Category: News

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

Emirates will operate its A380 aircraft to and from Amman between 01 June and 26 October 2019, in response to increased demand for travel during the summer period. This adjustment will see the airline operate one of its three daily flights on the route (EK 903/904) with its flagship A380. This will be the first time that Emirates will operate a scheduled A380 service to Amman, following the historic one-off A380 flight operated in September 2016. “Jordan has been a strategically important market in this region for Emirates for a long time. The upgrade to an A380 service to Amman ... Read more

The South Asian Tourism and Travel Exhibition (SATTE) witnessed a huge footfall, which was marked by 1,000 exhibitors and representation from over 50 countries and 90 cities from across India. In its 26th edition, the three-day event bagged an excellent response with market leaders increasing their stand size followed by participation from the cross section of global and Indian travel and tourism markets. The expo was inaugurated by Chief Guest Dr Mahesh Sharma, Union Minister for State for Culture (I/C), Government of India, along with key dignitaries: John Amaratunga, Minister of Tourism Development, Christian Affairs and Wildlife, Government of Sri Lanka; YB ... Read more

Tourism sector of Spain saw slow growth in 2018, as the rival countries like Turkey, Egypt and Tunisia recovered during the time. It was revealed by a report by industry lobby group Exceltur The sector ratcheted up USD 162 billion in sales, 2 per cent more than in 2017, as per a recent report; while that growth was slower than in previous years. In 2017, it had increased by 4.5 per cent and in 2016 by 5 per cent. On Wednesday, the government had acknowledged that 2018 had been another record year in terms of foreign visitor numbers, which reached ... Read more

Aman and Dia in a playful fight(Photo Courtesy: Hindustan Times) Navjot Singh Sidhu , Tourism and Cultural Affairs Minister of Punjab, decided to adopt two Royal Bengal tigers at Chhatbir zoo on Thurday. The Six-year-old Aman and his five-year-old companion Dia will be now the responsibility of the cricketer-turned-politician. Dia is a white Royal Bengal tiger, born in the zoo in 2013, while Aman, born in 2012 at a Kanpur zoo, was brought here in 2015. Dia’s brother Love, was given to the Kanpur zoo in exchange for Aman by the Chhatbir zoo authorities. Sidhu has to spent Rs 4,12,800 ... Read more

Ranoh Island, Batam Indonesian Tourism has identified Singapore as a tourism hub for the year 2019, as it seeks to benefit from 7,200 flights a week from and through the island state. It was revealed by Arief Yahya, the Tourism Minister. “I am saying that it is easier to fish in the neighbor’s pond that has already has a lot of fish. There are 11 million potential tourists, who we can encourage to come to Indonesia,” said Arief in Jakarta on Thursday. The initiative is stated in the Tourism Ministry’s program as part of the effort to achieve the targeted ... Read more

Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran has promised to consider the Kadamakudy tourism project in the next tourism working group meeting. He was talking to the media after visiting Pizhala, a part of Kadamakudy on Thursday, to review the proposed project. “Kadamakkudy has immense potential to attract tourists. The visitors from abroad like to experience the life in these islands.  Kadamakkudy can be developed as a prime tourism destination in the state,” said the Tourism Minister. Kadamakudy tourism project propose to development of tourism activities, connecting 14 islands. The Tourism Department has prepared a master plan for the project similar to the ... Read more

Photo Courtesy: Tickety Boo Training Kerala Institute of Tourism and Travel Studies (KITTS) has invited applications for its MBA in Travel and Tourism. The course is affiliated to University of Kerala and approved by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) The two year full-time MBA (Travel & Tourism) equip the students with management skills and professionalism to suit the requirements of tourism industry and the service sector. The programme consists of four semesters of six months each, spread across two years. The course integrates an academic knowledge of management studies with its applications in the travel, tourism and hospitality ... Read more

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the super-specialty public hospital – Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Institute of Medical Sciences and Research- in Ahmedabad on 17th January 2018. Built by Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, the 78 meter high, 1500 bed hospital is equipped with all modern amenities, including an air ambulance. PM inspected the facilities at the hospital. He lauded the efforts of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation for setting up a world class hospital and said, “Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Institute of Medical Sciences and Research in Ahmedabad hospital will prove to be a model for other government hospitals in the country.” Built at a ... Read more

The 9th edition of Vibrant Gujarat Summit gets underway at Mahatma Mandir Exhibition cum Convention Centre in Gandhinagar on 18th January 2018. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the inaugural session of the summit aimed at giving a fillip to investments in Gujarat. In the run up to the start of the Vibrant Gujarat Summit scheduled to be held during January 18-20, the Prime Minister inaugurated the Global Trade Show at the Exhibition centre. The PM visited the various pavilions and evinced keen interest in the stalls of ISRO, DRDO, Khadi etc., among others bringing to the fore his vision ... Read more

Year 2018 witnessed around 65.2 million tourist arrivals in New York. It was acknowledged by the New York Tourism Board, stating that British people topped the list of foreign visitors. According to statistics, around 51.6 million domestic and 13.5 million foreign tourists visited the city last year, almost 3 per cent more than that of overseas visitors in 2017. With 1.24 million, Briton topped the list, having China in the second place (1.1 million).  Canada (1 million), Brazil (920,000) and France (807,000) followed the list. According to the annual Global Destination Cities list of MasterCard published in September, New York ... Read more