‘Take another look’ promotional campaign, Azerbaijan will focus on increasing the number of tourists from a broader pool of countries throughout Europe, the Middle East, China, as well as Central and Southeast ... Read more

GoAir has announced its plans to launch direct flights on Kannur – Muscat – Kannur route effective February 28, 2019. The airline will operate three direct flight services per week and bookings are now open at an attractive all-inclusive one way fare starting from Rs 4999. “It gives us immense delight to add Muscat as our third international destination. Muscat is a key market for us and is in line with our growth strategy and more so for the Middle East. We are hopeful that this service would also prove equally popular with our flyers. We will continue to deliver ... Read more

Royal Caribbean International, represented by TIRUN Travel Marketing in India has won the award for Best Cruise Line at the SATTE Awards, organised by UBM India alongside SATTE Exhibition. “It gives us immense joy and pride at Tirun to be a part of Royal Caribbean International as it climbs the ladder of success. Receiving an award at the prestigious SATTE Awards adds to the glory specifically so as it is known to honour and recognise excellence and the outstanding achievements of players who innovate in order to create new benchmarks in the travel industry,” said Ratna Chadha, CEO, TIRUN Travel Marketing. ... Read more

Etihad Airways flies the world’s first flight using fuel made in the UAE from plants grown in saltwater by Khalifa University. The Sustainable Bioenergy Research Consortium (SBRC), a non-profit entity established by Masdar Institute that is part of Khalifa University of Science and Technology, announced the world’s first commercial flight using locally produced sustainable fuel on an Etihad Airways Boeing 787 powered by GE’s GEnx-1B engines. The flight from Abu Dhabi to Amsterdam marked a major milestone in the development of a clean, alternative aviation fuel to reduce carbon emissions. The initiative also addresses food security in the UAE through the ... Read more